Ontario

Ontario is a term thought to be derived from Indigenous origins, either Ontarí:io, a Huron (Wyandot) word meaning "great lake",^[16] or possibly skanadario, which means "beautiful water" or "sparkling water" in the Iroquoian languages.^[17] Ontario has about 250,000 freshwater lakes.^[18] The first mention of the name Ontario was in 1641, when "Ontario" was used to describe the land on the north shore of the easternmost part of the Great Lakes.^[19] It was adopted as the official name of the new province at Confederation in 1867.^[19]

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Wyandot language

Wyandot language

Wyandot or Waⁿdat is the Iroquoian language traditionally spoken by the people known as Wyandot or Wyandotte, descended from the Tionontati. It is considered a sister to the Wendat language, spoken by descendants of the Huron-Wendat Confederacy. It was last spoken, before its revival, by members located primarily in Oklahoma, United States and Quebec, Canada. Linguists have traditionally considered Wyandot as a dialect or modern form of Wendat.

Wyandot people

Wyandot people

The Wyandot people are Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands of North America, and speakers of an Iroquoian language. In the US the Wyandotte Nation is a federally recognized tribe headquartered in Wyandotte, Oklahoma. In Canada, the Wyandot sister nation is known as Huron-Wendat Nation, and they have two First Nations reserves at Wendake, Quebec.

Iroquoian languages

Iroquoian languages

The Iroquoian languages are a language family of indigenous peoples of North America. They are known for their general lack of labial consonants. The Iroquoian languages are polysynthetic and head-marking.

Canadian Confederation

Canadian Confederation

Canadian Confederation was the process by which three British North American provinces, the Province of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick, were united into one federation called the Dominion of Canada, on July 1, 1867. Upon Confederation, Canada consisted of four provinces: Ontario and Quebec, which had been split out from the Province of Canada, and the provinces of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. Over the years since Confederation, Canada has seen numerous territorial changes and expansions, resulting in the current number of ten provinces and three territories.

Typical landscape of the Canadian Shield at Queen Elizabeth II Wildlands Provincial Park, located in Central Ontario.

The thinly populated Canadian Shield, which dominates the northwestern and central portions of the province, comprises over half the land area of Ontario. Although this area mostly does not support agriculture, it is rich in minerals, partly covered by the Central and Midwestern Canadian Shield forests, and studded with lakes and rivers. Northern Ontario is subdivided into two sub-regions: Northwestern Ontario and Northeastern Ontario.

The virtually unpopulated Hudson Bay Lowlands in the extreme north and northeast are mainly swampy and sparsely forested.

Southern Ontario, which is further sub-divided into four sub-regions: Central Ontario (although not actually the province's geographic centre), Eastern Ontario, Golden Horseshoe and Southwestern Ontario (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 Escarpment which crosses the south. The highest point is Ishpatina Ridge at 693 metres (2,274 ft) above sea level in Temagami, Northeastern Ontario. In the south, elevations of over 500 m (1,640 ft) are surpassed near Collingwood, above the Blue Mountains in the Dundalk Highlands and in hilltops near the Madawaska River in Renfrew County.

The Carolinian forest zone covers most of the southwestern region of the province. The temperate and fertile Great Lakes-Saint Lawrence Valley in the south is part of the Eastern Great Lakes lowland forests ecoregion where the forest has now been largely replaced by agriculture, industrial and urban development. A well-known geographic feature is Niagara Falls, part of the 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 covers approximately 87% of the province's surface area; conversely Southern Ontario contains 94% of the population.

Point Pelee is a peninsula of Lake Erie in southwestern Ontario (near Windsor and Detroit, Michigan) that is the southernmost extent of Canada's mainland. Pelee Island and Middle Island in Lake Erie extend slightly farther. All are south of 42°N – slightly farther south than the northern border of California.

