Encyclopedia
Ontario is the most populous and second-largest in area of
Canada's
ten provinces. It is found in east-central Canada and is considered one of the provinces of
Central Canada. Its capital is
Toronto.
Ottawa, the capital of Canada, is also located in Ontario, close to the border with Quebec. As of August 2006 there are 12,792,619 Ontarians , representing approximately 37.9% of the total Canadian population and an area of 1,076,395 square kilometres .
The province takes its name from
Lake Ontario, which in turn is derived from the
Iroquois word
Skanadario, meaning "beautiful lake" or "sparkling water".
Geography
Ontario is bounded on the north by
Hudson Bay and
James Bay, on the east by
Quebec, on the west by
Manitoba, and on the south by the
U.S. states of
Minnesota,
Michigan,
Ohio,
Pennsylvania and
New York. Ontario's long American border is formed almost entirely by lakes and rivers, starting in
Lake of the Woods and continuing to the
Saint Lawrence River near
Cornwall; it passes through the four
Great Lakes Ontario shares with bordering states, namely Lakes
Superior,
Huron ,
Erie, and
Ontario . There are approximately 250,000 lakes and over 100,000 kilometres of rivers in the province.
The province consists of three main geographical regions:
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 but also above the
Niagara Escarpment which crosses the south. The highest point is Ishpatina Ridge at 693m above sea level located in Northeastern Ontario.
The Carolinian forest zone covers most of the southwestern section, its northern extent is part of the Greater Toronto Area at the western end of
Lake Ontario. The most well-known geographic feature is
Niagara Falls, part of the much more extensive Niagara Escarpment. The
Saint Lawrence Seaway allows navigation to and from the
Atlantic Ocean as far inland as
Thunder Bay in
Northwestern Ontario. Northern Ontario occupies roughly 85% of the surface area of the province; conversely
Southern Ontario contains 94% of the population .
Point Pelee National Park is a peninsula in southwestern Ontario that extends into
Lake Erie and is the part of Canada's mainland furthest south.
Pelee Island in Lake Erie is even further south. Both are south of 42°N – slightly further south than the northern border of
California.
Demographics
Population of Ontario since 1851
| Year | Population | Five Year
% change | Ten Year
% change | Rank Among
Provinces |
|---|
| 1851 | 952,004 | n/a | 208.9 | 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 |
Source: Statistics Canada Ethnic Groups
| Ethnic Origin | Population | Percent |
|---|
| Canadian | 3,350,275 | 29.69% |
| English | 2,711,485 | 24.03% |
| Scottish | 1,843,110 | 16.33% |
| Irish | 1,761,280 | 15.61% |
| French | 1,235,765 | 10.95% |
| German | 965,510 | 8.56% |
| Italian | 781,345 | 6.92% |
| Chinese | 518,550 | 4.59% |
| Dutch | 436,035 | 3.86% |
| East Indian | 413,415 | 3.66% |
| Polish | 386,050 | 3.42% |
| Ukrainian | 290,925 | 2.58% |
| North American Indian | 248,940 | 2.21% |
| Portuguese | 248,265 | 2.20% |
The information regarding ethnicities below is from the 2001 Canadian Census.
The percentages add to more than 100% because of dual responses . Groups with greater than 200,000 responses are included.
The major Religious Groups in Ontario are.
| CMA | 2005 | 2001 |
|---|
| Toronto CMA | 5,304,100 | 4,883,800 |
| Ottawa–Gatineau CMA, Ontario part | 870,616 | 806,096 |
| Hamilton CMA | 714,900 | 689,200 |
| London CMA | 464,300 | 449,600 |
| Kitchener CMA | 458,600 | 431,300 |
| St. Catharines–Niagara CMA | 396,900 | 391,700 |
| Oshawa CMA | 340,300 | 308,500 |
| Windsor CMA | 332,300 | 320,800 |
| Barrie CA | 165,000 | 148,480 |
| Greater Sudbury CMA | 161,100 | 161,500 |
10 largest municipalities by population| City | 2001 | 1996 |
|---|
| Toronto | 2,481,494 | 2,385,421 |
| Ottawa | 808,391 | 721,136 |
| Mississauga | 612,925 | 544,382 |
| Hamilton | 499,268 | 467,799 |
| London | 336,539 | 325,669 |
| Brampton | 325,428 | 268,251 |
| Markham | 208,615 | 173,383 |
| Windsor | 208,402 | 197,694 |
| Kitchener | 190,399 | 178,420 |
| Vaughan | 182,022 | 132,549 |
Climate
Southern Ontario's climate is humid continental , with relatively hot, humid summers and cold winters. It is considered a temperate climate when compared with most of Canada. In the summer, the air masses often come out of the
southern United States, as the stronger the Bermuda High Pressure ridges into the North American continent, the more warm, humid air is drawn northward from the
Gulf of Mexico. Throughout the year, but especially in the fall and winter, temperatures are moderated somewhat by the Great Lakes, making it considerably milder than northern Ontario and allowing for a longer growing season than areas at similiar latitudes in the continent's interior. Both spring and fall are generally pleasantly mild with cool nights. Annual precipation ranges from 75cm to 100cm and is well distributed throughout the year with a summer peak.
