Ontario is a
provinceThe provinces and territories of Canada combine to make up the world's second largest country. The major difference between a Canadian province and a territory is that provinces are jurisdictions that receive their power and authority directly from the Constitution Act, 1867, whereas territories...
located in
eastEastern Canada is generally considered to be the region of Canada east of Manitoba, consisting of the following provinces:* New Brunswick* Newfoundland and Labrador* Nova Scotia* Ontario* Prince Edward Island* Quebec...
-
centralCentral Canada is a region consisting of Canada's two largest and most populous provinces: Ontario and Quebec. Due to their high populations, Ontario and Quebec have traditionally held a significant amount of political power in Canada, leading to some amount of resentment from other regions of the...
CanadaCanada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, the largest by population and second largest, after
QuebecQuebec is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking identity and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
, in total area. (
NunavutNunavut is the largest and newest federal territory of Canada; it was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999 via the Nunavut Act and the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement Act, though the actual boundaries had been established in 1993...
and the
Northwest TerritoriesThe Northwest Territories is a federal territory of Canada....
are larger but are not provinces.) Ontario is bordered by the Canadian provinces of
ManitobaManitoba is a prairie province in Canada and has an area of . Manitoba is bordered by the provinces of Ontario to the east and Saskatchewan to the west, the territory of Nunavut to the north, and the U.S. states of North Dakota and Minnesota to the south...
to the west and
QuebecQuebec is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking identity and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
to the east, and 5 U.S. states (from west to east):
MinnesotaMinnesota is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. The twelfth largest state by area in the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.2 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the...
,
MichiganMichigan is a Midwestern state of the United States of America. It was named after Lake Michigan, whose name is a French adaptation of the Ojibwe term mishigama, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
,
OhioOhio is a Midwestern state of the United States. The thirty-fourth largest state by area in the U.S., it is the seventh-most populous with nearly 11.5 million residents...
,
PennsylvaniaThe Commonwealth of Pennsylvania , often colloquially referred to as PA by natives and Northeasterners, is a state located in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States...
(the latter two across
Lake ErieLake Erie is the fourth largest lake of the five Great Lakes in North America, and the thirteenth largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also has the shortest average water residence time. It is bounded on the north by the...
) and
New YorkNew York is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous. The state is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
to the south and east. Most of Ontario's 2,700 km (1,677 mi) long border with the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
runs along water, in the west the
Lake of the WoodsLake of the Woods is a lake occupying parts of the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Manitoba and the U.S. state of Minnesota. It separates a small land area of Minnesota from the rest of the United States. The Northwest Angle and the town of Angle Inlet can only be reached from the rest of...
and eastward of there either on lakes or rivers within the
Great LakesThe Great Lakes are a collection of freshwater lakes located in eastern North America, on the Canada – United States border. Consisting of Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario, they form the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth. They are sometimes referred to as the "Third...
drainage system:
SuperiorLake Superior is the largest of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded to the north by Ontario, Canada and Minnesota, United States, and to the south by the U.S. states of Wisconsin and Michigan...
,
St. Marys RiverThe St. Marys River , sometimes written as the St. Mary's River, drains Lake Superior, starting at the end of Whitefish Bay and flowing 120 km southeast into Lake Huron, with a fall of 23 feet....
,
HuronLake Huron is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the east by Ontario, Canada and on the west by Michigan, USA. The name of the lake is derived from early French explorers who named it based on the Huron people inhabiting the region.-Geography:Lake Huron is the second...
,
St. Clair RiverThe St. Clair River is a river in central North America which drains Lake Huron into Lake St Clair, forming part of the International Boundary between the Canadian province of Ontario and the U.S. state of Michigan...
, Lake St. Clair (sometimes referred to as the
the sixth Great Lake), Erie,
OntarioLake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. The lake is bounded on the north by the Canadian province of Ontario and on the south by Ontario's Niagara Peninsula and by the U.S. state of New York...
and then runs along the St. Lawrence River from near
KingstonKingston, Ontario is a Canadian city located in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario, where Lake Ontario runs into the St. Lawrence River and the Thousand Islands begin.Kingston is the county seat of Frontenac County...
to near
CornwallCornwall is a city in Eastern Ontario, Canada and the seat of the United Counties of Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry, Ontario. Cornwall is Ontario's easternmost city, located on the St...
. For analytical and geographical purposes Ontario is often broken into two regions,
Northern OntarioNorthern Ontario is the part of the province of Ontario which lies north of Lake Huron , the French River and Lake Nipissing....
, and
Southern OntarioSouthern Ontario is the portion of the Canadian province of Ontario lying south of the French River and Algonquin Park. Depending on the inclusion of the Parry Sound and Muskoka districts, its surface area would cover between 14-15% of the province. It is the southernmost region of Canada.Southern...
. The great majority of population and arable land in Ontario is located in the South, which contrasts with its relatively small land area in comparison to the North.
The capital of Ontario is
TorontoToronto is the most populous city in Canada and the provincial capital of Ontario. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. With over 2.5 million residents, it is the fifth most populous municipality in North America...
,
Canada's most populous city and metropolitan area.
OttawaOttawa is the capital of Canada and a municipality within the Province of Ontario. Located in the Ottawa Valley in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario, the city lies on the southern banks of the Ottawa River, a major waterway forming the local boundary between the Provinces of Ontario and...
, the capital of Canada, is located in Ontario as well. The Ontario Government projected a population of 13,150,000 people residing in the province of Ontario as of July 2009.
The province takes its name from Lake Ontario, which is thought to be derived from
Ontarí:io, a
HuronWyandot is the Iroquoian language traditionally spoken by the people known variously as Wyandot, Wendat, or Huron. It was last spoken primarily in Oklahoma and Quebec. Wyandot died out as a spoken language centuries ago, but is being studied and promoted as a second language...
(
WyandotThe Wyandot are indigenous peoples of North America, known in their native language as the Wendat. Modern Wyandots emerged in the 17th century from the remnants of two earlier groups, the Huron Confederacy and the Petun...
) word meaning "great lake", or possibly
skanadario which means "beautiful water" in
IroquoianThe Iroquoian languages are a First Nation and Native American language family. The language family, amongst others, includes Mohawk, Huron-Wyandot and Cherokee.Every language in this family has at least one nasal vowel phoneme...
. The province contains over 250,000 freshwater lakes.
Along with
New BrunswickNew Brunswick is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the only constitutionally bilingual province in the confederation. The provincial capital is Fredericton...
,
Nova ScotiaNova Scotia is a Canadian province located on Canada's southeastern coast. It is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. Its capital, Halifax, is a major economic centre of the region. Nova Scotia is the second-smallest province in Canada with an area of...
and
QuebecQuebec is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking identity and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
, Ontario is one of the four original provinces that formed Canada in 1867.
Ontario is Canada's leading
manufacturingManufacturing is the use of machines, tools and labor to make things for use or sale. The term may refer to a range of human activity, from handicraft to high tech, but is most commonly applied to industrial production, in which raw materials are transformed into finished goods on a large scale...
province accounting for 52% of the total national manufacturing shipments in 2004. Ontario's largest trading partner is the American state of
MichiganMichigan is a Midwestern state of the United States of America. It was named after Lake Michigan, whose name is a French adaptation of the Ojibwe term mishigama, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
.
Geography
The province consists of four main geographical regions:
- The thinly populated Canadian Shield
The Canadian Shield — also called the Laurentian Plateau, or Bouclier Canadien — is a massive geological shield covered by a thin layer of soil that forms the nucleus of the North American or Laurentia craton...
in the northwestern and central portions which covers over half the land area in the province; though mostly infertile land, it is rich in mineralA mineral is a naturally occurring solid formed through geological processes that has a characteristic chemical composition, a highly ordered atomic structure, and specific physical properties. A rock, by comparison, is an aggregate of minerals and/or mineraloids, and need not have a specific...
s and studded with lakes and rivers. Northern OntarioNorthern Ontario is the part of the province of Ontario which lies north of Lake Huron , the French River and Lake Nipissing....
is subdivided into two sub-regions;Northwestern OntarioNorthwestern Ontario is the region within the Canadian province of Ontario which lies north and west of Lake Superior, and west of Hudson Bay and James Bay. It includes most of subarctic Ontario. Its western boundary is the Canadian province of Manitoba, which disputed Ontario's claim to the...
and Northeastern OntarioNortheastern Ontario is the region within the Canadian province of Ontario which lies north and east of Lakes Superior and Huron.Northeastern Ontario consists of Algoma District, Sudbury District, Cochrane District, Timiskaming District, Nipissing District, Manitoulin District and the single-tier...
.
- The virtually unpopulated Hudson Bay Lowlands
The Hudson Bay Lowlands is a small, poorly drained piece of wetlands wedged between the Canadian Shield and southern shores of Hudson Bay and James Bay. Many wide and slow-moving rivers flow through this area toward the salt water of Hudson Bay. Mosquitoes and black flies thrive here. This is a...
in the extreme north and northeast, mainly swampy and sparsely forested.
- The temperate and therefore most populous region, the fertile Great Lakes-Saint Lawrence Valley in the south where agriculture and industry are concentrated. Southern Ontario
Southern Ontario is the portion of the Canadian province of Ontario lying south of the French River and Algonquin Park. Depending on the inclusion of the Parry Sound and Muskoka districts, its surface area would cover between 14-15% of the province. It is the southernmost region of Canada.Southern...
is further sub-divided into four regions; Central OntarioCentral Ontario is a subregion of Southern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario which lies between Georgian Bay and the eastern end of Lake Ontario....
(although not actually the province's geographic centre), Eastern OntarioEastern Ontario is a subregion of Southern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario which lies in a wedge-shaped area between the Ottawa River and St. Lawrence River...
, Golden HorseshoeThe Golden Horseshoe is a densely populated and industrialized region centred around the western end of Lake Ontario in Southern Ontario, Canada, with outer boundaries stretching south to Lake Erie and north to Georgian Bay. Most of it is also part of the Quebec City – Windsor Corridor...
and Southwestern OntarioSouthwestern Ontario is a subregion of Southern Ontario in the province of Ontario, centred on the city of London. It extends north to south from the Bruce Peninsula on Lake Huron to the Lake Erie shoreline, and east to south-west roughly from Kitchener to Windsor. These three urban centres make up...
(parts of which were formerly referred to as Western Ontario).
Despite the absence of any mountainous terrain in the province, there are large areas of uplands, particularly within the Canadian Shield which traverses the province from northwest to southeast and also above the
Niagara EscarpmentThe Niagara Escarpment is a long escarpment, or cuesta, in the United States and Canada that runs westward from New York State, through Ontario, Michigan, Wisconsin and Illinois...
which crosses the south. The highest point is
Ishpatina RidgeThe Ishpatina Ridge is the highest point of land in the Canadian province of Ontario. At an estimated above sea level, it is a rather low mountain and not that steep, as the surrounding land in the area is already quite elevated. Ishpatina Ridge rises approximately above the immediate area. To...
at
above sea levelThe term above mean sea level refers to the elevation or altitude of any object, relative to the average sea level datum. AMSL is used extensively in radio by engineers to determine the coverage area a station will be able to reach...
located in
Temagami, Northeastern OntarioTemagami is a region and a municipality in northeastern Ontario, Canada, in the District of Nipissing with Lake Temagami at its heart.The Temagami region is known as N'Daki Menan, the homeland of the area's Aboriginal community, most of whom are Anishnaabe , living on Bear Island. The official...
. In the south, elevations of over 500m (1640') are surpassed near Collingwood, above the Blue Mountains in the Dundalk Highlands and in hilltops near the Madawaska River in Renfrew County.
The
Carolinian forestThe Carolinian forest is a life zone in eastern North America characterized primarily by a predominance of deciduous, or broad-leaf trees. The term "Carolinian forest" is used primarily in Canada...
zone covers most of the southwestern section, its northern extent is part of the
Greater Toronto AreaThe Greater Toronto Area is the most populous metropolitan area in Canada. The GTA is a provincial planning area in Southern Ontario with a population of 5,555,912 at the 2006 Canadian Census...
at the western end of Lake Ontario. The most well-known geographic feature is
Niagara FallsThe Niagara Falls are voluminous waterfalls on the Niagara River, straddling the international border between the Canadian province of Ontario and the U.S. state of New York...
, part of the much more extensive
Niagara EscarpmentThe Niagara Escarpment is a long escarpment, or cuesta, in the United States and Canada that runs westward from New York State, through Ontario, Michigan, Wisconsin and Illinois...
. The
Saint Lawrence SeawayThe St. Lawrence Seaway is the common name for a system of canals that permits ocean-going vessels to travel from the Atlantic Ocean to the North American Great Lakes, as far as Lake Superior. Legally it extends from Montreal to Lake Erie, including the Welland Canal and the locks at Sault Ste....
allows navigation to and from the
Atlantic OceanThe Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about 106.4 million square kilometres , it covers approximately one-fifth of the Earth's surface and about one-quarter of its water surface area. The first part of its name refers to the Atlas of Greek...
as far inland as
Thunder Bay-In Canada:Thunder Bay is the name of two places in the province of Ontario, Canada along Lake Superior:*Thunder Bay District, Ontario, a district in Northwestern Ontario*Thunder Bay, a city in Thunder Bay District*Thunder Bay, Unorganized, Ontario...
in Northwestern Ontario.
Northern OntarioNorthern Ontario is the part of the province of Ontario which lies north of Lake Huron , the French River and Lake Nipissing....
occupies roughly 87% of the surface area of the province; conversely Southern Ontario contains 94% of the population.
Point Pelee National ParkPoint Pelee National Park extends from the mainland of Essex County in southwestern Ontario, Canada. It consists of a peninsula of land, mainly of marsh and woodland habitats, that tapers to a sharp point as it extends into Lake Erie...
is a peninsula in southwestern Ontario (near
WindsorWindsor is the southernmost major city in Canada and lies in Southwestern Ontario at the western end of the heavily populated Quebec City-Windsor Corridor. It is within Essex County, although administratively separated from the county government. Windsor is located south of Detroit, is separated...
and
Detroit, MichiganDetroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the seat of Wayne County. Detroit is a major port city on the Detroit River, in the Midwest region of the United States. Located north of Windsor, Ontario, Detroit is the only major U.S. city that looks south to Canada. It was founded...
) that extends into Lake Erie and is the southernmost extent of Canada's mainland.
Pelee IslandPelee Island, Ontario, Canada , is an island in the western half of Lake Erie. Pelee Island is connected to the Canadian and United States mainland by ferry service. At 42 km², Pelee Island is the largest island in Lake Erie and the southernmost populated point in Canada...
and Middle Island in Lake Erie extend slightly farther. All are south of
42°NThe 42nd parallel north is a circle of latitude that is 42 degrees north of the Earth's equatorial plane.Starting at the Prime Meridian and heading eastwards, the parallel 42° north passes through:-United States:...
– slightly farther south than the northern border of
CaliforniaCalifornia is the most populous state in the United States, and the third largest by area. California is the second most populous sub-national entity in the Americas, behind only São Paulo, Brazil...
.
Climate
Ontario has three main climatic regions. Parts of Southwestern Ontario have a moderate
humid continental climateThe humid continental climate is a climate found over large areas of landmasses in the temperate regions of the mid-latitudes where there is a zone of conflict between polar and tropical air masses. The humid continental climate is marked by variable weather patterns and a large seasonal...