Climate

Köppen climate types of Ontario

Ontario's climate varies by season and location.^[20] Three air sources affect it: cold, dry, arctic air from the north (dominant factor during the winter months, and for a longer part of the year in far northern Ontario); Pacific polar air crossing in from the western Canadian Prairies/US Northern Plains; and warm, moist air from the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean.^[21] The effects of these major air masses on temperature and precipitation depend mainly on latitude, proximity to major bodies of water and to a small extent, terrain relief.^[21] In general, most of Ontario's climate is classified as humid continental.^[21]

Ontario has four main climatic regions:

• The surrounding Great Lakes greatly influence the climatic region of southern Ontario.^[20] During the fall and winter, the release of heat stored by the lakes moderates the climate near the shores.^[22] This gives parts of southern Ontario milder winters than mid-continental areas at lower latitudes.^[22] Parts of Southwestern Ontario (generally south of a line from Sarnia–Toronto) have a moderate humid continental climate (Köppen climate classification Dfa), similar to the inland Mid-Atlantic states and the Great Lakes portion of the Midwestern United States. The region has warm to hot, humid summers and cold winters. Annual precipitation ranges from 750–1,000 mm (30–39 in) and is well distributed throughout the year. Most of this region lies in the lee of the Great Lakes, making for abundant snow in some areas. In December 2010, the snowbelt set a new record when it was hit by more than a metre of snow within 48 hours.^[23]
• The next climatic region is Central and Eastern Ontario, which has a moderate humid continental climate (Köppen Dfb). This region has warm and sometimes hot summers with colder, longer winters, ample snowfall (even in regions not directly in the snowbelts) and annual precipitation similar to the rest of Southern Ontario.^[21]
• The smallest climatic region is located at the most northeastern part of the Niagara Peninsula, which has a temperate humid climate (Köppen Cfa), due to moderating effects by Lake Ontario, the Niagara River and battling air masses from the Gulf of Mexico during the winter months.^[24] It is one of the most temperate regions in the entire province.

In the northeastern parts of Ontario, extending south as far as Kirkland Lake, the cold waters of Hudson Bay depress summer temperatures, making it cooler than other locations at similar latitudes. The same is true on the northern shore of Lake Superior, which cools hot, humid air from the south, leading to cooler summer temperatures.^[21] Along the eastern shores of Lake Superior and Lake Huron winter temperatures are slightly moderated but come with frequent heavy lake-effect snow squalls that increase seasonal snowfall totals to upwards of 3 m (10 ft) in some places. These regions have higher annual precipitation, in some places over 100 cm (39 in).

Cold northwesterly wind over the Great Lakes creating lake-effect snow. Lake-effect snow most frequently occurs in the snowbelt regions of the province.

• The northernmost parts of Ontario – primarily north of 50°N – have a subarctic climate (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 Arctic air masses, temperatures of −40 °C (−40 °F) are not uncommon; snow remains on the ground for sometimes over half the year. Snow accumulation can be high in some areas.^[20] Precipitation is generally less than 70 cm (28 in) and peaks in the summer months in the form of rain or thunderstorms.^[20]

Severe thunderstorms peak in summer. Windsor, in Southern (Southwestern) Ontario, has the most lightning strikes per year in Canada, averaging 33 days of thunderstorm activity per year.^[25] In a typical year, Ontario averages 11 confirmed tornado touchdowns. However, over the last 4 years, it has had upwards of 20 tornado touchdowns per year, with the highest frequency in the Windsor-Essex – Chatham Kent area, though few are very destructive (the majority between F0 to F2 on the Fujita scale). Ontario had a record 29 tornadoes in both 2006 and 2009. Tropical depression remnants occasionally bring heavy rains and winds in the south, but are rarely deadly. A notable exception was Hurricane Hazel which struck Southern Ontario centred on Toronto, in October 1954.

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Geography of Ontario

Geography of Ontario

Ontario is located in East/Central Canada. It is Canada's second largest province by land area. Its physical features vary greatly from the Mixedwood Plains in the southeast to the boreal forests and tundra in the north. Ontario borders Manitoba to the west, Hudson Bay and James Bay to the north, Quebec to the east, and the Great Lakes and the United States to the south. The province is named for Great Lake Ontario, an adaptation of the Iroquois word Onitariio, meaning "beautiful lake", or Kanadario, variously translated as "beautiful water". There are approximately 250,000 lakes and over 100,000 kilometres (62,000 mi) of rivers in the province.

List of census divisions of Ontario

List of census divisions of Ontario

The Province of Ontario has 51 first-level administrative divisions, which collectively cover the whole province. With two exceptions, their areas match the 49 census divisions Statistics Canada has for Ontario.