The open lakes result in
lake effect snow squalls on the eastern and southern shores of the lakes, that affect much of the
Georgian Bay shoreline including
Killarney,
Parry Sound District,
Muskoka and
Simcoe County; the
Lake Huron shore from east of
Sarnia northward to the
Bruce Peninsula, sometimes reaching
London. Wind-whipped snow squalls or lake effect snow can affect areas as far as 100 kilometres or greater from the shore, but the heaviest snows usually occur within 20 kilometres from the shoreline. Some snowbelt areas receive an annual average of well over 300cm of snow.
Northern Ontario has a more extreme continental climate with long, very cold winters and short, warm to hot summers. In the summer, hot weather occasionally reaches even the northernmost parts of Ontario, although humidity is generally lower than in the south. With no major mountain ranges blocking Arctic air masses, winters are generally very cold, especially in the far north and northwest . The snow stays on the ground much longer in the region too; the first snowfall often comes in October and the last snow can come as late as May. The climate is moderated considerably on the east shore of
Lake Superior, cooled drastically by open waters in spring and early summer but warmer than much of the north in winter, despite the presence of a heavy snowbelt.
Severe thunderstorms peak in frequency in June and July in most of the province, although in southern Ontario they can happen anytime from March to November due to the collision of colder, Arctic air and warm, often moist Gulf air. In summer they form from convective heating, these storms tend to be more isolated in nature than those associated with frontal activity. Derecho-type thunderstorms can also occur in summer, often nocturnally, bringing severe straight-line winds over wide areas. These storms usually develop along stationary frontal boundaries during hot weather periods and most areas of the province can get hit, only the Hudson/James Bay lowlands region rarely experience one. The most severe weather prone regions are southwestern and central Ontario, much of them resulting from the localized Lake Breeze Front.
London has the most lightning strikes per year, and is also one of the most active areas for storms, in Canada.
Tornadoes are also common throughout the province, especially in the southwestern/south-central parts, although they are rarely destructive, the vast majority are classified as F0 or
F1 on the
Fujita Scale. In northern Ontario, some tornadoes go undetected by ground spotters due to the sparse population; however destruction to forests seen by aircraft pilots after the event is often how they are spotted.
Economy
Ontario's
rivers, including its share of the
Niagara River, make it rich in
hydroelectric energy. Hydroelectric energy makes up about 25% of the electric power generation in Ontario with the majority being nuclear power, 51%, and fossil fuels, mostly coal and an increasing share of natural-gas, round off the remaining supply mix with a relatively minute amount of wind and solar sources currently coming on line. Since the privatization of Ontario Hydro which began in 1999,
Ontario Power Generation runs 85% of electricity generated in the province, but not the transmission of power, which is under the control of Hydro One.
This steady supply of electricity production along with an abundance of natural resources, excellent transportation links to the American heartland and the inland Great Lakes making ocean access possible via ship containers, have all contributed to making manufacturing the principal
industry, found mainly in the
Golden Horseshoe region which is the largest industrialized area in Canada. Important products include motor vehicles,
iron,
steel,
food, electrical appliances, machinery,
chemicals, and
paper. Ontario surpassed the American state of
Michigan in
car production, assembling 2.696 million vehicles in 2004 .
However, as a result of steeply declining sales, on November 21, 2005,
General Motors announced massive layoffs at production facilities across North America including two large GM plants in
Oshawa and a drive train facility in
St. Catharines which by 2008 will result in 8,000 job losses in Ontario alone. Subsequently in January 23, 2006 money losing
Ford Motor Co. announced between 25,000 and 30,000 layoffs phased until 2012, Ontario was spared the worst, but job losses were announced for the
St. Thomas facility and the
Windsor casting plant. However, these losses will be offset by Ford's recent announcement of a hybrid vehicle facility slated to begin production in 2007 at its Oakville plant and GM's re-introudction of the
Camaro is planned to roll off the line at its large Oshawa facility.
Toyota also announced its plans to build a RAV-4 producing plant in
Woodstock by 2008 and
Honda also has plans to add an engine plant at its large facility in Alliston.
Some economists believe that the
North American Free Trade Agreement has contributed to a decline in manufacturing in part of North America's manufacturing "
Rust Belt" that includes a portion of Southern Ontario from roughly Windsor east to St. Catharines . This area and the Greater Toronto region contain the bulk of the auto sector in the province. The biggest contributing factor is the increased
globalization and particularly the increasing manufacturing power from China that has led to the de-industrialization of Ontario and the gradual shift to a dominant service-oriented economy. These factors considered, Ontario still remains an industrial giant within North America.
Toronto, the capital of Ontario, is the centre of Canada's financial services and banking industry. Suburban cities in the Greater Toronto Area like
Brampton,
Mississauga and
Vaughan are large product distribution centres, in addition to having automobile and other manuafacturing industries. The
information technology sector is also important, particularly in
Markham,
Waterloo and
Ottawa.
Hamilton is the largest steel manufacturing city in Canada and
Sarnia is the centre for petrochemical production.
Construction employs at least 7% of the work force, but due to undocumented workers this figure is likely over 10%. This sector has thrived over the last ten years due to steadily increasing new house and condominium construction combined with low mortgage rates and climbing prices, particularly in the Greater Toronto area.
Mining and the forest products industry, notably pulp and paper, 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 water recreation and wilderness found there in reasonable proximity to the major urban centres. At other times of the year,
hunting,
skiing and
snowmobiling are among the out of high-season draws. This region has some of the most vibrant fall colour displays anywhere on the continent and tours directed at overseas visit