(
Köppen climate classificationThe Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by the Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen himself notably in 1918 and 1936...
Dfa), similar to that of the inland
Mid-Atlantic StatesThe Mid-Atlantic States form a region of the United States generally located between New England and the South...
and the lower Great Lakes portion of the
Midwestern United StatesThe Midwestern United States is one of the four geographic regions within the United States of America that are officially recognized by the United States Census Bureau....
. The region has warm, humid summers and cold winters but with frequent thaws. Annual precipitation ranges from and is well distributed throughout the year with a usual summer peak. Most of this region lies in the lee of the Great Lakes making for abundant snow in some areas.
Central and Eastern Ontario have a more severe humid continental climate (Köppen
Dfb). This region has warm and sometimes hot summers (although slightly shorter in length than Southwestern Ontario) with cold, longer winters with ample snowfall and roughly equal annual precipitation as the rest of Southern Ontario. Along the eastern shores of Lake Superior and Lake Huron, frequent heavy lake-effect snow squalls increase seasonal snowfall totals upwards of in some places.
The northernmost parts of Ontario — primarily north of 50°N have a
subarctic climateRegions having a subarctic climate are characterized by long, usually very cold winters, and short, cool to mild summers. It is found on large landmasses, away from the moderating effects of an ocean, generally at latitudes from 50° to 70°N poleward of the humid continental climates...
(Köppen
Dfc) with long, severely cold winters and short, cool to warm summers with dramatic temperature changes possible in all seasons. With no major mountain ranges blocking sinking
ArcticThe Arctic is the region around the Earth's North Pole, opposite the Antarctic region around the South Pole. The Arctic includes the Arctic Ocean and parts of Canada, Greenland , Russia, the United States , Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Finland.The word Arctic comes from the Greek αρκτικός , "near...
air massIn meteorology, an air mass is a large volume of air defined by its temperature and water vapor content. Air masses cover many hundreds or thousands of square miles, and adopt the characteristics of the surface below them. They are classified according to latitude and their continental or...
es, temperatures of are not uncommon, snowfall remains on the ground for sometimes over half the year. Precipitation is generally less than .
Severe and non-severe
thunderstormA thunderstorm, also known as an electrical storm, a lightning storm, a hailstorm, or simply a storm is a form of weather characterized by the presence of lightning and its acoustic effect on the Earth's atmosphere known as thunder. The meteorologically-assigned cloud type associated with the...
s peak in summer.
LondonLondon is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada along the Quebec City-Windsor Corridor with a metropolitan area population of 457,720; the city proper had a population of 352,395 in the 2006 Canadian census....
, situated in
SouthernSouthern Ontario is the portion of the Canadian province of Ontario lying south of the French River and Algonquin Park. Depending on the inclusion of the Parry Sound and Muskoka districts, its surface area would cover between 14-15% of the province. It is the southernmost region of Canada.Southern...
(Southwestern)Southwestern Ontario is a subregion of Southern Ontario in the province of Ontario, centred on the city of London. It extends north to south from the Bruce Peninsula on Lake Huron to the Lake Erie shoreline, and east to south-west roughly from Kitchener to Windsor. These three urban centres make up...
Ontario, has the most lightning strikes per year in Canada, averaging 34 days of thunderstorm activity per year. In a typical year, Ontario averages 15 confirmed
tornadoA tornado is a violent, dangerous, rotating column of air which is in contact with both the surface of the earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud...
touchdowns, they are rarely destructive (the majority between F0 to F2 on the
Fujita scaleThe Fujita scale , or Fujita-Pearson scale, is a scale for rating tornado intensity, based on the damage tornadoes inflict on human-built structures and vegetation...
).
Tropical depressionA tropical cyclone is a storm system characterized by a large low-pressure center and numerous thunderstorms that produce strong winds and heavy rain. Tropical cyclones feed on heat released when moist air rises, resulting in condensation of water vapor contained in the moist air...
remnants occasionally bring heavy rains and winds in the south, but are rarely deadly. A notable exception was
Hurricane HazelHurricane Hazel was the deadliest and most costly hurricane of the 1954 Atlantic hurricane season and one of the deadliest and costliest storms of the 20th century. The hurricane killed as many as 1,000 people in Haiti before striking the United States, where it killed 95 people, near the...
which struck Toronto, in October 1954.
Winter storms can disrupt power supply and transportation, ice storms amongst the most severe also occur, especially in the east.
Environment
The
Green Energy and Green Economy Act, 2009 (GEGEA), takes a two-pronged approach to creating a
renewable-energy economyA renewable-energy economy is an economy and society where all energy comes from renewable resources .- European Union :...
.
Territorial evolution
Land was not legally subdivided into administrative units until a treaty had been concluded with the
native peoples ceding the landThe Royal Proclamation of 1763 was issued October 7, 1763, by King George III following Great Britain's acquisition of French territory in North America after the end of the French and Indian War/Seven Years' War...
. In 1788, while part of the Province of Quebec (1763–1791), southern Ontario was divided into four districts:
HesseWestern District was one of four districts of Upper Canada. Created as Hesse District in 1788, it was renamed Western District in 1792, and was abolished in 1849. The district originally consisted of that part of Upper Canada west of a line running north from Long Point on Lake Erie, in the region...
,
LunenburgEastern District was one of four districts of Upper Canada created in 1788. It comprised the St. Lawrence-Quebec border area, now eastern Ontario. It was originally named Lunenburg District, likely for the Brunswick-Lüneburg, but was renamed in 1792. It was abolished in 1849...
,
MecklenburgThe Midland District was a historic district in Upper Canada which existed until 1849. It was one of four districts that was originally created in 1788. It was called Mecklenburg District when it was created The Midland District was a historic district in Upper Canada which existed until 1849. It...
, and
NassauThe Home District was one of four districts of Upper Canada created in 1788. It was composed of the areas along western Lake Ontario and Niagara areas or what is now referred to as Central Ontario and the Golden Horseshoe...
.
In 1792, the four districts were renamed: Hesse became the Western District, Lunenburg became the Eastern District, Mecklenburg became the Midland District, and Nassau became the Home District. Counties were created within the districts.
By 1798, there were eight districts: Eastern, Home, Johnstown, London, Midland, Newcastle, Niagara, and Western.
By 1826, there were eleven districts: Bathurst, Eastern, Gore, Home, Johnstown, London, Midland, Newcastle, Niagara, Ottawa, and Western.
By 1838, there were twenty districts: Bathurst, Brock, Colbourne, Dalhousie, Eastern, Gore, Home, Huron, Johnstown, London, Midland, Newcastle, Niagara, Ottawa, Prince Edward,
SimcoeSimcoe is a county located in central portion of Southern Ontario, originally established as "Simcoe District" in 1843 by the Legislature of Upper Canada...
, Talbot, Victoria, Wellington, and Western.
In 1849, the districts of southern Ontario were abolished by the
Province of CanadaThe Province of Canada or the United Province of Canada was a British colony in North America from 1841 to 1867. Its formation reflected recommendations made by John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham in the Report on the Affairs of British North America following the Rebellions of 1837.The Province of...
, and
countyA county is a land area of local government within a country. A county may have cities and towns within its area. Originally, in continental Europe, a county was the land under the jurisdiction of a count .Counts are called earls in post-Celtic Britain, Ireland and France—the term is from Old...
governments took over certain municipal responsibilities. The Province of Canada also began creating
districts in sparsely populated Northern Ontario with the establishment of
Algoma DistrictAlgoma District is a district and census division in Northeastern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario. It was created in 1858 comprising territory as far west as Minnesota...
and
Nipissing DistrictNipissing District, Ontario is a district in Northeastern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario. It was created in 1858. The district seat is North Bay.In 2006, the population was 84,688...
in 1858.
The borders of Ontario were provisionally expanded north and west. When the Province of Canada was formed, its borders were not entirely clear, and Ontario claimed to eventually reach all the way to the
Rocky MountainsThe Rocky Mountains are a major mountain range in western North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch more than from the northernmost part of British Columbia, in Canada, to New Mexico, in the United States. The range's highest peak is Mount Elbert in Colorado at above sea level...
and
Arctic OceanThe Arctic Ocean, located in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Arctic north polar region, is the smallest, and shallowest of the world's five major oceanic divisions.
The International Hydrographic Organization recognizes it as an ocean, although some...
. With Canada's acquisition of
Rupert's LandRupert's Land, also sometimes called "Prince Rupert's Land", was a territory in British North America, consisting of the Hudson Bay drainage basin, that was owned by the Hudson's Bay Company for 200 years from 1670 to 1870. The area once known as Rupert's Land is now mainly a part of Canada, but a...
, Ontario was interested in clearly defining its borders, especially since some of the new areas it was interested in were rapidly growing. After the federal government asked Ontario to pay for construction in the new disputed area, the province asked for an elaboration on its limits, and its boundary was moved north to the
51st parallel northThe 51st parallel north is a circle of latitude that is 51 degrees north of the Earth's equatorial plane.Starting at the Prime Meridian and heading eastwards, the parallel 51° north passes through:-See also:*50th parallel north*52nd parallel north...
.
The northern and western boundaries of Ontario were in dispute after
ConfederationA confederation is an association of sovereign member states, that by treaty have delegated certain of their competences to common institutions, in order to coordinate their policies in a number of areas, without however constituting a new state on top of the member states...
. Ontario's right to Northwestern Ontario was determined by the
Judicial Committee of the Privy CouncilThe Judicial Committee of the Privy Council is one of the highest courts in the United Kingdom, established by the Judicial Committee Act 1833. It is also the highest court of appeal for several independent Commonwealth countries, the UK overseas territories, and the British Crown dependencies...
in 1884 and confirmed by the
Canada (Ontario Boundary) Act, 1889 of the
Parliament of the United KingdomThe Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom and British overseas territories. It alone has parliamentary sovereignty, conferring upon it ultimate power over all other political bodies in the UK and its territories...
. By 1899, there were seven northern districts: Algoma, Manitoulin, Muskoka, Nipissing, Parry Sound, Rainy River, and Thunder Bay. Four more northern districts were created between 1907 and 1912: Cochrane, Kenora, Sudbury and Timiskaming.
European contact
Before the arrival of the Europeans, the region was inhabited both by
AlgonquianThe Algonquian are one of the most populous and widespread North American Native language groups, with tribes originally numbering in the hundreds. Today hundreds of thousands of individuals identify with various Algonquian peoples...
(
OjibwaThe Ojibwe or Chippewa is the largest group of Native Americans-First Nations north of Mexico, including Métis. They are the third-largest in the United States, surpassed only by Cherokee and Navajo. They're equally divided between the United States and Canada...
,
CreeCree is one of the largest group of First Nations/Aboriginals in North America, located mainly across Canada and historically in the United States from Minnesota westward but are found today in Montana....
and
AlgonquinThe Algonquins are aboriginal/First Nations inhabitants of North American who speak Algonquin. Culturally and linguistically, they are closely related to the Odawa and Ojibwe, with whom they form the larger Anicinàpe grouping...
) in the western portions and
IroquoisThe Iroquois , also known as the Haudenosaunee or the "People of the Longhouse", are an indigenous people of North America. In the 16th century or earlier, the Iroquois came together in an association known as the Iroquois League, or the "League of Peace and Power"...
and Wyandot (Huron) tribes more in the east. During the 1600s, the Algonquians and Hurons fought a bitter war against the Iroquois. The French explorer
Étienne BrûléÉtienne Brûlé was a French explorer and coureur des bois in Canada in the 17th century. A rugged outdoorsman, he took to the lifestyle of the First Nations.-Life in New France:Brûlé travelled to New France in 1608...
explored part of the area in 1610-12. The English explorer
Henry HudsonHenry Hudson was an English sea explorer and navigator in the early 17th century. After several voyages on behalf of English merchants to explore a prospective Northeast Passage to India, Hudson explored the region around modern New York City while looking for a western route to the Orient under...
sailed into
Hudson BayHudson Bay is a large body of water in northeastern Canada. It drains a very large area that includes parts of Ontario, Quebec, Saskatchewan, Alberta, most of Manitoba, southeastern Nunavut, as well as parts of North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, and Montana. A smaller offshoot of the bay,...
in 1611 and claimed the area for
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, but
Samuel de ChamplainSamuel de Champlain, , , "The Father of New France", was a French navigator, cartographer, draughtsman, soldier, explorer, geographer, ethnologist, diplomat and chronicler...
reached Lake Huron in 1615, and
FrenchFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
missionaries began to establish posts along the Great Lakes. French settlement was hampered by their hostilities with the Iroquois, who allied themselves with the British. From 1634 to 1640, Hurons were devastated by European infectious diseases, such as
measlesMeasles is an infection of the respiratory system caused by a virus, specifically a paramyxovirus of the genus Morbillivirus. Morbilliviruses, like other paramyxoviruses, are enveloped, single-stranded, negative-sense RNA viruses...
and
smallpoxSmallpox is an infectious disease unique to humans, caused by either of two virus variants, Variola major and Variola minor. The disease is also known by the Latin names Variola or Variola vera, which is a derivative of the Latin varius, meaning spotted, or varus, meaning "pimple"...
, to which they had no immunity.
The British established
trading postA trading post is a place where the trading of goods takes place. The preferred travel route to a trading post or between trading posts, is known as a trade route....
s on Hudson Bay in the late 17th century and began a struggle for domination of Ontario. The
1763 Treaty of ParisThe Treaty of Paris, often called the Peace of Paris, or the Treaty of 1763, was signed on February 10, 1763, by the kingdoms of Great Britain, France and Spain, with Portugal in agreement. It ended the Seven Years' War. The treaty marked the beginning of an extensive period of British dominance...
ended the
Seven Years' WarThe Seven Years' War lasted between 1754 and 1763 and involved all of the major European powers of the period. The war pitted Prussia and Britain and a coalition of smaller German states against an alliance consisting of Austria, France, Russia, Sweden, and Saxony...
by awarding nearly all of
France's North American possessionsThe French colonization of the Americas began in the 16th century, and continued in the following centuries as France established a colonial empire in the Western Hemisphere. France founded colonies in much of eastern North America, on a number of Caribbean islands, and in South America...
(
New FranceNew France was the area colonized by France in North America during a period extending from the exploration of the Saint Lawrence River, by Jacques Cartier in 1534, to the cession of New France to Spain and Britain in 1763...
) to Britain. The region was annexed to Quebec in 1774. From 1783 to 1796, the
Kingdom of Great BritainThe Kingdom of Great Britain, also known as the United Kingdom of Great Britain, was a sovereign state in northwest Europe, in existence from 1707 to 1801...
granted United Empire Loyalists leaving the United States following the
American RevolutionThe American Revolution is the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen of Britain's colonies in North America at first rejected the governance of the Parliament of Great Britain, and later the British monarchy itself, to become the sovereign United States of...
of land and other items with which to rebuild their lives. This measure substantially increased the population of Canada west of the St. Lawrence-Ottawa River confluence during this period, a fact recognized by the
Constitutional Act of 1791The Constitutional Act of 1791 was an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain The Constitutional Act of 1791 was an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain The Constitutional Act of 1791 was an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain (1791 (31 Geo. 3) C A P. XXXI., long title An Act to repeal certain...