Geography of Canada

Geography of Canada

Canada has a vast geography that occupies much of the continent of North America, sharing a land border with the contiguous United States to the south and the U.S. state of Alaska to the northwest. Canada stretches from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west; to the north lies the Arctic Ocean. Greenland is to the northeast with a shared border on Hans Island. To the southeast Canada shares a maritime boundary with France's overseas collectivity of Saint Pierre and Miquelon, the last vestige of New France. By total area, Canada is the second-largest country in the world, after Russia. By land area alone, however, Canada ranks fourth, the difference being due to it having the world's largest proportion of fresh water lakes. Of Canada's thirteen provinces and territories, only two are landlocked while the other eleven all directly border one of three oceans.

List of protected areas of Ontario

List of protected areas of Ontario

This is a list of protected areas of Ontario that are administered by Government of Ontario. Ontario Parks and the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks are the provincial bodies responsible for managing these protected areas.

Canadian Shield

Canadian Shield

The Canadian Shield, also called the Laurentian Plateau, is a geologic shield, a large area of exposed Precambrian igneous and high-grade metamorphic rocks. It forms the North American Craton, the ancient geologic core of the North American continent. Glaciation has left the area with only a thin layer of soil, through which exposures of igneous bedrock resulting from its long volcanic history are frequently visible. As a deep, common, joined bedrock region in eastern and central Canada, the Shield stretches north from the Great Lakes to the Arctic Ocean, covering over half of Canada and most of Greenland; it also extends south into the northern reaches of the United States.

Central Ontario

Central Ontario

Central Ontario is a secondary region of Southern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario that lies between Georgian Bay and the eastern end of Lake Ontario.

Mineral

Mineral

In geology and mineralogy, a mineral or mineral species is, broadly speaking, a solid chemical compound with a fairly well-defined chemical composition and a specific crystal structure that occurs naturally in pure form.

Central Canadian Shield forests

Central Canadian Shield forests

The Central Canadian Shield forests are a taiga ecoregion of Eastern Canada, as defined by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) categorization system.

Midwestern Canadian Shield forests

Midwestern Canadian Shield forests

The Midwestern Canadian Shield forests ecoregion, in the Taiga and Boreal forests Biome, are of northern Canada.

Hudson Bay Lowlands

Hudson Bay Lowlands

The Hudson Bay Lowlands is a vast wetland located between the Canadian Shield and southern shores of Hudson Bay and James Bay. Most of the area lies within the province of Ontario, with smaller portions reaching into Manitoba and Quebec. Many wide and slow-moving rivers flow through this area toward the saltwater of Hudson Bay: these include the Churchill, Nelson and Hayes in Manitoba, Severn, Fawn, Winisk, Asheweig, Ekwan, Attawapiskat, and Albany in Ontario, and the Harricana, Rupert and Eastmain in Quebec. This is the largest wetland in Canada, and one of the largest in the world. The region can be subdivided into three bands running roughly northwest to southeast: the Coastal Hudson Bay Lowland, Hudson Bay Lowland, and James Bay Lowland.

Eastern Ontario

Eastern Ontario

Eastern Ontario is a secondary region of Southern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario which lies in a wedge-shaped area between the Ottawa River and St. Lawrence River. It shares water boundaries with Quebec to the north and New York State to the east and south, as well as a small land boundary with the Vaudreuil-Soulanges region of Quebec to the east.

Golden Horseshoe

Golden Horseshoe

The Golden Horseshoe is a secondary region of Southern Ontario, Canada, which lies at the western end of Lake Ontario, with outer boundaries stretching south to Lake Erie and north to Lake Scugog, Lake Simcoe and Georgian Bay of Lake Huron. The region is the most densely populated and industrialized in Canada. Based on the 2021 census, with a population of 7,759,635 people in its core and 9,765,188 in its greater area, the Golden Horseshoe accounts for over 20 percent of the population of Canada and more than 54 percent of Ontario's population. It is part of the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor, itself part of the Great Lakes megalopolis.

