The Hawke's Bay speedster scored a hat-trick in the first half and completed a quartet of tries late in the match after he ran on to a crafty Piri Weepu kick and scooted away from the defence.
The All Blacks racked up 12 five-pointers in all in the 79-15 win as they ran rampant against a hapless Canadian outfit.
Transplanted centre Richard Kahui appeared to have the starting left wing berth sewn up for the rest of the World Cup after some sharp performances in pool play, but a hamstring ailment gave Guildford his chance against the Canadians.
"I was just happy to get back on the field, to be honest with you,'' Guildford said.
"It's been a pretty long month or so; so I was just pretty lucky to be on the end of the chain maybe. But I was glad to get some game time.''
After an awful effort against Australia in August, Guildford appeared to be out of favour with the selectors and then when details of a late-night drinking incident emerged recently, making the starting XV during the World Cup looked a long way off.
"I've learnt a lot out of the last month. There's been a bit of soul searching there. But also I've just tried to train really hard and show that I was ready for the opportunity today,'' he said.
Guildford looked for work throughout the early stages of the game and you got the impression he was desperate to prove to coach Graham Henry he is worth another chance on the left flank.
When he grabbed his second try in the 24th minute it locked up the bonus point for the All Blacks and ensured New Zealand were the only team in the tournament to grab maximum points from all of their pool games.
Guildford wasn't the only All Black keen to make a statement today following Dan Carter's exit from the tournament due to a groin injury.
That catapulted Colin Slade into the No 10 jersey and the spotlight and he made a nervous start to the Pool A fixture when his first kick was charged down.
But it was his line break and brilliant cut-out pass to a flying Guildford, that saw the All Blacks grab the first try of the match in the seventh minute.
For good measure the Highlanders pivot banged over the sideline conversion, although the rest of his kicking was patchy in the swirling conditions.
Slade was pushed out to the wing in the second half as Weepu came from the bench to run the cutter at first-five and even took the goal-kicking duties for the final quarter.
Slade limped off with 15 minutes left, which forced Victor Vito, who started the game on the openside of the scrum, to play on the wing.
Vito had scored a popular try in the 12th minute and did an admirable job in the No 7 jersey in the absence of Richie McCaw.
Henry confirmed after the game that Slade's removal was only precautionary and the same applied for Israel Dagg who limped off early in the second half after he took a knock to his quad muscle.
Bullocking blindside flanker Jerome Kaino was again in superb form and he carried the ball with plenty of vigour and also bagged two tries to take his World Cup tally to four touchdowns.
Canada forced their way on to the scoreboard courtesy of a penalty from Ander Monro and a try from winger Conor Trainor just before half-time as the Canucks went to the sheds down 37-8.
In the second spell Canada grabbed the first try, when Trainor went in again as rain began to fall.
The weather didn't help the spectacle either as the All Blacks made too many handling errors, while their passing was inaccurate at times.
Mils Muliaina lined up for his 99th test and he also was one of the many All Blacks to ink his name on to the score sheet.
The test was the first time two hookers had skippered opposing sides in a Rugby World Cup match since France played against Fiji in 1999 and it also marked the first occasion that Andrew Hore captained the All Blacks.
Halfback Jimmy Cowan became the 41st player to notch 50 tests for the All Blacks and grabbed a try of his own as he was solid, although not spectacular and it still remains to be seen who the coaches' preferred No 9 is.
New Zealand 79 (Zac Guildford 4, Jerome Kaino 2, Victor Vito 2, Israel Dagg, Mils Muliaina, Jimmy Cowan, Sonny Bill Williams, Slade 4 cons, pen, Weepu 4 cons) Canada 15 (Conor Trainor 2 tries; Ander Monro pen, con) HT: 37-8
- Daniel Richardson of APNZ