, which split Quebec into
the CanadasThe Canadas is the collective name for Upper Canada and Lower Canada, two British colonies in Canada. They were both created by the Constitutional Act of 1791 and abolished in 1841 with the union of Upper and Lower Canada....
:
Upper CanadaThe Province of Upper Canada was a British colony located in what is now the southern portion of the Province of Ontario in Canada. Upper Canada officially existed from 26 December 1791 to 10 February 1841 and generally comprised present-day Southern Ontario...
southwest of the St. Lawrence-Ottawa River confluence, and
Lower CanadaThe Province of Lower Canada was a British colony on the lower Saint Lawrence River and the shores of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence...
east of it.
John Graves SimcoeJohn Graves Simcoe was the first Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada from 1791-1796...
was appointed Upper Canada's first Lieutenant-Governor in 1793.
Upper Canada
American troops in the
War of 1812The War of 1812, between the United States of America and the British Empire , lasted from 1812 to 1815. It was fought chiefly on the Atlantic Ocean and on the land, coasts and waterways of North America.There were several immediate stated causes for the U.S...
invaded Upper Canada across the
Niagara RiverThe Niagara River flows north from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario. It forms part of the border between the Province of Ontario in Canada and New York State in the United States. There are differing theories as to the origin of the name of the river...
and the
Detroit RiverThe Detroit River is a 32 mile long river in the Great Lakes system. The name comes from the French Rivière du Détroit, which translates literally as River of the Strait. The Detroit River has served an important role in the history of Detroit and is one of the busiest waterways in the world. ...
but were defeated and pushed back by British regulars, Canadian
fenciblesThe Fencibles were army regiments raised in the United Kingdom and in the colonies for defence against the threat of invasion during the American War of Independence and French Revolutionary Wars in the late 18th century...
and militias, and
First NationsFirst Nations is a term of ethnicity that refers to the Aboriginal peoples in Canada, who are neither Inuit nor Métis. There are currently over 600 recognised First Nations governments or bands spread all across Canada, roughly half of which are in the provinces of Ontario and British Columbia...
warriors. The Americans gained control of Lake Erie and Lake Ontario, however. During the
Battle of YorkThe Battle of York was a battle of the War of 1812 fought on 27 April, 1813, at York, Upper Canada, which was later to be renamed Toronto. An American force supported by a naval flotilla landed on the lake shore to the west, defeated the defending British force and captured the town and dockyard...
they occupied the
Town of YorkYork was the name of Toronto, Ontario, between 1793 and 1834. It was the second capital of Upper Canada.-History:Establishment by Governor Simcoe...
(later named Toronto) in 1813. The Americans looted the town and burned the Parliament Buildings but were soon forced to leave.
After the War of 1812, relative stability allowed for increasing numbers of immigrants to arrive from Europe rather than from the United States. As was the case in the previous decades, this deliberate immigration shift was encouraged by the colonial leaders. Despite affordable and often free land, many arriving newcomers, mostly from Britain and Ireland found frontier life with the harsh climate difficult, and some of those with the means eventually returned home or went south. However, population growth far exceeded emigration in the decades that followed. It was a mostly agrarian-based society, but canal projects and a new network of plank roads spurred greater trade within the colony and with the United States, thereby improving previously damaged relations over time.
Meanwhile, Ontario's numerous waterways aided travel and transportation into the interior and supplied
water powerHydropower, hydraulic power or water power is power that is derived from the force or energy of moving water, which may be harnessed for useful purposes....
for development. As the population increased, so did the industries and transportation networks, which in turn led to further development. By the end of the century, Ontario vied with Quebec as the nation's leader in terms of growth in population, industry, arts and communications.
Many in the colony, however, began to chafe against the aristocratic
Family CompactThis article is about a group in nineteenth century Canadian history. For the pact between the royal families of eighteenth century France and Spain, see Pacte de Famille....
who governed while benefiting economically from the region's resources, and who did not allow elected bodies the power to effect change (much as the
Château CliqueThe Clique du Château or Château Clique was a group of wealthy families in Lower Canada in the early 19th century. They were the Lower Canadian equivalent of the Family Compact in Upper Canada...
ruled Lower Canada). This resentment spurred republican ideals and sowed the seeds for early
Canadian nationalismCanadian nationalism is a term which has been applied to ideologies of several different types which highlight and promote specifically Canadian interests over those of other countries, notably the United States...
. Accordingly, rebellion in favour of
responsible governmentResponsible government is a conception of a system of government that embodies the principle of parliamentary accountability which is the foundation of the Westminster system of parliamentary democracy...
rose in both regions;
Louis-Joseph PapineauLouis-Joseph Papineau , born in Montreal, Quebec, was a politician, lawyer, and the landlord of the seigneurie de la Petite-Nation. He was the leader of the reformist Patriot movement before the Lower Canada Rebellion of 1837–1838...
led the
Lower Canada RebellionThe Lower Canada Rebellion , commonly referred to as the Patriots' War by Quebecers, is the name given to the armed conflict between the rebels of Lower Canada and the British colonial power of that province...
and
William Lyon MackenzieWilliam Lyon Mackenzie was a Scottish-Canadian journalist, politician, and rebellion leader. He served as the first mayor of the city of Toronto and was an important leader during the 1837 Upper Canada Rebellion.-Background and early years in Scotland, 1795-1820:Mackenzie was born in Dundee,...
led the
Upper Canada RebellionThe Upper Canada Rebellion was, along with the Lower Canada Rebellion in Lower Canada, a rebellion against the British colonial government in 1837 and 1838. Collectively they are also known as the Rebellions of 1837.-Issues:...
.
Canada West
Although both rebellions were put down in short order, the British government sent
Lord DurhamJohn George Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham GCB, PC , also known as "Radical Jack" and commonly referred to in history texts simply as Lord Durham, was a British Whig statesman, colonial administrator, Governor General and high commissioner of British North America.-Background and education:Durham was...
to investigate the causes of the unrest. He recommended that self-government be granted and that Lower and Upper Canada be re-joined in an attempt to assimilate the
French CanadianFrench Canadian refers to a nation or ethnic group of French descent that originated in Canada during the period of French colonization beginning in the 17th century. They constitute the main French-speaking population of Canada...
s. Accordingly, the two colonies were merged into the Province of Canada by the
Act of Union 1840The Act of Union passed in July 1840 and proclaimed February 10, 1841, abolished the legislatures of Lower Canada and Upper Canada and established a new political entity, the Province of Canada to replace them...
, with the capital at
KingstonKingston, Ontario is a Canadian city located in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario, where Lake Ontario runs into the St. Lawrence River and the Thousand Islands begin.Kingston is the county seat of Frontenac County...
, and Upper Canada becoming known as Canada West.
ParliamentA parliament is a legislature, especially in those countries whose system of government is based on the Westminster system modeled after that of the United Kingdom. The name is derived from the French parlement, the action of parler : a parlement is a discussion. The term came to mean a meeting at...
ary
self-governmentSelf-governance is an abstract concept that refers to several scales of organization. It may refer to personal conduct or family units but more commonly refers to larger scale activities, i.e., professions, industry bodies, religions and political units, up to and including autonomous regions and...
was granted in 1848. There were heavy waves of immigration in the 1840s, and the population of Canada West more than doubled by 1851 over the previous decade. As a result, for the first time the English-speaking population of Canada West surpassed the French-speaking population of
Canada EastCanada East was the eastern portion of the United Province of Canada. It consisted of the southern portion of the modern-day Canadian Province of Quebec, and was primarily a French-speaking region....
, tilting the representative balance of power.
An economic boom in the 1850s coincided with railway expansion across the province, further increasing the economic strength of Central Canada. With the repeal of the
Corn LawsThe Corn Laws were import tariffs designed to support domestic British corn prices against competition from less expensive foreign imports between 1815 and 1846. The tariffs were introduced by the Importation Act 1815 and repealed by the Importation Act 1846...
and a reciprocity agreement in place with United States, various industries such as timber, mining, farming and alcohol distilling benefited tremendously.
A political stalemate between the
FrenchCanadian French is an umbrella term for the varieties of the French language used in Canada. French is the mother tongue of about seven million Canadians and is one of the country's two official languages, along with English....
- and
EnglishCanadian English is the variety of English used in Canada. More than 26 million Canadians have some knowledge of English . Approximately 17 million speak English as their native language. Outside Quebec, 76% of Canadians speak English natively...
-speaking legislators, as well as fear of aggression from the United States during and immediately after the
American Civil WarThe American Civil War , also known as the War Between the States and several other names, was a civil war in the United States of America. Eleven Southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America...
, led the political elite to hold a series of conferences in the 1860s to effect a broader federal union of all
British North AmericaBritish North America consisted of the colonies and territories of the British Empire in continental North America after the end of the American Revolutionary War and the recognition of American independence in 1783....
n colonies. The
British North America Act took effect on July 1, 1867, establishing the Dominion of Canada, initially with four provinces: Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec and Ontario. The Province of Canada was divided into Ontario and Quebec so that each linguistic group would have its own province. Both Quebec and Ontario were required by section 93 of the BNA Act to safeguard existing educational rights and privileges of Protestant and the Catholic minority. Thus, separate Catholic schools and
school boardsA board of education or a school board or school committee is the title of the board of directors or board of trustees of a school, local school district or higher administrative level....
were permitted in Ontario. However, neither province had a constitutional requirement to protect its French- or English-speaking minority. Toronto was formally established as Ontario's provincial capital.
In 1868 the coat of arms and motto of Ontario are created. Curiously, the motto ("Ut incepit fidelis sic permanent") was added to the Ontario´s coat of arms by Sir
Henry William StistedMajor-General Sir Henry William Stisted, KCB , served as the first Lieutenant Governor of Ontario after Confederation, from 1867 to 1868....
, The First Governor of Ontario; who was a great friend of the Spanish General José of Bascarán and Federic, the 27th Lord of Olvera. In one of his visits to him, Sir Stisted observed the mentioned motto in the coat of arms that was hung on the wall of lounge of the house of the General Bascarán, and Sir Henry requested authorization to his friend in order to include it in the coat of arms of the Spanish city because he thought that it was representing perfectly the feelings of the Ontarians.
Province of Ontario
Once constituted as a province, Ontario proceeded to assert its economic and legislative power. In 1872, the lawyer
Oliver MowatSir Oliver Mowat, GCMG, PC, QC was a Canadian politician, and premier of Ontario from 1872 to 1896, making him the longest serving premier of that province and the 3rd longest in all of Canadian history...
became
Premier of OntarioThe Premier of Ontario is the first Minister of the Crown for the Canadian province of Ontario. The Premier is appointed as the province's head of government by the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, and presides over the Executive council, or Cabinet.Although sometimes referred to as the Prime...
and remained as premier until 1896. He fought for provincial rights, weakening the power of the
federal governmentThe government of Canada is established as a constitutional monarchy, with the powers and structure of the federal government established by the Constitution of Canada, which includes the written part, the decisions of courts, and unwritten conventions developed over time.-Usage:In Canadian...
in provincial matters, usually through well-argued appeals to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. His battles with the federal government greatly
decentralized__FORCETOC__Decentralization or Decentralisation is the process of dispersing decision-making governance closer to the people and/or citizen. It includes the dispersal of administration or governance in sectors or areas like engineering, management science, political science, political economy,...
Canada, giving the provinces far more power than
John A. MacdonaldSir John Alexander Macdonald, GCB, KCMG, PC, PC , was the first Prime Minister of Canada and the dominant figure of Canadian Confederation. Macdonald's tenure in office spanned 18 years, making him the second longest serving Prime Minister of Canada. He is the only Canadian Prime Minister to win...
had intended. He consolidated and expanded Ontario's educational and provincial institutions, created districts in Northern Ontario, and fought to ensure that those parts of Northwestern Ontario not historically part of Upper Canada (the vast areas north and west of the Lake Superior-Hudson Bay watershed, known as the
District of KeewatinThe District of Keewatin was a territory of Canada and later an administrative district of the Northwest Territories.The name "Keewatin" comes from Algonquian roots—either kīwēhtin in Cree or giiwedin in Ojibwe—both of which mean north wind in their respective languages...
) would become part of Ontario, a victory embodied in the
Canada (Ontario Boundary) Act, 1889. He also presided over the emergence of the province into the economic powerhouse of Canada. Mowat was the creator of what is often called
Empire Ontario.
Beginning with Sir John A. Macdonald's
National PolicyThe National Policy was a Canadian economic program introduced by John A. Macdonald's Conservative Party in 1876 and put into action in 1879. It called for high tariffs on imported manufactured items to protect the manufacturing industry...
(1879) and the construction of the
Canadian Pacific RailwayThe Canadian Pacific Railway , known as CP Rail between 1968 and 1996, is a Canadian Class I railway operated by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited. Its rail network stretches from Vancouver to Montreal, and also serves major cities in the United States such as Minneapolis, Chicago, and New York City...
(1875-1885) through Northern Ontario and the
Canadian PrairiesThe Canadian Prairies is a region of Canada, specifically in Western Canada, which may correspond to several different definitions, natural or political. Notably, the Prairie provinces or simply the Prairies comprise the provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba, as they are much covered by...
to
British ColumbiaBritish Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is famed for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . In 1871, it became the sixth province of Canada.The capital of British Columbia is Victoria, the 15th largest metropolitan region in Canada...
, Ontario manufacturing and industry flourished. However, population increase slowed after a large recession hit the province in 1893, thus slowing growth drastically but only for a few short years. Many newly arrived immigrants and others moved west along the railroad to the Prairie Provinces and British Columbia, sparsely settling Northern Ontario.
MineralA mineral is a naturally occurring solid formed through geological processes that has a characteristic chemical composition, a highly ordered atomic structure, and specific physical properties. A rock, by comparison, is an aggregate of minerals and/or mineraloids, and need not have a specific...
exploitation accelerated in the late 19th century, leading to the rise of important mining centres in the northeast like Sudbury,
CobaltCobalt is a town in the district of Timiskaming, province of Ontario, Canada, with a population of 1,223 In 2001 Cobalt was named "Ontario's Most Historic Town" by a panel of judges on the TV Ontario program Studio 2, and in 2002 the area was designated a National Historic Site.-History:Silver was...
and Timmins. The province harnessed its water power to generate hydro-electric power and created the state-controlled Hydro-Electric Power Commission of Ontario, later
Ontario HydroOntario Hydro was the official name from 1974 of the Hydro-Electric Power Commission of Ontario which was established in 1906 by the provincial Power Commission Act to build transmission lines to supply municipal utilities with electricity generated by private companies already operating at Niagara...
. The availability of cheap electric power further facilitated the development of industry. The
Ford Motor Company of CanadaFord Motor Company of Canada, Limited was founded in 1904 for the purpose of manufacturing and selling Ford automobiles in Canada and the British Empire. The Ford Motor Company in Detroit transferred the patent and selling rights to the Walkerville Wagon Company, in order to avoid the tariff rates...
was established in 1904.
General Motors CanadaGeneral Motors of Canada Limited is the name of General Motors' Canadian division. Its national headquarters office, Canadian Regional Engineering Centre, and main manufacturing plants are located in Oshawa, Ontario. GM Canada is 100% owned by GM.As of Apr...
was formed in 1918. The motor vehicle industry would go on to become the most lucrative industry for the Ontario economy during the 20th century.