Indigenous habitation (pre-1610)

Paleo-Indians were the first people to settle on the lands of Ontario, arriving there after the Laurentide Ice Sheet melted roughly 11,000 years ago.^[36] From them, many ethnocultural groups emerged and came to exist on the lands of Ontario: the Algonquins, Mississaugas, Ojibway, Cree, Odawa, Pottowatomi, and Iroquois.^[37]

Pays d'en Haut (1610–1763)

In the 15th century, the Byzantine Empire fell, prompting Western Europeans to search for new sea routes to the Far East. Around 1522–1523, Giovanni da Verrazzano persuaded King Francis I of France to commission an expedition to find a western route to Cathay (China) via a Northwest Passage. Though this expedition was unsuccessful, it established the name "New France" for northeastern North America.^[38] After a few expeditions, France mostly abandoned North America for 50 years because of its financial crisis; France was involved in the Italian Wars and there were religious wars between Protestants and Catholics.^[39] Around 1580 however, the rise of the fur trade (particularly the demand for beaver pelts), reignited French interest.^[40]

In 1608, Samuel de Champlain established France's first colonial settlement in New France, the Habitation de Québec (now Quebec City), in the colony of Canada (now southern Quebec). Afterwards, French explorers continued to travel west, establishing new villages along the coasts of the Saint Lawrence River. French explorers, the first of which was Étienne Brûlé who explored the Georgian Bay area in 1610–1612,^[41] mapped Southern Ontario and called the region the Pays d'en Haut ("Upper Country"), in reference to the region being upstream of the Saint Lawrence River. The colony of the Pays d'en Haut was formally established in 1610 as an administrative dependency of Canada, and was for defence and business rather than a settlement colony. The territory of the Pays-d'en-Haut was quite large and would today include the province of Ontario, as well as, in whole or in part, the American states of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York. Indigenous peoples were the vast majority of the Pays d'en Haut population.^[42]

A 1755 map of the Pays d'en Haut region of New France, an area that included most of Ontario

As for Northern Ontario, the English explorer Henry Hudson sailed into Hudson Bay in 1611 and claimed its drainage basin for England. The area would become known as Rupert's Land.

Samuel de Champlain reached Lake Huron in 1615, and French missionaries, such as the Jésuites and Supliciens, began to establish posts along the Great Lakes. The French allied with most Indigenous groups of Ontario, all for the fur trade and for defence against Iroquois attacks (which would later be called the Iroquois Wars). The French would declare their Indigenous allies to be subjects of the King of France and would often act as mediators between different groups. The Iroquois later allied themselves with the British.^[43]

From 1634 to 1640, the Huron were devastated by European infectious diseases, such as measles and smallpox, to which they had no immunity.^[44] By 1700, the Iroquois had been driven out or left the area that would become Ontario and the Mississaugas of the Ojibwa had settled the north shore of Lake Ontario. The remaining Huron settled north of Quebec.

During the French and Indian War, the North American theater of the Seven Years' War of 1754 to 1763, the British defeated the armies of New France and its Indigenous allies. In the Treaty of Paris 1763 France ceded most of its possessions in North America to Britain. Using the Quebec Act, Britain re-organised the territory into the Province of Quebec.^[45]

Province of Quebec (1763–1791)

A monument in Hamilton commemorating the United Empire Loyalists, a group of settlers who fled the United States during or after the American Revolution

In 1782–1784, 5,000 United Empire Loyalists entered what is now Ontario following the American Revolution.^[46] The Kingdom of Great Britain granted them 200 acres (81 ha) land and other items with which to rebuild their lives.^[43] The British also set up reserves in Ontario for the Mohawks who had fought for the British and had lost their land in New York state. Other Iroquois, also displaced from New York were resettled in 1784 at the Six Nations reserve at the west end of Lake Ontario. The Mississaugas, displaced by European settlements, would later move to Six Nations also.

After the American War of Independence, the first reserves for First Nations were established. These are situated at Six Nations (1784), Tyendinaga (1793) and Akwesasne (1795). Six Nations and Tyendinaga were established by the British for those Indigenous groups who had fought on the side of the British, and were expelled from the new United States. Akwesasne was a pre-existing Mohawk community and its borders were formalized under the 1795 Jay Treaty.

In 1788, while part of the Province of Quebec, southern Ontario was divided into four districts: Hesse, Lunenburg, Mecklenburg, and Nassau. 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.

The population of Canada west of the St. Lawrence-Ottawa River confluence substantially increased during this period, a fact recognized by the Constitutional Act of 1791, which split Quebec into the Canadas: Upper Canada southwest of the St. Lawrence-Ottawa River confluence, and Lower Canada east of it.

Upper Canada (1791–1841)

Map of Upper Canada, 1811

John Graves Simcoe was appointed Upper Canada's first Lieutenant governor in 1793.^[47] A second wave of Americans, not all of them necessarily loyalists moved to Upper Canada after 1790 until the pre-war of 1812, many seeking available cheap land, and at the time, lower taxation.

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, Simcoe, Talbot, Victoria, Wellington, and Western.

American troops in the War of 1812 invaded Upper Canada across the Niagara River and the Detroit River, but were defeated and pushed back by the British, Canadian fencibles and militias, and First Nations warriors. However, the Americans eventually gained control of Lake Erie and Lake Ontario. The 1813 Battle of York saw American troops defeat the garrison at the Upper Canada capital of York. The Americans looted the town and burned the Upper Canada Parliament Buildings during their brief occupation. The British would burn the American capital of Washington, D.C. in 1814.

Depiction of the Battle of Queenston Heights, during the War of 1812. Upper Canada was an active theatre of operation during the conflict.

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 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 following decades. 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 power 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.^[48]

Unrest in the colony began to chafe against the aristocratic Family Compact who governed while benefiting economically from the region's resources, and who did not allow elected bodies power. This resentment spurred republican ideals and sowed the seeds for early Canadian nationalism. Accordingly, rebellion in favour of responsible government rose in both regions; Louis-Joseph Papineau led the Lower Canada Rebellion and William Lyon Mackenzie, first Toronto mayor,^[49] led the Upper Canada Rebellion. In Upper Canada, the rebellion was quickly a failure. William Lyon Mackenzie escaped to the United States, where he declared the Republic of Canada on Navy Island on the Niagara River.^[50]

Canada West (1841–1867)

Although both rebellions were put down in short order, the British government sent Lord Durham to investigate the causes. He recommended self-government be granted and Lower and Upper Canada be re-joined in an attempt to assimilate the French Canadians. Accordingly, the two colonies were merged into the Province of Canada by the Act of Union 1840, with the capital at Kingston, and Upper Canada becoming known as Canada West.^[51] Parliamentary self-government 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 East, tilting the representative balance of power.

Map of Canada West from 1855. Canada West formed the western portion of the Province of Canada.

In 1849, the districts of southern Ontario were abolished by the Province of Canada, and county governments took over certain municipal responsibilities. The Province of Canada also began creating districts in sparsely populated Northern Ontario with the establishment of Algoma District and Nipissing District in 1858.

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 Laws and a reciprocity agreement in place with the United States, various industries such as timber, mining, farming and alcohol distilling benefited tremendously.

A political stalemate between the French- and English-speaking legislators, as well as fear of aggression from the United States during and immediately after the American Civil War, led the political elite to hold a series of conferences in the 1860s to effect a broader federal union of all British North American 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 British North America Act to safeguard existing educational rights and privileges of the Protestant and Catholic minorities. Thus, separate Catholic schools and school boards 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.

Canadian province (1867–present)

An animated map of the changes to the borders of Canada. The borders of Ontario were last changed in 1912.

The borders of Ontario, its new name in 1867, were provisionally expanded north and west. When the Province of Canada was formed, its borders were not entirely clear, and Ontario claimed eventually to reach all the way to the Rocky Mountains and Arctic Ocean. With Canada's acquisition of Rupert's Land, Ontario was interested in clearly defining its borders, especially since some of the new areas in which it was interested 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 north.^[52]

Oliver Mowat, Premier of Ontario from 1872 to 1896

Once constituted as a province, Ontario proceeded to assert its economic and legislative power. In 1872, the lawyer Oliver Mowat became Premier of Ontario and remained as premier until 1896. He fought for provincial rights, weakening the power of the federal government in provincial matters, usually through well-argued appeals to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. His battles with the federal government greatly decentralized Canada, giving the provinces far more power than John A. Macdonald 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 Keewatin) 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 Macdonald's National Policy (1879) and the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway (1875–1885) through Northern Ontario and the Canadian Prairies to British Columbia, Ontario manufacturing and industry flourished. However, population increases slowed after a large recession hit the province in 1893, thus slowing growth drastically but for only a few years. Many newly arrived immigrants and others moved west along the railway to the Prairie Provinces and British Columbia, sparsely settling Northern Ontario.