In July 1912, the
ConservativeThe Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario , is a right-of-centre political party in Ontario, Canada. The party was known for many years as "Ontario's natural governing party." It has ruled the province for 80 of the years since Confederation, including an uninterrupted run from 1943 to 1985...
government of Sir
James WhitneySir James Pliny Whitney, KCMG was a politician in the Canadian province of Ontario. Whitney was a lawyer in eastern Ontario, Conservative member for Dundas from 1888 to 1914, and Premier of Ontario from 1905 to 1914.Whitney became leader of the party in 1896 taking it from a narrow, bigoted rump...
issued
Regulation 17Regulation 17 was a regulation of the Ontario Ministry of Education, issued in July 1912 by the Conservative government of premier Sir James P. Whitney. It restricted the use of French as a language of instruction after the first year of school and banned the teaching of French after the fourth...
which severely limited the availability of French-language schooling to the province's French-speaking minority. French Canadians reacted with outrage, journalist
Henri BourassaJoseph-Napoléon-Henri Bourassa was a French Canadian political leader and publisher. He is seen by many as an ideological father of Canadian nationalism....
denouncing the "Prussians of Ontario". It was eventually repealed in 1927.
Influenced by events in the United States, the government of Sir William Hearst introduced
prohibitionProhibition in Canada refers to a movement and a succession of actions at the local, county and provincial levels for the prohibition of alcohol, beginning in the late nineteenth century and continuing well into the twentieth century. The temperance movement reached its height in Canada in the...
of alcoholic drinks in 1916 with the passing of the
Ontario Temperance ActOntario Temperance Act was a law passed in Ontario in 1916 to prohibit the sale of alcohol, a period known as Prohibition. This meant the province remained dry in legal terms, but smugglers continued to import alcohol into the province...
. However, residents could distil and retain their own personal supply, and liquor producers could continue distillation and export for sale, which allowed this already sizable industry to strengthen further. Ontario became a hotbed for the illegal smuggling of liquor and the biggest supplier into the United States, which was under complete prohibition. Prohibition in Ontario came to an end in 1927 with the establishment of the
Liquor Control Board of OntarioThe Liquor Control Board of Ontario is a provincial Crown corporation in Ontario, Canada established in 1927 by Lieutenant Governor William Donald Ross, on the advice of his Premier, Howard Ferguson, to sell liquor, wine, and beer through a chain of retail stores...
under the government of
Howard FergusonGeorge Howard Ferguson, PC was a Conservative politician and Premier of Ontario, Canada, from 1923 to 1930.-Background:...
. The sale and consumption of liquor, wine, and beer are still controlled by some of the most extreme laws in North America to ensure that strict community standards and revenue generation from the alcohol retail monopoly are upheld. In April 2007, Ontario Member of Provincial Parliament
Kim CraitorKim Craitor is a politician in Ontario, Canada. He is a current member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, representing the constituency of Niagara Falls for the Ontario Liberal Party.-Early life:...
suggested that local brewers should be able to sell their beer in local corner stores; however, the motion was quickly rejected by Premier
Dalton McGuintyDalton James Patrick McGuinty, Jr., MPP is a Canadian lawyer and politician and, since October 23, 2003, premier of the Canadian province of Ontario...
.
The post-
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
period was one of exceptional prosperity and growth. Ontario, and the Greater Toronto Area in particular, have been the recipients of most immigration to Canada, largely immigrants from war-torn Europe in the 1950s and 1960s and after changes in federal
immigration lawImmigration law refers to national government policies which control the phenomenon of immigration to their country.Immigration law, regarding foreign citizens, is related to nationality law, which governs the legal status of people, in matters such as citizenship...
, a massive influx of non-Europeans since the 1970s. From a largely
ethnicallyAn ethnic group is a group of humans whose members identify with each other, through a common heritage that is real or presumed.Ethnic identity is further marked by the researcher Seng Yang in the recognition from others of a group's distinctiveness and the recognition of common cultural,...
British province, Ontario has rapidly become very culturally diverse.
The nationalist movement in Quebec, particularly after the election of the
Parti QuébécoisThe Parti Québécois is a left-wing political party that advocates national sovereignty for the province of Québec and secession from Canada. It is a social democratic party and has traditionally had support from the labour movement. Unlike many other social democratic parties, its ties with the...
in 1976, contributed to driving many businesses and English-speaking people out of Quebec to Ontario, and as a result Toronto surpassed
MontrealMontreal is the second-largest city in Canada and the largest city in the province of Quebec. Originally called Ville-Marie , the city takes its present name from Mont-Royal, the triple-peaked hill located in the heart of the city, whose name was also initially given to the island on which the...
as the largest city and economic centre of Canada. Depressed economic conditions in the
Maritime ProvincesAtlantic Canada, also known as the Atlantic provinces, is the region of Canada comprising four provinces located on the Atlantic coast: the three Maritime provinces – New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island – and Newfoundland and Labrador...
have also resulted in de-population of those provinces in the 20th century, with heavy migration into Ontario.
Ontario has no official language, but
EnglishEnglish is a West Germanic language that developed in England during the Anglo-Saxon era. As a result of the military, economic, scientific, political, and cultural influence of the British Empire during the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries, and of the United States since the mid 20th century,...
is considered the
de facto language. Numerous
French languageFrench is a Romance language globally spoken by about 65 million people as a first language , by 50 million as a second language, and by about another 200 million people as an acquired foreign language, with significant speakers in 57 countries. Most native speakers of the language live in France,...
services are available under the
French Language Services ActThe French Language Services Act is a law in the province of Ontario, Canada which is intended to protect the rights of Franco-Ontarians, or French-speaking people, in the province....
of 1990 in designated areas where sizable
francophoneThe adjective francophone means French-speaking, typically as primary language, whether referring to individuals, groups, or places. Often, the word is used as a noun to describe a natively French-speaking person....
populations exist.
Population since 1851
| Year |
Population |
Five-year
% change |
Ten-year
% change |
Rank among
provinces |
| 1851 |
952,004 |
n/a |
208.8 |
1 |
| 1861 |
1,396,091 |
n/a |
46.6 |
1 |
| 1871 |
1,620,851 |
n/a |
16.1 |
1 |
| 1881 |
1,926,922 |
n/a |
18.9 |
1 |
| 1891 |
2,114,321 |
n/a |
9.7 |
1 |
| 1901 |
2,182,947 |
n/a |
3.2 |
1 |
| 1911 |
2,527,292 |
n/a |
15.8 |
1 |
| 1921 |
2,933,662 |
n/a |
16.1 |
1 |
| 1931 |
3,431,683 |
n/a |
17.0 |
1 |
| 1941 |
3,787,655 |
n/a |
10.3 |
1 |
| 1951 |
4,597,542 |
n/a |
21.4 |
1 |
| 1956 |
5,404,933 |
17.6 |
n/a |
1 |
| 1961 |
6,236,092 |
15.4 |
35.6 |
1 |
| 1966 |
6,960,870 |
11.6 |
28.8 |
1 |
| 1971 |
7,703,105 |
10.7 |
23.5 |
1 |
| 1976 |
8,264,465 |
7.3 |
18.7 |
1 |
| 1981 |
8,625,107 |
4.4 |
12.0 |
1 |
| 1986 |
9,101,695 |
5.5 |
10.1 |
1 |
| 1991 |
10,084,885 |
10.8 |
16.9 |
1 |
| 1996 |
10,753,573 |
6.6 |
18.1 |
1 |
| 2001 |
11,410,046 |
6.1 |
13.1 |
1 |
| 2006* |
12,960,282 |
6.6 |
0 |
1 |
*2006 Census
Ethnic groups
| Ethnic |
Responses |
% |
| Total population |
12,028,895 |
100 |
EnglishAn English Canadian is a Canadian whose principal language is English or who is of English ancestry; it is used primarily in contrast with French Canadian. Canada is an officially bilingual and multicultural country, with French and English official language communities...
|
2,971,360 |
24.7 |
| Canadian This article is about the demographic features of the population of Canada, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.-Provinces and territories:...
|
2,768,870 |
23.0 |
ScottishScottish Canadians are people of Scottish descent or heritage living in Canada. As the third-largest ethnic group in Canada and among the first to settle in Canada, Scottish people have made a large impact on Canadian culture since colonial times...
|
2,101,100 |
17.5 |
IrishIrish Canadians are immigrants and descendants of immigrants who originated in Ireland. The 2006 census by Statistics Canada, Canada's Official Statistical office revealed that the Irish were the 4th largest ethnic group with 4,354,155 Canadians with full or partial Irish descent or 14% of the...
|
1,988,940 |
16.5 |
| French French Canadian refers to a nation or ethnic group of French descent that originated in Canada during the period of French colonization beginning in the 17th century. They constitute the main French-speaking population of Canada...
|
1,351,600 |
11.2 |
| German |
1,144,560 |
9.5 |
| Italian |
867,980 |
7.2 |
ChineseChinese Canadians are Canadians of Chinese descent and constitute the largest visible minority group in Canada, standing at 1,216,570 which comprises 3.9% of the population in 2006. Out of those 1,216,570 people, 211,145 people were of Chinese and one other ethnic origin.-History:The first record...
|
644,465 |
5.4 |
East IndianIndo-Canadians are Canadians whose origins trace back to India. The terms "East Indian" and "South Asian" are used to distinguish people of ancestral origin from India, from the First Nations peoples of Canada who are often referred to as Indian, and from the people of the Caribbean, who are...
|
573,250 |
4.8 |
| Dutch (Netherlands) |
490,995 |
4.1 |
PolishPolish Canadians are Canadians of Polish ancestry. According to the 2001 census by Statistics Canada, 984,585 Canadians claim full or partial Polish ancestry.-History:...
|
465,560 |
3.9 |
UkrainianA Ukrainian Canadian is a person of Ukrainian descent or origin who was born in or immigrated to Canada. In 2006, there were an estimated 1,209,085 persons residing in Canada of Ukrainian origin, making them Canada's ninth largest ethnic group, and giving Canada the world's third-largest Ukrainian...
|
336,355 |
2.8 |
North American IndianFirst Nations is a term of ethnicity that refers to the Aboriginal peoples in Canada, who are neither Inuit nor Métis. There are currently over 600 recognised First Nations governments or bands spread all across Canada, roughly half of which are in the provinces of Ontario and British Columbia...
|
317,890 |
2.6 |
PortuguesePortuguese Canadians are Canadians of Portuguese descent. According to StatCan, in 2001, there were 357,690 persons of Portuguese descent living in Canada, or 1.2% of the nation's total population...
|
282,870 |
2.4 |
FilipinoFilipino Canadians are Asian Canadians who trace their ancestry to the Philippines or Filipino people. Filipino-Canadians are also a subgroup of the Overseas Filipinos....
|
215,750 |
1.8 |
BritishThe British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, one of the Channel Islands, or of one of the British overseas territories, and their descendants. In a historical context, the term refers to the ancient Britons, the indigenous inhabitants of Great Britain south of the...
, not included
elsewhere |
205,755 |
1.7 |
Jamaican A Jamaican Canadian is a Canadian-born person of Jamaican descent, or a Jamaican-born person with Canadian citizenship.-History:...
|
197,540 |
1.6 |
| Welsh |
182,825 |
1.5 |
| Jewish Canada has the world's fourth-largest Jewish population. According to the Canada 2001 Census, there are an estimated 329,995 Jews currently living in Canada....
|
177,255 |
1.5 |
| Russian |
167,365 |
1.4 |
| Hungarian (Magyar) |
151,750 |
1.3 |
| Spanish |
149,160 |
1.2 |
GreekGreek Canadians are Canadian citizens of Greek origin. According to the 2006 Canadian census, there were 242,685 Canadians who claimed Greek ethnicity.-Authors:...
|
132,440 |
1.1 |
| American (USA) American-Canadians are a significant part of the Canadian population. Canada and the United States share much culturally, but are separate geopolitical entities in North America....
|
113,050 |
0.9 |
| Pakistani |
91,160 |
0.8 |
MétisThe Métis peoples of Canada are descended of marriages of Cree, Ojibway, Algonquin, Saulteaux, Menominee, Mi'kmaq, Maliseet, and other First Nations to Europeans, mainly French. Along with the First Nations and Inuit, the Métis are one of the three officially recognized Aboriginal peoples in Canada...
|
87,090 |
0.7 |
| Sri Lankan |
85,935 |
0.7 |
| Vietnamese Mainstream Vietnamese communities began arriving in Canada in the mid 1970s and early 1980s as refugees or boat people following the end of the Vietnam War in 1975, though a couple thousand were already living in Quebec before then, most of whom were students...
|
83,330 |
0.7 |
| Romanian |
80,710 |
0.7 |
AfricanThe term African people refers to people who live in Africa, or people who trace their ancestry to indigenous inhabitants of Africa. This includes members of the "African diaspora" resulting from the Atlantic Slave Trade such as Black British, Afro-Latin Americans, African Americans,...
, not included elsewhere |
75,500 |
0.6 |
| Finnish |
72,990 |
0.6 |
| Korean The Korean people are an ethnic group originating in East Asia. Most Koreans speak the Korean language.-Names:South Koreans call Koreans Han-guk-in —or simply 한인/Han-in for South Koreans living abroad—or informally Hanguk saram , while North Koreans call Koreans Chosŏn-in or Chosŏn saram...
|
72,065 |
0.6 |
| Croatian |
71,380 |
0.6 |
The percentages add to more than 100% because of dual responses (e.g. "French-Canadian" generates an entry in both the category "French" and the category "Canadian"). Groups with greater than 200,000 responses are included.
The majority of Ontarians are of
BritishAn English Canadian is a Canadian whose principal language is English or who is of English ancestry; it is used primarily in contrast with French Canadian. Canada is an officially bilingual and multicultural country, with French and English official language communities...
or other
European descentWhite people is a term which usually refers to human beings characterized, at least in part, by the light pigmentation of their skin...
. Slightly less than five percent of the population of Ontario is
Franco-OntarianFranco-Ontarians are French Canadian or francophone residents of the Canadian province of Ontario. They are sometimes known as "Ontarois"....
, that is those whose native tongue is French, although those with French ancestry account for 11% of the population.
In relation to natural increase or inter-provincial migration,
immigrationImmigration to Canada is the process by which people migrate to Canada to reside permanently in the country. Many, but not all, become citizens. People have been migrating to the geographic region of Canada for hundreds of years, with rates of immigration and source countries varying throughout time...
is a huge population growth force in Ontario, as it has been over the last two centuries. More recent sources of
immigrantsImmigration is the arrival of new individuals into a habitat or population. It is a biological concept and is important in population ecology, differentiated from emigration and migration.-As a political term:...
with already large or growing communities in Ontario include
CaribbeanThe Caribbean is a region consisting of the Caribbean Sea, its islands , and the surrounding coasts...
s (
JamaicaJamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length and as much as in width, amounting to 11,100 km
2. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harboring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
ns,
TrinidadianThe Republic of Trinidad and Tobago is an archipelagic state in the southern Caribbean, lying northeast of the South American country of Venezuela and south of Grenada in the Lesser Antilles. It shares maritime boundaries with other nations including Barbados to the northeast, Guyana to the...
s,
BajanBarbados , situated just east of the Caribbean Sea, is an independent West Indian Continental Island-nation in the western Atlantic Ocean. For over three centuries Barbados was a colony and protectorate of the United Kingdom; and still currently maintains Queen Elizabeth II as head of state...