The northern and western boundaries of Ontario were in dispute after Canadian Confederation. Ontario's right to Northwestern Ontario was determined by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in 1884 and confirmed by the Canada (Ontario Boundary) Act, 1889 of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. 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.^[53]

Mineral exploitation accelerated in the late 19th century, leading to the rise of important mining centres in the northeast, such as Sudbury, Cobalt 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 Hydro. The availability of cheap electric power further facilitated the development of industry. The Ford Motor Company of Canada was established in 1904 and the McLaughlin Motor Car Company (later General Motors Canada) was founded in 1907. The motor vehicle industry became the most lucrative industry for the Ontario economy during the 20th century.

In July 1912, the Conservative government of James Whitney issued Regulation 17 which severely limited the availability of French-language schooling to the province's French-speaking minority. French Canadians reacted with outrage, journalist Henri Bourassa denouncing the "Prussians of Ontario". The regulation was eventually repealed in 1927.

Law enforcement confiscate stores of alcohol in Elk Lake in an effort to enforce prohibition. The prohibition measures were introduced in 1916 and were not repealed until 1927.

Influenced by events in the United States, the government of William Hearst introduced prohibition of alcoholic drinks in 1916 with the passing of the Ontario Temperance Act. However, residents could distil and retain their own personal supply, and liquor producers could continue distillation and export for sale, allowing this already sizeable 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 Ontario under the government of Howard Ferguson. The sale and consumption of liquor, wine, and beer are still controlled by some of the most extreme laws in North America to ensure strict community standards and revenue generation from the alcohol retail monopoly are upheld.

The post-World War II period was one of exceptional prosperity and growth. Ontario has been the recipients of most immigration to Canada, largely immigrants from war-torn Europe in the 1950s and 1960s and following changes in federal immigration law, a massive influx of non-Europeans since the 1970s. From a largely ethnically British province, Ontario has rapidly become culturally very diverse.

The nationalist movement in Quebec, particularly after the election of the Parti Québécois in 1976, contributed to driving many businesses and English-speaking people out of Quebec to Ontario, and as a result, Toronto surpassed Montreal as the largest city and economic centre of Canada.^[54] Depressed economic conditions in the Maritime Provinces have also resulted in de-population of those provinces in the 20th century, with heavy migration into Ontario.^[55][56]

Ontario's official language is English, although there exists a number of French-speaking communities across Ontario.^[57] French-language services are made available for communities with a sizeable French-speaking population; a service that is ensured under the French Language Services Act of 1989.

Discover more about History related topics

History of Ontario

History of Ontario

The history of Ontario covers the period from the arrival of Paleo-Indians thousands of years ago to the present day. The lands that make up present-day Ontario, the most populous province of Canada as of the early 21st century have been inhabited for millennia by groups of Aboriginal people, with French and British exploration and colonization commencing in the 17th century. Before the arrival of Europeans, the region was inhabited both by Algonquian and Iroquoian tribes.

Laurentide Ice Sheet

Laurentide Ice Sheet

The Laurentide Ice Sheet was a massive sheet of ice that covered millions of square miles, including most of Canada and a large portion of the Northern United States, multiple times during the Quaternary glacial epochs, from 2.58 million years ago to the present.

Algonquin people

Algonquin people

The Algonquin people are an Indigenous people who now live in Eastern Canada. They speak the Algonquin language, which is part of the Algonquian language family. Culturally and linguistically, they are closely related to the Odawa, Potawatomi, Ojibwe, Mississaugas, and Nipissing, with whom they form the larger Anicinàpe (Anishinaabeg). Algonquins call themselves Omàmiwinini or the more generalised name of Anicinàpe.

Mississaugas

Mississaugas

The Mississauga are a subtribe of the Anishinaabe-speaking First Nations peoples located in southern Ontario, Canada. They are closely related to the Ojibwe. The name "Mississauga" comes from the Anishinaabe word Misi-zaagiing, meaning "[Those at the] Great River-mouth." It is closely related to the Ojibwe word Miswe-zaagiing, which means ‘a river with many outlets.’