),
South AsiaSouth Asia, also known as Southern Asia, is the southern region of the Asian continent, which comprises the sub-Himalayan countries and, for some authorities , also includes the adjoining countries on the west and the east...
ns (e.g.
PakistanPakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country located at the crossroads of South Asia, the Middle East, and Central Asia...
is,
IndiaIndia, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the west, and the Bay of Bengal...
ns,
Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a country in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
is and
Sri LankaSri Lanka , officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka , is an island country in South Asia, located about off the southern coast of India...
ns),
East AsiaEast Asia or Eastern Asia is a subregion of Asia that can be defined in either geographical or cultural terms. Geographically and geo-politically, it covers about , or about 28 percent of the Asian continent, about 15 percent bigger than the area of Europe, though some categorize Tibet, Xinjiang,...
ns (mostly
ChineseHan Chinese are an ethnic group native to China and, by most modern definitions, the largest single ethnic group in the world.Han Chinese constitute about 92 percent of the population of the People's Republic of China , 98 percent of the population of the Republic of China , 75 percent of the...
and
FilipinosThe Philippines officially known as the Republic of the Philippines, is a country in Southeast Asia with Manila as its capital city. It comprises 7,107 islands in the western Pacific Ocean....
),
Latin AmericaLatin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish, Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,501 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
ns (such as
GuyaneseGuyana officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana and previously known as British Guiana, is a state on the northern coast of South America that is culturally part of the Anglophone Caribbean.Guyana was discovered in 1498 by the Europeans,Guyana's past is punctuated by battles fought and won,...
,
ColombiaColombia , officially the Republic of Colombia , is a constitutional republic in northwestern South America. Colombia is bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the northwest by Panama; and to the west by the Pacific Ocean...
ns,
MexicansThe United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
,
HonduransHonduras is a republic in Central America. It was formerly known as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras...
,
ArgentinaArgentina, officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America, constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires. It is the eighth largest country in the world by land area and the largest among Spanish-speaking nations, though Mexico,...
ns, and
EcuadorEcuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador , literally, "Republic of the equator") is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America that...
ians),
Eastern EuropeEastern Europe is a region lying in the Eastern part of Europe. The term is highly context-dependent and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
ans such as
RussiaRussia , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia . It is a semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
ns and
BosniansBosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( or (Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian Latin: Bosna i Hercegovina; Serbian Cyrillic: Босна и Херцеговина) is a country in Southeast Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula...
, and groups from
SomaliaSomalia , officially the Republic of Somalia and formerly known as the Somali Democratic Republic, is a country located in the Horn of Africa...
,
IranIran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran is a country in Western Asia. The name Iran has been in use natively since the Sassanid period and came into international use from 1935, before which the country was known internationally as Persia...
, and
West AfricaWest Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of the African continent. Geopolitically, the UN definition of Western Africa includes the following 16 countries distributed over an area of approximately 5 million square km:*Benin...
. Most populations have settled in the Greater Toronto area. A smaller number have settled in other cities such as London,
KitchenerThe City of Kitchener is a city in Southern Ontario, Canada. It was the Town of Berlin from 1854 until 1912 and the City of Berlin from 1912 until 1916. The city had a population of 204,668 in the Canada 2006 Census...
, Hamilton, Windsor,
BarrieBarrie may refer to:* Barrie, city in Ontario, Canada* Barrie , Canadian federal electoral district* Barrie , provincial electoral district* Barrie—Simcoe—Bradford, former Canadian electoral district...
, and Ottawa.
Religion
The largest denominations by number of adherents according to the 2001 census were the
Roman Catholic ChurchThe Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church. With more than a billion members, over half of all Christians and more than one-sixth of the world's population, the Catholic Church is a communion of the Western, or Latin Rite Church, and...
with 3,866,350 (34 %); the
United Church of CanadaThe United Church of Canada, the second-largest Christian denomination in Canada after the Roman Catholic Church, is an evangelical Protestant denomination founded in 1925 as a merger of four Protestant denominations:...
with 1,334,570 (12 %); and the
Anglican Church of CanadaThe Anglican Church of Canada is the sole Canadian representative of the Anglican Communion. The official French name is l'Église Anglicane du Canada...
with 985,110 (9 %).
The major religious groups in Ontario, as of 2001, are:
| Religion |
People |
% |
| Total |
11,285,545 |
100 |
| Protestant Protestantism is a branch within Christianity, containing many denominations with some differing practices and doctrines, that principally originated in the sixteenth-century Protestant Reformation. It is considered to be one of the major divisions within Christianity, together with the Roman...
|
3,935,745 |
34.9 |
| Catholic Catholicism is a broad term for the body of the Catholic faith, its theologies and doctrines, its liturgical, ethical, spiritual, and behavioral characteristics, as well as a religious people as a whole...
|
3,911,760 |
34.7 |
No ReligionIrreligion is an absence of religion, indifference to religion, and/or hostility to religion. Depending on the context, it may be understood as referring to atheism, deism, nontheism, agnosticism, ignosticism, antireligion, skepticism, freethought, or secular humanism. Irreligious people may have...
|
1,841,290 |
16.3 |
MuslimIslam Islam Islam ( al-’islām, [There are ten pronunciations of Islam in English, differing in whether the first or second syllable has the stress, whether the s is or , and whether the a is pronounced as in father, as in cat, or (when the stress is on the i) as in the a of sofa...]
|
352,530 |
3.1 |
Other ChristianA Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic, religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, who Christians believe was the Messiah prophesied in the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible, and the Son of God.The term "Christian" is also used adjectivally to...
s |
301,935 |
2.7 |
| Christian Orthodox The term Orthodox Christianity may refer to:* Correct theology or belief, such as the ancient, majority, or Trinitarian theologies of Christianity...
|
264,055 |
2.3 |
| Hindu Hinduism is the predominant religion of the Indian subcontinent. Hinduism is often referred to as ', a Sanskrit phrase meaning "the eternal law", by its adherents. Generic "types" of Hinduism that attempt to accommodate a variety of complex views span folk and Vedic Hinduism to bhakti tradition, as...
|
217,555 |
1.9 |
| Jewish Judaism is a set of beliefs and practices originating in the Hebrew Bible , as later further explored and explained in the Talmud and other texts...
|
190,795 |
1.7 |
BuddhistBuddhism, as traditionally conceived, is a path of salvation attained through insight into the ultimate nature of reality. It encompasses a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha...
|
128,320 |
1.1 |
SikhSikhism, founded on the teachings of Guru Nanak Dev and ten successive Sikh Gurus in fifteenth century Punjab, is the fifth-largest organized religion in the world. This system of religious philosophy and expression has been traditionally known as the Gurmat or the Sikh Dharma...
|
104,785 |
0.9 |
| Eastern Religions Eastern religion is a term used to refer to religions originating in the Eastern world —India, China, Japan and Southeast Asia —and thus have dissimilarities with Western religions...
|
17,780 |
0.2 |
| Other Religions |
18,985 |
0.2 |
Visible minorities and aboriginal peoples
Ontario is the second most diverse province in terms of visible minorities after
British ColumbiaBritish Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is famed for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . In 1871, it became the sixth province of Canada.The capital of British Columbia is Victoria, the 15th largest metropolitan region in Canada...
, with 22.8 per cent of the population consisting of visible minorities. The
Greater Toronto AreaThe Greater Toronto Area is the most populous metropolitan area in Canada. The GTA is a provincial planning area in Southern Ontario with a population of 5,555,912 at the 2006 Canadian Census...
,
OttawaOttawa is the capital of Canada and a municipality within the Province of Ontario. Located in the Ottawa Valley in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario, the city lies on the southern banks of the Ottawa River, a major waterway forming the local boundary between the Provinces of Ontario and...
,
WindsorWindsor is the southernmost major city in Canada and lies in Southwestern Ontario at the western end of the heavily populated Quebec City-Windsor Corridor. It is within Essex County, although administratively separated from the county government. Windsor is located south of Detroit, is separated...
,
HamiltonHamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Conceived by George Hamilton when he purchased the Durand farm shortly after the War of 1812, Hamilton has become the centre of a densely populated and industrialized region at the west end of Lake Ontario known as the Golden Horseshoe...
and Waterloo Region are quite diverse cities.
Aboriginal peoples make up two per cent of the population, with two-thirds of that consisting of North American Indians and the other third consisting of
MétisItalic textA Métis is a person born to parents who belong to different groups defined by visible physical differences, regarded as racial, or the descendant of such persons. The term is of French origin, and also is a cognate of mestizo in Spanish, mestiço in Portuguese, and mestee in English...
. The number of Aboriginal people has been increasing at rates greater than the general population of Ontario.
Economy
Ontario's rivers, including its share of the Niagara River, make it rich in hydroelectric energy. Since the privatization of Ontario Hydro which began in 1999,
Ontario Power GenerationOntario Power Generation is a public company wholly owned by the Government of Ontario.OPG is responsible for approximately 70% of the electricity generation in the Province of Ontario, Canada ....
runs 85% of electricity generated in the province, of which 41% is
nuclearNuclear power is power produced from controlled nuclear reactions. Commercial plants in use to date use nuclear fission reactions....
, 30% is
hydroelectricHydroelectricity is electricity generated by hydropower, i.e., the production of power through use of the gravitational force of falling or flowing water. It is the most widely used form of renewable energy...
and 29% is
fossil fuelFossil fuels or mineral fuels are fuels formed by natural resources such as anaerobic decomposition of buried dead organisms. The age of the organisms and their resulting fossil fuels is typically millions of years, and sometimes exceeds 650 million years...
derived. Much of the newer power generation coming online in the last few years is natural gas or combined cycle natural gas plants. OPG is not however responsible for the transmission of power, which is under the control of
Hydro OneHydro One Incorporated delivers electricity across the Canadian province of Ontario. It is a crown corporation wholly owned by the Government of Ontario....
. Despite its diverse range of power options, problems related to increasing consumption, lack of energy efficiency and aging nuclear reactors, Ontario has been forced in recent years to purchase power from its neighbours Quebec and Michigan to supplement its power needs during peak consumption periods.
An abundance of
natural resourceNatural resources occur naturally within environments that exist relatively undisturbed by mankind, in a natural form. A natural resource is often characterized by amounts of biodiversity existent in various ecosystems.Natural resources are derived from the environment...
s, excellent transportation links to the American heartland and the inland Great Lakes making ocean access possible via
container shipContainer ships are cargo ships that carry all of their load in truck-size intermodal containers, in a technique called containerization. They form a common means of commercial intermodal freight transport.- History :...
s, have all contributed to making
manufacturingManufacturing is the use of machines, tools and labor to make things for use or sale. The term may refer to a range of human activity, from handicraft to high tech, but is most commonly applied to industrial production, in which raw materials are transformed into finished goods on a large scale...
the principal
industryAn industry is the manufacturing of a good or service within a category. Although industry is a broad term for any kind of economic production, in economics and urban planning industry is a synonym for the secondary sector, which is a type of economic activity involved in the manufacturing of raw...
, found mainly in the Golden Horseshoe region, which is the largest industrialized area in Canada, the southern end of the region being part of the North American
Rust BeltThe Rust Belt, also known as the Manufacturing Belt, is an area in parts of the Northeastern United States, Mid-Atlantic States, and portions of the Upper Midwest. The region can be broadly defined as the region beginning west of the BosWash corridor and running west to Minnesota, particularly the...
. Important products include
motor vehicleA motor vehicle is a wheeled vehicle whose propulsion is provided by an engine or motor . The internal combustion engine is the most common motor choice, although electric motors or other types are sometimes used. Motor vehicles or road vehicles typically run on public roads...
s,
ironIron is a metallic chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. Iron is a group 8 and period 4 element and is therefore classified as a transition metal. Iron and iron alloys are by far the most common metals and the most common ferromagnetic materials in everyday use...
,
steelSteel is an alloy consisting mostly of iron, with a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.1% by weight, depending on the grade. Carbon is the most cost-effective alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten...
, food, electrical appliances, machinery,
chemicalA chemical substance is a material with a specific chemical composition.A common example of a chemical substance is pure water; it has the same properties and the same ratio of hydrogen to oxygen whether it is isolated from a river or made in a laboratory. Some typical chemical substances are...
s, and
paperPaper is thin material mainly used for writing upon, printing upon or for packaging. It is produced by pressing together moist fibers, typically cellulose pulp derived from wood, rags or grasses, and drying them into flexible sheets....
. Ontario surpassed Michigan in
carAn automobile, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor...
production, assembling 2.696 million vehicles in 2004.
However, as a result of steeply declining sales, on November 21, 2005,
General MotorsGeneral Motors Company, often known as simply GM, is a United States based automaker with headquarters in Detroit, Michigan. GM was the world's 18th largest corporate entity and third largest automaker as ranked by 2008 revenues on the Fortune Global 500. Ranked by global unit sales for 2008, it...
announced massive layoffs at production facilities across North America including two large GM plants in
OshawaOshawa is a city in Ontario, Canada, on the Lake Ontario shoreline. It lies in Southern Ontario approximately 60 kilometres east of downtown Toronto. It is commonly viewed as the eastern anchor of both the Greater Toronto Area and the Golden Horseshoe...
and a
drive trainIn a motor vehicle, the term powertrain or powerplant refers to the group of components that generate power and deliver it to the road surface, water, or air. This includes the engine, transmission, driveshafts, differentials, and the final drive...
facility in St. Catharines resulting in 8,000 job losses in Ontario alone. In 2006,
Ford Motor CompanyThe Ford Motor Company is an American multinational corporation based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford, Lincoln, and Mercury brands, Ford also owns Volvo Cars of Sweden, and a small stake...
announced between 25,000 and 30,000 layoffs phased until 2012; Ontario was spared the worst, but job losses were announced for the
St. ThomasSt. Thomas is a city in Southern , Ontario, Canada. It is the seat for Elgin County and gained its city charter on March 4, 1881.-History:The city, located at the intersection of two historical roads, was first settled in 1810...
facility and the
Windsor CastingWindsor Casting Plant was an Iron Foundry owned by Ford Motor Company in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. The plant first opened November 9, 1934 and was located next to Ford Windsor engine plant in downtown Windsor. It was known to area residents as the "Foundry"...
plant. However, these losses will be offset by Ford's recent announcement of a
hybrid vehicleA hybrid vehicle is a vehicle that uses two or more distinct power sources to move the vehicle. The term most commonly refers to hybrid electric vehicles , which combine an internal combustion engine and one or more electric motors.-Power:...
facility slated to begin production in 2007 at its
OakvilleOakville is a town in Halton Region, on Lake Ontario in Southern Ontario, Canada, and is part of the Greater Toronto Area.-History:In 1793, Dundas Street was surveyed for a military road...
plant and GM's re-introduction of the
CamaroThe Chevrolet Camaro is an automobile manufactured by the Chevrolet division of General Motors, classified as a pony car. The "F" Body owes its creation to John Delorean who wanted to build a "sport car" called "Banshee" it was much like the Chevy "vette" but for Pontiac Motor Division, after a...
which will be produced in Oshawa. On December 4, 2008 Toyota announced the grand opening of the
RAV4The Toyota RAV4, pronounced "rav-four" outside of Japan, is a compact crossover SUV built and marketed by the Toyota Motor Corporation. It was the first compact crossover SUV introduced in Japan and Europe in 1994 and sales began in North America in 1996 to cater to consumers wanting a vehicle that...
plant in
WoodstockWoodstock is a city and the county seat of Oxford County in Southern Ontario, Canada. Woodstock is located 128 km southwest of Toronto, north of Highway 401 along the historic Thames River...
, and
Hondais a Japanese multinational corporation primarily known as a manufacturer of automobiles and motorcycles. Honda is the world's largest manufacturer of motorcycles as well as the world's largest manufacturer of internal combustion engines measured by volume. Honda surpassed Nissan in 2001 to become...
also has plans to add an engine plant at its facility in
AllistonAlliston, Ontario is a community in Simcoe County in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is part of the Town of New Tecumseth, the 1991 amalgamation of Alliston and nearby villages Beeton, Tottenham, and the Township of Tecumseth...
.
Toronto, the capital of Ontario, is the centre of Canada's
financial services Financial services refer to services provided by the finance industry. The finance industry encompasses a broad range of organizations that deal with the management of money. Among these organizations are banks, credit card companies, insurance companies, consumer finance companies, stock...
and banking industry. Neighbouring cities in the Greater Toronto Area like
BramptonBrampton is the third-largest city in the Greater Toronto Area of Ontario, Canada.Brampton may also refer to:- Canada :* Brampton, a city in Ontario** Brampton GO Station, a station in the GO Transit network located in the city- United Kingdom :...
, Mississauga and
VaughanVaughan is a city in Ontario, Canada.Vaughan may also refer to:* Vaughan's Identity* Vaughan , list of people with this name* Vaughan , in Ontario, Canada* Vaughan, Mississippi, US* Vaughan Springs, Victoria, Australia...
are large product distribution and IT centres, in addition to having various manufacturing industries. The
information technologyInformation technology , as defined by the Information Technology Association of America , is "the study, design, development, implementation, support or management of computer-based information systems, particularly software applications and computer hardware." IT deals with the use of electronic...
sector is also important, particularly in the Silicon Valley North section of
OttawaOttawa is the capital of Canada and a municipality within the Province of Ontario. Located in the Ottawa Valley in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario, the city lies on the southern banks of the Ottawa River, a major waterway forming the local boundary between the Provinces of Ontario and...
, as well as the Waterloo Region. Government is the single largest employer in the
National Capital RegionThe National Capital Region is an official federal designation for the Canadian capital of Ottawa, Ontario, the neighbouring city of Gatineau, Quebec, and the surrounding area....
employing hundreds of thousands. Hamilton is the largest steel manufacturing city in Canada, and
SarniaSarnia is a city in Southern Ontario, Canada . It is the largest city on Lake Huron and is located where the upper Great Lakes empty into the St. Clair River....
is the centre for
petrochemicalPetrochemicals are chemical products made from raw materials of petroleum or other hydrocarbon origin. Although some of the chemical compounds that originate from petroleum may also be derived from coal and natural gas, petroleum is the major source...
production.
ConstructionIn the fields of architecture and civil engineering, construction is a process that consists of the building or assembling of infrastructure. Far from being a single activity, large scale construction is a feat of multitasking...
employs at least 7% of the work force, this sector has slowed down somewhat after a ten year plus boom.
MiningMining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, usually from an ore body, vein or seam. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock salt and potash...
and the
forest productsForestry is the art and science of managing forests, tree plantations, and related natural resources. The main goal of forestry is to create and implement systems that allow forests to continue a sustainable continuation of environmental supplies and services...
industry, notably
pulp and paperThe pulp and paper industry in Canada is one of the country's most important and profitable industries. It is especially concentrated in British Columbia and Quebec but plays an important role in many other provinces.- Leading companies :...
, are vital to the economy of Northern Ontario. More than any other region, tourism contributes heavily to the economy of Central Ontario, peaking during the summer months owing to the abundance of
fresh waterFresh Water is the debut album by Australian rock and blues singer Alison McCallum, released in 1972. Rare for an Australian artist at the time, it came in a gatefold sleeve...
recreation and wilderness found there in reasonable proximity to the major urban centres. At other times of the year,
huntingHunting is the practice of pursuing living animals for food, recreation, or trade. In present-day use, the term refers to lawful hunting, as distinguished from poaching, which is the killing, trapping or capture of the hunted species contrary to applicable law...
,
skiingSkiing is a group of sports using skis as equipment for traveling over snow. Skis are used in conjunction with boots that connect to the ski with use of a binding....
and
snowmobilingA snowmobile, also known in some places as a snowmachine, sled, or skimobile , is a land vehicle for travel on snow that is commonly propelled by a continuous track or tracks at the rear and steered by skis at the front....
are popular. This region has some of the most vibrant fall colour displays anywhere on the continent, and tours directed at overseas visitors are organized to see them. Tourism also plays a key role in border cities with large casinos, among them Windsor,
CornwallCornwall is a city in Eastern Ontario, Canada and the seat of the United Counties of Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry, Ontario. Cornwall is Ontario's easternmost city, located on the St...
, Sarnia and
Niagara FallsNiagara Falls is a Canadian city of 83,184 residents on the Niagara River in the Golden Horseshoe region of Southern Ontario. Across the river is Niagara Falls, New York...
, which attract many U.S. visitors.
Agriculture
Once the dominant industry,
agricultureAgriculture is the production of food and goods through farming and forestry. Agriculture was the key development that led to the rise of human civilization, with the husbandry of domesticated animals and plants creating food surpluses that enabled the development of more densely populated and...
occupies a small percentage of the population but still a large part of Southern Ontario's land area. The number of farms has decreased from 68,633 in 1991 to 59,728 in 2001, but farms have increased in average size, and many are becoming more mechanized. Cattle, small grains and
dairyA dairy is a facility for the extraction and processing of animal milk—mostly from cows or goats, but also from buffalo, sheep, horses or camels —for human consumption. Typically it is a farm or section of a farm that is concerned with the production of milk, butter and...
were the common types of farms in the 2001 census. The fruit, grape and vegetable growing industry is located primarily on the
Niagara PeninsulaThe Niagara Peninsula is the portion of Southern Ontario, Canada lying between the south shore of Lake Ontario and the north shore of Lake Erie. It stretches from the Niagara River in the east to Hamilton, Ontario in the west. The population of the peninsula is roughly 1,000,000 people...
and along Lake Erie, where
tobaccoTobacco is an agricultural product processed from the leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as an organic pesticide, and in the form of nicotine tartrate it is used in some medicines. In consumption it most commonly appears in the forms of smoking, chewing, snuffing, or...
farms are also situated. The Corn Belt continues into the southwestern area of the province. Apple orchards are a common sight along the southern shore of Georgian Bay near Collingwood and along the northern shore of Lake Ontario around Cobourg. Tobacco production, centred in
Norfolk CountyNorfolk County is a rural city-status single-tier municipality on the north shore of Lake Erie in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. The county seat is Simcoe. The population in 2006 was 62,563.-History:...
has decreased leading to an increase in some other new crop alternatives gaining popularity, such as
hazelnutsThe Common Hazel is a species of hazel native to Europe and western Asia, from the British Isles south to Iberia, Greece, Turkey and Cyprus, north to central Scandinavia, and east to the central Ural Mountains, the Caucasus, and northwestern Iran. It is an important component of the hedgerows that...
and
ginsengGinseng is any one of eleven distinct species of slow-growing perennial plants with fleshy roots, in the Panax genus, in the family Araliaceae. It grows in the Northern Hemisphere in eastern Asia , typically in cooler climates; Panax vietnamensis, discovered in Vietnam, is the southernmost ginseng...
. The Ontario origins of
Massey FergusonMassey Ferguson Limited was a major agricultural equipment manufacturer which was based in Canada before its purchase by AGCO. The company was formed by a merger between Massey Harris and the Ferguson tractor company in 1953, creating the company Massey Harris Ferguson. However in 1958 the name was...
, once one of the largest
farm implementAgricultural machinery is machinery used in the operation of an agricultural area or farm.-The Industrial Revolution:With the coming of the Industrial Revolution and the development of more complicated machines, farming methods took a great leap forward. Instead of harvesting grain by hand with a...
manufacturers in the world, indicate the importance agriculture once had to the Canadian economy.
Southern OntarioSouthern Ontario is the portion of the Canadian province of Ontario lying south of the French River and Algonquin Park. Depending on the inclusion of the Parry Sound and Muskoka districts, its surface area would cover between 14-15% of the province. It is the southernmost region of Canada.Southern...
's limited supply of agricultural land is going out of production at an increasing rate.
Urban sprawlUrban sprawl, also known as suburban sprawl, is the spreading outwards of a city and its suburbs over rural land and to its outskirts. The problem of urban sprawl is that it is costly to initiate the development of new infrastructure adequate enough to support its residents...
and farmland severances contribute to the loss of thousands of acres of productive agricultural land in Ontario each year. Over 2,000 farms and of farmland in the GTA alone were lost to production in the two decades between 1976 and 1996. This loss represented approximately 18% of Ontario's Class 1 farmland being converted to urban purposes. In addition, increasing rural severances provide ever-greater interference with agricultural production.
The 500,000, or so, acres (200,000 ha) comprising the black peat soil
Holland MarshThe Holland Marsh is a flat intensive muck crop farming region in Ontario, Canada consisting of fertile peat moss. It is located in the floodlands of the Holland River, a waterway that flows into Lake Simcoe, located northwest of Toronto, near Bradford-West Gwillimbury, Ontario.-Agriculture:The...
, located just south of
Lake SimcoeLake Simcoe is a lake in southern Ontario, Canada, the twelfth-largest lake in the province. It is also one of the world's largest freshwater lakes to freeze over completely in the winter....
and near the town of
Bradford West GwillimburyBradford West Gwillimbury, a town in south-central Ontario, in the County of Simcoe in the Greater Toronto Area on the Holland River. West Gwillimbury takes its name from the family of Elizabeth Simcoe, nee Gwillim....
( north of Toronto) continues to be Canada's premier vegetable production center.
Energy
The Green Energy and Green Economy Act, 2009 (GEA), takes a two-pronged approach to creating a
renewable-energy economyA renewable-energy economy is an economy and society where all energy comes from renewable resources .- European Union :...
. The first is to bring more
renewable energy sourcesA natural resource is a renewable resource if it is replaced by natural processes at a rate comparable or faster than its rate of consumption by humans. Solar radiation, tides, winds and hydroelectricity are perpetual resources that are in no danger of a lack of long-term availability...
to the province and the second is the creation of more
energy efficiencyEfficient energy use, sometimes simply called energy efficiency, is using less energy to provide the same level of energy service.For example, insulating a home allows a building to use less heating and cooling energy to achieve the same temperature...
measures to help
conserve energyEnergy conservation is the practice of decreasing the quantity of energy used. It may be achieved through efficient energy use, in which case energy use is decreased while achieving a similar outcome, or by reduced consumption of energy services...
. The bill would also appoint a Renewable Energy Facilitator to provide "one-window" assistance and support to project developers in order to facilitate project approvals. The approvals process for transmission projects would also be streamlined and for the first time in Ontario, the bill would enact standards for renewable energy projects. homeowners would have access to incentives to develop small-scale renewables such as low- or no-interest
loanA loan is a type of debt. Like all debt instruments, a loan entails the redistribution of financial assets over time, between the lender and the borrower....
s to finance the capital cost of renewable energy generating facilities like solar panels.
Transportation
Historically, the province has used two major east-west routes, both starting from Montreal in the neighbouring province of Quebec. The northerly route, which was pioneered by early French-speaking
fur tradeThe fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur.-Russian fur trade:Before the colonization of the Americas, Russia was a major supplier of fur-pelts to Western Europe and parts of Asia. Fur was a major Russian export as trade developed in the early Middle...
rs, travels northwest from Montreal along the
Ottawa RiverThe Ottawa River is a river in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. It defines for most of its length the border between these two provinces.-Geography:...
, then continues westward towards Manitoba. Major cities on or near the route include Ottawa, North Bay, Sudbury,
Sault Ste. MarieSault Ste. Marie is a city on the St. Marys River in Ontario, Canada. It is the third largest city in Northern Ontario, after Sudbury and Thunder Bay, with a population of 74,948. Residents of the city are called Saultites...
, and Thunder Bay. The much more heavily travelled southerly route, which was driven by growth in predominantly English-speaking settlements originated by the United Empire Loyalists and later other European immigrants, travels southwest from Montreal along the St. Lawrence River, Lake Ontario, and Lake Erie before entering the United States in Michigan. Major cities on or near the route include Kingston, Oshawa, Toronto, Mississauga,
Kitchener-WaterlooKitchener-Waterloo is an unofficial but ubiquitous name for the area in Southern Ontario, Canada, consisting of the twin cities of Kitchener and Waterloo, approximately 100 kilometres west of Toronto. The two cities grew into each other decades ago and their boundary cuts through streets,...
, London, Sarnia, and Windsor. This route was also heavily used by immigrants to the Midwestern US particularly in the late 19th century. Most of Ontario's major transportation infrastructure is oriented east-west and roughly follows one of these two original routes.
Roads
400-Series HighwaysThe 400-series highways are a network of controlled-access freeways throughout the southern portion of the province of Ontario, Canada, forming a special subset of the provincial highway system. They function similarly to the Interstate Highway network in the United States...
make up the primary vehicular network in the south of province, and they connect to numerous border crossings with the U.S., the busiest being the
Detroit–Windsor TunnelThe Detroit–Windsor Tunnel is a partially submerged highway tunnel connecting Detroit, Michigan in the United States, with Windsor, Ontario in Canada. It was completed in 1930....
and
Ambassador BridgeThe Ambassador Bridge is a suspension bridge that connects Detroit, Michigan, in the United States, with Windsor, Ontario, in Canada. The bridge is owned by the Detroit International Bridge Co., which is controlled by Grosse Pointe billionaire Manuel "Matty" Moroun. The Detroit-Windsor Tunnel also...
(via
Highway 401The King's Highway 401 is a highway that extends across Southern Ontario, Canada. It is the longest 400-Series Highway in Ontario, and one of the widest and busiest highways in the world. In fact, the segment of Highway 401 passing through Toronto has the distinction of being North America's...
) and the
Blue Water BridgeThe Blue Water Bridge is a twin-span international bridge spanning the St. Clair River that links Port Huron, Michigan, USA to Point Edward, Ontario, a small suburb of Sarnia, Ontario, Canada. The Blue Water Bridge connects with Highway 402 in Ontario and with both Interstate 69 and Interstate 94...
(via
Highway 402Highway 402 is a 400-Series Highway in southwestern Ontario, Canada that runs 103 km from the Blue Water Bridge in Point Edward to Highway 401 in London. It is one of two vital trade links between Ontario and the Midwestern United States and is generally not as congested as other routes...
). The primary highway along the southern route is Highway 401/Highway of Heroes, the busiest highway in North America and the backbone of Ontario's road network, tourism, and economy, while the primary highways across the north are
Highway 417Highway 417 is a 400-series highway in Eastern Ontario. It is the backbone of the transportation system in the Ottawa region, where it is known as the Queensway . It extends from the Quebec border to Arnprior, where it continues westward as Highway 17...