Cree

Cree

The Cree are a North American Indigenous people. They live primarily in Canada, where they form one of the country's largest First Nations.

Iroquois

Iroquois

The Iroquois, officially the Haudenosaunee, are an Iroquoian-speaking confederacy of First Nations peoples in northeast North America and Upstate New York. They were known during the colonial years to the French as the Iroquois League, and later as the Iroquois Confederacy. The English called them the Five Nations, comprising the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Seneca. After 1722, the Iroquoian-speaking Tuscarora from the southeast were accepted into the confederacy, which became known as the Six Nations.

Exploration of North America

Exploration of North America

The exploration of North America by European sailors and geographers was an effort by major European powers to map and explore the continent with the goal of economic, religious and military expansion. The combative and rapid nature of this exploration is the result of a series of countering actions by neighboring European nations to ensure no single country had garnered enough wealth and power from the Americas to militarily tip the scales over on the European continent. It spanned the late 15th to early 17th centuries, and consisted primarily of expeditions funded by Spain, England, France, and Portugal. See also the European colonization of the Americas.

New France

New France

New France was the territory colonized by France in North America, beginning with the exploration of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Great Britain and Spain in 1763 under the Treaty of Paris.

Fall of Constantinople

Fall of Constantinople

The fall of Constantinople, also known as the conquest of Constantinople, was the capture of the capital of the Byzantine Empire by the Ottoman Empire. The city was captured on 29 May 1453 as part of the culmination of a 53-day siege which had begun on 6 April.

Far East

Far East

In European terminology, the Far East is the geographical region that includes East and Southeast Asia as well as, to a lesser extent, North Asia, particularly the Russian Far East. South Asia is sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons.

Giovanni da Verrazzano

Giovanni da Verrazzano

Giovanni da Verrazzano was an Italian (Florentine) explorer of North America, in the service of King Francis I of France.

Cathay

Cathay

Cathay is a historical name for China that was used in Europe. During the early modern period, the term Cathay initially evolved as a term referring to what is now Northern China, completely separate and distinct from China, which was a reference to southern China. As knowledge of East Asia increased, Cathay came to be seen as the same polity as China as a whole. The term Cathay became a poetic name for China.

Population density of Ontario

Population

In the 2021 census, Ontario had a population of 14,223,942 living in 5,491,201 of its 5,929,250 total dwellings, a 5.8 percent change from its 2016 population of 13,448,494. With a land area of 892,411.76 km² (344,562.11 sq mi), it had a population density of 15.9/km² (41.3/sq mi) in 2021.^[2] The largest population centres in Ontario are Toronto, Ottawa, Hamilton, Kitchener, London and Oshawa, which all have more than 300,000 inhabitants.

Ethnicity

The percentages given below add to more than 100 per cent because of dual responses (e.g., "French and Canadian" response generates an entry both in the category "French Canadian" and in the category "Canadian").

The majority of Ontarians are of English or other European descent including large Scottish, Irish and Italian communities. Slightly less than 5 per cent of the population of Ontario is Franco-Ontarian, that is those whose native tongue is French, although those with French ancestry account for 11 per cent of the population. Compared to natural increase or interprovincial migration, immigration is a huge population growth force in Ontario, as it has been over the last two centuries. More recent sources of immigrants with large or growing communities in Ontario include East Asians, South Asians, Caribbeans, Latin Americans, Europeans, and Africans. Most populations have settled in the larger urban centres.

In 2011, 25.9 per cent of the population consisted of visible minorities and 2.4 per cent of the population was Indigenous, mostly of First Nations and Métis descent. There was also a small number of Inuit in the province. The number of Indigenous people and visible minorities has been increasing at a faster rate than the general population of Ontario.^[58]

Religion

In 2021, 52.1% of the population was Christian, with the largest religious denominations being the Roman Catholic Church (with 26.0% of the population) and the United Church of Canada with (4.1%). Other religions included Islam (6.7%), Hinduism (4.1%). 31.6% of Ontarians had no religious affiliation.^[59]

The major religious groups in Ontario in 2021 were:

In Ontario, Catholics are represented by the Assembly of Catholic Bishops of Ontario^[60] and the Anglican Protestants by the Ecclesiastical Province of Ontario.^[61] The Ecclesiastical Province covers most of the geographical province of Ontario^[61]

Language

English and French displayed on a gantry sign. Communities with sizeable francophone populations are able to receive provincial services in French.