/
Highway 17Highway 17 is the primary route of the Trans-Canada Highway through Ontario, Canada. It begins at the western limit of Highway 417 near Arnprior, and continues west to the Manitoba border....
and
Highway 11Highway 11 is one of the longest of Ontario's King's Highways, with a current length of 1,780 kilometres . Highway 11 begins at Highway 400 in Barrie, and stretches across northern Ontario, around Lake Superior, to the Ontario/Minnesota border at Rainy River...
, both part of the
Trans-Canada HighwayThe Trans-Canada Highway is a federal-provincial highway system that joins the ten provinces of Canada. It is, along with the Trans-Siberian Highway and Australia's Highway 1, one of the world's longest national highways, with the main route spanning 8,030 km...
.
Highway 400The King's Highway 400, more commonly known as Highway 400 or the 400, is a key north-south 400-Series Highway in the Canadian province of Ontario that links the city of Toronto to the central and northern sections of the province...
/
Highway 69Highway 69 is a major north-south highway in Central and Northern Ontario, linking Sudbury with Highway 400 in Parry Sound.The current highway begins at the Highway 400 interchange south of MacTier , and ends at an interchange with Highway 17 in Sudbury...
connects Toronto to Northern Ontario. Other
provincial highways and regional roads inter-connect the remainder of the province.
Waterways
The
Saint Lawrence SeawayThe St. Lawrence Seaway is the common name for a system of canals that permits ocean-going vessels to travel from the Atlantic Ocean to the North American Great Lakes, as far as Lake Superior. Legally it extends from Montreal to Lake Erie, including the Welland Canal and the locks at Sault Ste....
, which extends across most of the southern portion of the province and connects to the Atlantic Ocean, is the primary
water transportationWater transportation is the intentional movement of water over large distances. Methods of transportation fall into three categories:*Aqueducts, which include pipelines, canals, and tunnels,...
route for cargo, particularly
iron oreIron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, deep purple, to rusty red. The iron itself is usually found in the form of magnetite , hematite , goethite, limonite or...
and grain. In the past, the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River were also a major passenger transportation route, but over the past half century passenger travel has been reduced to ferry services and sightseeing cruises.
Railways
Via RailVIA Rail Canada is an independent Crown corporation offering intercity passenger rail services in Canada....
operates the inter-regional passenger train service on the Quebec City – Windsor Corridor, along with "
The CanadianThe Canadian is a Canadian transcontinental passenger train originally operated by the Canadian Pacific Railway. It is currently operated by VIA Rail Canada with service between Union Station in Toronto, Ontario and Pacific Central Station in Vancouver, British Columbia...
", a transcontinental rail service from Toronto to
VancouverVancouver is a coastal city and major seaport located in the Lower Mainland of southwestern British Columbia, Canada. The city is bounded by English Bay, Burrard Inlet, the Fraser River, the city of Burnaby, and the University Endowment Lands. Vancouver is named after Captain George Vancouver, a...
, and "The Lake Superior", a regional rail service from Sudbury to
White River-Places:Africa*The Bakoy River in West Africa, called the White River over a portion of its lengthCanada*White River *White River **White River Provincial Park*White River *White River...
. Additionally,
AmtrakThe National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak , is a government-owned corporation that was organized on May 1, 1971 to provide intercity passenger train service in the United States. "Amtrak" is a blend of the words "America" and "track". It is headquartered at Union Station...
rail connects Ontario with key New York cities including
BuffaloBuffalo is the second most populous city in the state of New York, second only to New York City. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River, Buffalo is the principal city of the Buffalo-Niagara Falls metropolitan area and the seat of Erie...
,
AlbanyAlbany is a city in the United States of America; it is the capital of the state of New York and the county seat of Albany County. Albany is roughly 136 miles north of the city of New York, and slightly south of the confluence of the Mohawk and Hudson Rivers. The city sits on the Hudson River and...
, and
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is among the most populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over worldwide commerce, finance, culture, fashion and entertainment...
.
Ontario NorthlandThe Ontario Northland Railway is a Canadian railway operated by the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission, a provincial Crown agency of the Government of Ontario....
provides rail service to destinations as far north as
MoosoneeMoosonee is a town in Ontario, Canada, on the Moose River approximately south of James Bay.Moosonee is the railhead on James Bay of the Ontario Northland Railway where goods are transferred to barges and aircraft for transport to more northerly communities...
near
James BayJames Bay is a large body of water on the southern end of Hudson Bay in Canada. Both bodies of water extend from the Arctic Ocean. James Bay borders the provinces of Quebec and Ontario; islands within the bay are part of Nunavut...
, connecting them with the south.
Freight railA freight train or goods train is a group of freight cars or goods wagons hauled by a locomotive on a railway, ultimately transporting cargo between two points as part of the logistics chain...
is dominated by the founding cross-country
Canadian National RailwayThe Canadian National Railway is a Canadian Class I railway operated by the Canadian National Railway Company headquartered in Montreal, Quebec....
and
CP RailThe Canadian Pacific Railway , known as CP Rail between 1968 and 1996, is a Canadian Class I railway operated by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited. Its rail network stretches from Vancouver to Montreal, and also serves major cities in the United States such as Minneapolis, Chicago, and New York City...
companies, which during the 1990s sold many
short rail linesA short line is an independent railroad company that operates over a relatively short distance. Short lines generally exist for one of three reasons: to link two industries requiring rail freight together ; to interchange revenue traffic with other, usually larger, railroads; or to operate a tourist...
from their vast network to private companies operating mostly in the south.
Regional commuter rail is limited to the provincially owned
GO TransitGO Transit is an interregional public transit system in Southern Ontario, Canada, currently operated by the provincial crown agency Metrolinx. It primarily serves the conurbation referred to by Metrolinx as the "Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area" with operations extending to several communities...
, which serves a train/bus network spanning the Golden Horseshoe region, with its hub in Toronto.
The
Toronto Transit CommissionThe Toronto Transit Commission is a public transport authority that operates buses, streetcars, subways, and rapid transit lines in Toronto, Ontario, Canada...
operates the province's only
subwayA rapid transit, metro, subway, underground, or elevated railway system is an electric passenger railway in an urban area with high capacity and frequency, and which is grade separated from other traffic. Rapid transit systems are typically either in underground tunnels or elevated above street level...
and
streetcarA tram, tramcar, trolley, trolleycar, or streetcar is a railborne vehicle, of lighter weight and construction than a conventional train, designed for the transport of passengers within, close to, or between villages, towns and/or cities, on tracks running primarily on streets...
system, one of the busiest in North America. Outside of Toronto, the
O-TrainThe O-Train is a light-rail transit service in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The present line runs north-south on a railway line, from Bayview to Greenboro, a distance of approximately...
Light railLight rail or light rail transit is a form of urban rail public transportation that generally has a lower capacity and lower speed than heavy rail and metro systems, but higher capacity and higher speed than traditional street-running tram systems...
line operates in Ottawa with expansion of the line and proposals for additional lines.
Air travel
Toronto Pearson International AirportToronto Pearson International Airport, also known as Lester B. Pearson International Airport or simply Toronto Pearson , is a major international airport serving Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is situated northwest of Downtown Toronto in the city of Mississauga, Ontario...
is the nation's busiest and the world's 29th busiest, handling over 30 million passengers per year. Other important airports include
Ottawa Macdonald-Cartier International AirportOttawa/Macdonald-Cartier International Airport or Macdonald-Cartier International Airport , in Ottawa Ontario, Canada is named after Sirs John A. Macdonald and George-Étienne Cartier...
and Hamilton's John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport, which is an important courier and freight aviation centre. Toronto/Pearson and Ottawa/Macdonald-Cartier form two of the three points in Canada's busiest set of air routes (the third point is
Montréal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International AirportMontréal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport or Montréal-Trudeau, formerly known as Montréal-Dorval International Airport, is located in the city of Dorval, on the Island of Montréal, from Montréal's downtown core...
).
Most Ontario cities have regional airports, many of which have scheduled commuter flights from
Air Canada JazzAir Canada Jazz is a Canadian regional airline based at Halifax Stanfield International Airport in Enfield, Nova Scotia, that is operated by Jazz Air Income Fund ....
or smaller airlines and charter companies — flights from the larger cities such as Thunder Bay, Sault Ste. Marie, Sudbury, North Bay, Timmins, Windsor, London, and Kingston feed directly into Toronto Pearson.
Bearskin AirlinesBearskin Lake Air Services Ltd., trading as Bearskin Airlines, is a regional airline based in Sioux Lookout, Ontario, Canada. It operates services in northern Ontario and Manitoba...
also runs flights along the northerly east-west route, connecting Ottawa, North Bay, Sudbury, Sault Ste. Marie, and Thunder Bay directly without requiring connections at Toronto Pearson.
Isolated towns and settlements in the northern areas of the province rely partly or entirely on
air serviceAn airline provides air transport services for passengers or freight, generally with a recognized operating certificate or license. Airlines lease or own their aircraft with which to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for mutual benefit.Airlines vary...
for travel, goods, and even
ambulanceAn air ambulance is an aircraft used for emergency medical assistance in situations where either a traditional ambulance cannot reach the scene easily or quickly enough, or the patient needs to be transported over a distance or terrain that makes air transportation the most practical transport...
services (MEDIVAC), since much of the far northern area of the province cannot be reached by road or rail.
Government
The
British North America Act 1867 section 69 stipulated "There shall be a Legislature for Ontario consisting of the Lieutenant Governor and of One House, styled the
Legislative Assembly of OntarioThe Legislative Assembly of Ontario , is the legislature of the Canadian province of Ontario...
." The assembly has 107 seats representing
ridingAn electoral district in Canada, also known as a constituency or a riding in Canadian English political terminology, is a geographically-based constituency upon which Canada's representative democracy is based...
s elected in a
first-past-the-postThe plurality voting system is a single-winner voting system often used to elect executive officers or to elect members of a legislative assembly which is based on single-member constituencies....
system across the province. The legislative buildings at Queen's Park in Toronto are the seat of government. Following the
Westminster systemThe Westminster system is a democratic parliamentary system of government modelled after the politics of the United Kingdom. This term comes from the Palace of Westminster, the seat of the Parliament of the United Kingdom....
, the leader of the party holding the most seats in the assembly is known as the "Premier and President of the Council" (Executive Council Act R.S.O. 1990). The Premier chooses the
cabinetA Cabinet is a body of high-ranking members of government, typically representing the executive branch. It can also sometimes be referred to as the Council of Ministers, an Executive Council, or Executive Committee.- Overview :...
or
Executive CouncilThe Executive Council of Ontario plays an important role in the Government of Ontario, in accordance with the Westminster system....
whose members are deemed "ministers of the Crown." Although the
Legislative Assembly Act (R.S.O. 1990) refers to
members of the assembly, the legislators are now commonly called MPPs (
Members of the Provincial Parliament) in English and
députés de l'Assemblée législative in French, but they have also been called MLAs (
Members of the Legislative AssemblyA Member of the Legislative Assembly, or MLA, is a representative elected by the voters of an electoral district to the legislature or legislative assembly of a subnational jurisdiction.-Australia:...
), and both are acceptable. The title of
Prime Minister of Ontario, correct in French (
le Premier ministre), is permissible in English but now generally avoided in favour of the title "Premier" to avoid confusion with the Prime Minister of Canada.
Politics
Ontario has traditionally operated under a three-party system. In the last few decades the liberal
Ontario Liberal PartyThe Ontario Liberal Party is a centrist provincial political party in the province of Ontario, Canada. It has formed the Government of Ontario since the provincial election of 2003. The party is ideologically aligned with the Liberal Party of Canada but the two parties are organizationally...
, conservative
Progressive Conservative Party of OntarioThe Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario , is a right-of-centre political party in Ontario, Canada. The party was known for many years as "Ontario's natural governing party." It has ruled the province for 80 of the years since Confederation, including an uninterrupted run from 1943 to 1985...
, and social-democratic
Ontario New Democratic PartyThe Ontario New Democratic Party, formally known as New Democratic Party of Ontario, is a social democratic political party in Ontario, Canada. It is a section of the federal New Democratic Party.-Origins:...
have all ruled the province at different times.
Ontario is currently under a Liberal government headed by Premier
Dalton McGuintyDalton James Patrick McGuinty, Jr., MPP is a Canadian lawyer and politician and, since October 23, 2003, premier of the Canadian province of Ontario...
. The present government, first elected in 2003,
was re-electedThe Ontario general election of 2007 was held on October 10 2007 to elect members of the 39th Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, Canada. The Liberals under Dalton McGuinty won the election with a majority government, winning 71 out of a possible 107 seats with 42.2% of the popular vote...
on 10 October 2007.
Federally, Ontario is known as being the province that offers strong support for the
Liberal Party of CanadaThe Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is a major political party in Canada. The party sits between the centre-left and centre of the Canadian political spectrum. The party currently forms the Official Opposition in the Parliament of Canada since the 2006 federal election...
. Currently, half of the party's 76 seats in the
Canadian House of CommonsThe House of Commons is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the Sovereign and the Senate.
The House of Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 308 members known as Members of Parliament .
Members are elected by simple...
represent Ontario ridings, although, in the
2008 federal electionThe 2008 Canadian federal election was held on Tuesday, October 14, 2008 to elect members to the Canadian House of Commons of the 40th Canadian Parliament after the previous parliament had been dissolved by the Governor General on September 7, 2008...
, for the first time since the
MulroneyMartin Brian Mulroney, PC, CC, GOQ was the eighteenth Prime Minister of Canada from September 17, 1984, to June 25, 1993 and was leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada from 1983 to 1993. His tenure as Prime Minister was marked by the introduction of highly contentious economic...
government, the
ConservativesThe Conservative Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Tories, is a political party in Canada which was formed by the merger of the Canadian Alliance and the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada in 2003. The party is positioned on the right of the Canadian political spectrum...
won a plurality of the seats and the vote. As the province has the most seats of any province in Canada, earning support from Ontario voters is considered a crucial matter for any party hoping to win a Canadian federal election.
Census Metropolitan Areas
Statistics Canada's measure of a "metro area", the Census Metropolitan Area (CMA), roughly bundles together population figures from the core municipality with those from "commuter" municipalities.
| CMA (largest other included municipalities in brackets) |
2006 |
2001 |
| Toronto The Greater Toronto Area is the most populous metropolitan area in Canada. The GTA is a provincial planning area in Southern Ontario with a population of 5,555,912 at the 2006 Canadian Census...
CMA (Region of Peel, Region of York, PickeringPickering is a city located in Southern Ontario, Canada immediately east of Toronto in Durham Region. It is part of the Greater Toronto Area .-Demographics:...
) |
5,113,149 |
4,682,897 |
| Ottawa The National Capital Region is an official federal designation for the Canadian capital of Ottawa, Ontario, the neighbouring city of Gatineau, Quebec, and the surrounding area....
CMA (GatineauGatineau is a city in western Quebec, Canada, the third largest by population in the province. It is situated on the northern bank of the Ottawa River, immediately across from Ottawa, Ontario, and is located within Canada's National Capital Region...
, Clarence-RocklandClarence-Rockland is a bilingual city in Eastern Ontario, Canada, in the United Counties of Prescott and Russell on the Ottawa River. Clarence-Rockland is located immediately to the east of Ottawa and is considered part of Canada's National Capital Region in the census.The city is 68 per cent...
, RussellRussell is a township, located south-east of Canada's capital of Ottawa in eastern Ontario, in the United Counties of Prescott and Russell, on the Castor River...
)* |
1,130,761* |
1,067,800* |
HamiltonHamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Conceived by George Hamilton when he purchased the Durand farm shortly after the War of 1812, Hamilton has become the centre of a densely populated and industrialized region at the west end of Lake Ontario known as the Golden Horseshoe...
CMA (BurlingtonBurlington is a city located in Southern Ontario at the western end of Lake Ontario, lying between the north shore of Lake Ontario and the ridge of the Niagara Escarpment. Politically, the city is part of Halton Region...
, GrimsbyGrimsby is a town on Lake Ontario in the Niagara Region, Ontario, Canada. Grimsby is a part of the Hamilton Census Metropolitan Area. The majority of residents reside in the area bounded by Lake Ontario and the Niagara escarpment...
) |
692,911 |
662,401 |
| London London is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada along the Quebec City-Windsor Corridor with a metropolitan area population of 457,720; the city proper had a population of 352,395 in the 2006 Canadian census....
CMA (St. ThomasSt. Thomas is a city in Southern , Ontario, Canada. It is the seat for Elgin County and gained its city charter on March 4, 1881.-History:The city, located at the intersection of two historical roads, was first settled in 1810...
, Strathroy-CaradocStrathroy-Caradoc is a municipality located just west of London, Ontario, Canada. It was created through the merger of the former township of Caradoc and the town of Strathroy in the late 1990s. Its two largest settlements are Strathroy and Mount Brydges.Strathroy-Caradoc is a primarily rural...
) |
457,720 |
435,600 |
KitchenerThe City of Kitchener is a city in Southern Ontario, Canada. It was the Town of Berlin from 1854 until 1912 and the City of Berlin from 1912 until 1916. The city had a population of 204,668 in the Canada 2006 Census...
CMA (CambridgeCambridge is a city located in Southern Ontario on the Grand River and Speed River in the Region of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. It is composed of the former city of Galt, town of Preston, and town of Hespeler, Ontario. covers the largest portion of Cambridge, taking up the southern half of the city...
, WaterlooWaterloo is a city in Southern Ontario, Canada. It is the smallest of the three cities in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo, and is adjacent to the larger city of Kitchener....
) |
451,235 |
414,284 |
St. Catharines CMA (Niagara FallsNiagara Falls is a Canadian city of 83,184 residents on the Niagara River in the Golden Horseshoe region of Southern Ontario. Across the river is Niagara Falls, New York...
, WellandWelland is a city in the Regional Municipality of Niagara in Southern Ontario, Canada....
) |
390,317 |
377,009 |
OshawaOshawa is a city in Ontario, Canada, on the Lake Ontario shoreline. It lies in Southern Ontario approximately 60 kilometres east of downtown Toronto. It is commonly viewed as the eastern anchor of both the Greater Toronto Area and the Golden Horseshoe...
CMA (WhitbyWhitby is a town in Ontario, Canada. Whitby is located in Southern Ontario east of Toronto on the north shore of Lake Ontario, and is home to the headquarters of Durham Region...
, ClaringtonClarington is a municipality in Ontario, Canada in the Regional Municipality of Durham. It took its present name in 1994 after having been known as the Town of Newcastle from 1974-93. The name change was made to alleviate long-standing confusion between the municipality as a whole and the included...
) |
330,594 |
296,298 |
WindsorWindsor is the southernmost major city in Canada and lies in Southwestern Ontario at the western end of the heavily populated Quebec City-Windsor Corridor. It is within Essex County, although administratively separated from the county government. Windsor is located south of Detroit, is separated...
CMA (LakeshoreLakeshore is a town in southwestern Ontario, Canada on Lake St. Clair. It is located in Essex County. The town was incorporated in 1999 by amalgamating the separate townships of Maidstone, Rochester, Tilbury North and Tilbury West....
, LaSalleLaSalle is a town in Essex County, Ontario. It is located on the Detroit River, south of the City of Windsor. LaSalle, along with Windsor, is the oldest French settlement area in Southwestern Ontario, and the oldest continually inhabited European settlement in Canada west of the Quebec border. The...
) |
323,342 |
307,877 |
| Barrie Barrie may refer to:* Barrie, city in Ontario, Canada* Barrie , Canadian federal electoral district* Barrie , provincial electoral district* Barrie—Simcoe—Bradford, former Canadian electoral district...
CMA (InnisfilInnisfil is a town in Ontario, Canada located on the western shore of Lake Simcoe in Simcoe County, immediately south of Barrie and 80 kilometers north of Toronto. It has historically been a rural area, but growth in the Barrie area and the Greater Toronto Area has meant greater residential...
, SpringwaterSpringwater is a township in central Ontario, Canada in Simcoe County near Barrie.-Communities:Anten Mills is centred on the intersection of Horseshoe Valley Road West and Wilson Drive , 15km northwest of Barrie. The community derived its name from a well known mill operating in the area in the...
) |
177,061 |
148,480 |
| Sudbury CMA (Whitefish Lake Whitefish Lake 6 is a reserve in Ontario, Canada. It is inhabited by the Ojibwa Whitefish Lake First Nation.It is immediately south of the community of Naughton in Greater Sudbury, and is considered part of Greater Sudbury's Census Metropolitan Area. In 2006, the community of Whitefish Lake had a...
, Wanapitei ReserveThe Wahnapitae First Nation is an Ojibwa First Nation in the Canadian province of Ontario, who primarily reside on the Wahnapitae 11 reserve on the northwestern shore of Lake Wanapitei. The First Nation is a signatory to the Robinson-Huron Treaty of 1850 as the Tahgaiwenene's Band...
) |
158,258 |
155,601 |
KingstonKingston, Ontario is a Canadian city located in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario, where Lake Ontario runs into the St. Lawrence River and the Thousand Islands begin.Kingston is the county seat of Frontenac County...
CMA |
152,358 |
146,838 |
*Parts of Quebec (including
GatineauGatineau is a city in western Quebec, Canada, the third largest by population in the province. It is situated on the northern bank of the Ottawa River, immediately across from Ottawa, Ontario, and is located within Canada's National Capital Region...
) are included in the Ottawa CMA. The entire population of the Ottawa CMA, in both provinces, is shown. Clarence-Rockland and Russell Township are not the second and third largest municipalities in the entire CMA, they are the largest municipalities in the Ontario section of the CMA.
Municipalities
Ten largest municipalities by population
| Municipality |
2006 |
2001 |
1996 |
TorontoToronto is the most populous city in Canada and the provincial capital of Ontario. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. With over 2.5 million residents, it is the fifth most populous municipality in North America...
(Provincial capital) |
2,503,281 |
2,481,494 |
2,385,421 |
OttawaOttawa is the capital of Canada and a municipality within the Province of Ontario. Located in the Ottawa Valley in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario, the city lies on the southern banks of the Ottawa River, a major waterway forming the local boundary between the Provinces of Ontario and...
(National capital) |
812,129 |
774,072 |
721,136 |
| Mississauga |
668,549 |
612,925 |
544,382 |
HamiltonHamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Conceived by George Hamilton when he purchased the Durand farm shortly after the War of 1812, Hamilton has become the centre of a densely populated and industrialized region at the west end of Lake Ontario known as the Golden Horseshoe...
|
504,559 |
490,268 |
467,799 |
| Brampton Brampton is the third-largest city in the Greater Toronto Area of Ontario, Canada.Brampton may also refer to:- Canada :* Brampton, a city in Ontario** Brampton GO Station, a station in the GO Transit network located in the city- United Kingdom :...
|
433,806 |
325,428 |
268,251 |
| London London is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada along the Quebec City-Windsor Corridor with a metropolitan area population of 457,720; the city proper had a population of 352,395 in the 2006 Canadian census....
|
352,395 |
336,539 |
325,669 |
| Markham Markham is a town of York Region, located in Southern Ontario and forms a part of the Greater Toronto Area. Markham is regarded as largest town in Canada, and regarded as one of the fastest growing municipalities in Canada, having doubled its population since 1990. The population of Markham...
|
261,573 |
208,615 |
173,383 |
| Vaughan Vaughan is a city in Ontario, Canada.Vaughan may also refer to:* Vaughan's Identity* Vaughan , list of people with this name* Vaughan , in Ontario, Canada* Vaughan, Mississippi, US* Vaughan Springs, Victoria, Australia...
|
238,866 |
182,022 |
132,549 |
WindsorWindsor is the southernmost major city in Canada and lies in Southwestern Ontario at the western end of the heavily populated Quebec City-Windsor Corridor. It is within Essex County, although administratively separated from the county government. Windsor is located south of Detroit, is separated...
|
216,473 |
209,218 |
197,694 |
KitchenerThe City of Kitchener is a city in Southern Ontario, Canada. It was the Town of Berlin from 1854 until 1912 and the City of Berlin from 1912 until 1916. The city had a population of 204,668 in the Canada 2006 Census...
|
204,668 |
190,399 |
178,420 |
Songs and slogans
During the
John RobartsJohn Parmenter Robarts, PC, CC, QC was a Canadian lawyer and statesman, and Premier of Ontario.Robarts was born in Banff, Alberta, making him the only Ontario premier not to have been born in Ontario...
government of the 1960s, the slogan "Is There Any Other Place You'd Rather Be?" was in use to promote tourism. During a
blizzardA blizzard is a severe winter storm condition characterized by low temperatures, strong winds, and heavy blowing snow...
early in 1971, highway travellers stranded at a Highway 401 service centre, with Premier Robarts (in his last months of office), asked him the slogan in an ironic twist.
In 1967, in conjunction with the celebration of
Canada's centennialThe Canadian Centennial was a year long celebration held in 1967 when Canada celebrated the 100th anniversary of the Canadian Confederation. Celebrations occurred throughout the year but culminated on Dominion Day, July 1. 1967 coins were different from previous years' issues, with animals on each...
, the song "
A Place to StandA Place to Stand, A Place to Grow was an unofficial anthem of the Canadian province of Ontario. The song was written as the signature tune for a movie of the same name that was featured at the Expo 67 Ontario pavilion....
" was introduced at the inauguration of Ontario's pavilion at the
Expo 67The 1967 International and Universal Exposition, or Expo 67 as it was commonly known, was the first First Category exhibition approved by the Bureau of International Exhibition in the Americas. It was held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, from April 28 to October 29, 1967...
World's Fair, and became the background for the province's advertising for decades.
In 1973 the first slogan to appear on
licence plates in OntarioThe province of Ontario first required its residents to register their vehicles and display licence plates in 1903. Along with regular series plates, the province also offers graphic plates and vanity plates with a maximum of 8 digits...
was "Keep It Beautiful". This was replaced by "Yours to Discover" in 1982, apparently inspired by a tourism slogan, "Discover Ontario," dating back to 1927. (From 1988 to 1990, "Ontario Incredible" gave "Yours to Discover" a brief respite.)
In 2007, a new song replaced "A Place to Stand" after four decades. "There's No Place Like This" (Un Endroit Sans Pareil) is featured in current
television advertisingA television advertisement or television commercial is a span of television programming produced and paid for by an organisation that conveys a message. Advertisement revenue provides a significant portion of the funding for most privately owned television networks...
, performed by Ontario artists including
Molly JohnsonMolly Johnson, O.C., is a Canadian Juno Award-winning singer-songwriter of pop and jazz.-Biography:Johnson began as a child performer, receiving formal training from the National Ballet School and the Banff School of Fine Arts....
,
Brian ByrneBrian Byrne is a Canadian singer-songwriter and musician, best recognized as the vocalist for I Mother Earth.-Biography:...
,
Tomi SwickTomi Swick is a Canadian singer-songwriter from Hamilton, Ontario signed to Warner Music Canada.By age 13, Swick had learned to play several instruments, including the bagpipes, military drums, piano and guitar. At 19 he began playing in a Hamilton band but soon pursued a solo career...
(from Hamilton) and
Keshia ChantéKeshia Chanté is a Canadian Juno Award-winning critically acclaimed, singer, songwriter, actress, Ford model, socialite, beauty queen and Fashionista...
(from Ottawa).
See also
- Coat of arms of Ontario
The Coat of Arms of Ontario was granted by Royal Warrant of Queen Victoria on 26 May 1868. The award of arms was augmented with supporters and a crest by Royal Warrant of King Edward VII on 27 February 1909.-Symbolism:CrestShield...
- Court of Appeal for Ontario
- Flag of Ontario
The current Flag of Ontario was proclaimed the official flag of the Canadian province of Ontario by the Flag Act on May 21, 1965. The flag is a defaced Red Ensign, with the Union Flag in the canton and the Ontario shield of arms in the fly....
- Great Seal of Ontario
- Northern Ontario
Northern Ontario is the part of the province of Ontario which lies north of Lake Huron , the French River and Lake Nipissing....
- Southern Ontario
Southern Ontario is the portion of the Canadian province of Ontario lying south of the French River and Algonquin Park. Depending on the inclusion of the Parry Sound and Muskoka districts, its surface area would cover between 14-15% of the province. It is the southernmost region of Canada.Southern...
- Southwestern Ontario
Southwestern Ontario is a subregion of Southern Ontario in the province of Ontario, centred on the city of London. It extends north to south from the Bruce Peninsula on Lake Huron to the Lake Erie shoreline, and east to south-west roughly from Kitchener to Windsor. These three urban centres make up...
- Eastern Ontario
Eastern Ontario is a subregion of Southern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario which lies in a wedge-shaped area between the Ottawa River and St. Lawrence River...
- Central Ontario
Central Ontario is a subregion of Southern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario which lies between Georgian Bay and the eastern end of Lake Ontario....
- List of airports in Ontario
- List of cities in Ontario
- List of communities in Ontario
- Higher education in Ontario
Higher education in Ontario includes postsecondary education and skills training regulated by the Ministry of Training, Colleges, and Universities and provided by universities, colleges of applied arts and technology, and private career colleges. The current minister is John Milloy who assumed the...
- List of colleges in Ontario
- List of universities in Ontario
- List of premiers of Ontario
- List of lieutenant governors of Ontario
- Ontario Provincial Police
The Ontario Provincial Police is the Provincial Police service for the province of Ontario, Canada.-Overview:The OPP is the largest deployed police force in Ontario and the second largest in Canada. The service is responsible for providing policing services throughout the province in areas...
- Ontario Superior Court of Justice
The Superior Court of Justice is the superior court of general jurisdiction for the Province of Ontario, Canada. It is the successor to the former Ontario Court of Justice , and was created on April 19 1999...
- Order of Ontario
The Order of Ontario is the most prestigious official honour in the Canadian province of Ontario. Instituted in 1986 by Lieutenant Governor Lincoln Alexander,
on the advice of the Cabinet under Premier David Peterson, the civilian order is administered by the...
- List of professional sports teams in Ontario
- Scouting and Guiding in Ontario
- Symbols of Ontario
Ontario is one of Canada's provinces, and has established several provincial symbols.-Official symbols:...
- Wikipedia:WikiProject Ontario/List of Ontario-related topics
External links