As of the 2021 Canadian Census, the ten most spoken languages in the province included English (13,650,230 or 97.28%), French (1,550,545 or 11.05%), Mandarin (467,420 or 3.33%), Hindi (436,125 or 3.11%), Spanish (401,205 or 2.86%), Punjabi (397,865 or 2.84%), Cantonese (352,135 or 2.51%), Arabic (342,860 or 2.44%), Italian (312,800 or 2.23%), and Urdu (295,175 or 2.1%).^[62] The question on knowledge of languages allows for multiple responses.

The principal language of Ontario is English, the province's de facto official language,^[63] with approximately 97.2 per cent of Ontarians having proficiency in the language, although only 69.5 per cent of Ontarians reported English as their mother tongue in the 2016 Census.^[64] English is one of two official languages of Canada, with the other being French. English and French are the official languages of the courts in Ontario. Approximately 4.6 per cent of the population identified as francophone,^{[65][note 1]} and a total of 11.5 per cent of Ontarians reported having proficiency in French.^[64] Approximately 11.2 per cent of Ontarians reported being bilingual in both English and French.^[64] Approximately 2.5 per cent of Ontarians have no proficiency in either English or French.^[64]

Franco-Ontarians are concentrated in the northeastern, eastern, and extreme southern parts of the province, where under the French Language Services Act,^[66] provincial government services are required to be available in French if at least 10 per cent of a designated area's population report French as their native language or if an urban centre has at least 5,000 francophones.

Other languages spoken by residents include Arabic, Bengali, Cantonese, Dutch, German, Greek, Gujarati, Hindi, Hebrew, Italian, Korean, Malayalam, Mandarin, Marathi, Persian, Polish, Portuguese, Punjabi, Russian, Sinhalese, Somali, Spanish, Tagalog, Telugu, Tamil, Tibetan, Ukrainian, Urdu, and Vietnamese.^[67]

Discover more about Demographics related topics

Demographics of Ontario

Demographics of Ontario

Ontario, one of the 13 provinces and territories of Canada, is located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province by a large margin, accounting for nearly 40 per cent of all Canadians, and is the second-largest province in total area. Ontario is fourth-largest in total area when the territories of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut are included. It is home to the nation's capital city, Ottawa, and the nation's most populous city, Toronto.

List of population centres in Ontario

List of population centres in Ontario

A population centre, in Canadian census data, is a type of census unit which meets the demographic characteristics of an urban area, having a population of at least 1,000 people and a population density of no fewer than 400 persons per square km2. Note that the population of a "population centre" is not the same thing as the population of a municipality; the population centre can include areas outside the municipal boundaries which are directly contiguous with the municipality's urban area, and can exclude areas inside the municipal boundaries which are less densely urbanized.

Statistics Canada

Statistics Canada

Statistics Canada, formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and culture. It is headquartered in Ottawa.

Toronto

Toronto

Toronto is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anchor of the Golden Horseshoe, an urban agglomeration of 9,765,188 people surrounding the western end of Lake Ontario, while the Greater Toronto Area proper had a 2021 population of 6,712,341. Toronto is an international centre of business, finance, arts, sports and culture, and is recognized as one of the most multicultural and cosmopolitan cities in the world.

Ottawa

Ottawa

Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core of the Ottawa–Gatineau census metropolitan area (CMA) and the National Capital Region (NCR). As of 2021, Ottawa had a city population of 1,017,449 and a metropolitan population of 1,488,307, making it the fourth-largest city and fourth-largest metropolitan area in Canada.

Hamilton, Ontario

Hamilton, Ontario

Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Hamilton has a population of 569,353, and its census metropolitan area, which includes Burlington and Grimsby, has a population of 785,184. The city is approximately 45 kilometres (28 mi) southwest of Toronto in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA).

Kitchener, Ontario

Kitchener, Ontario

Kitchener is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario, about 100 km (62 mi) west of Toronto. It is one of three cities that make up the Regional Municipality of Waterloo and is the regional seat. Kitchener was known as Berlin until a 1916 referendum changed its name. The city covers an area of 136.86 km2, and had a population of 256,885 at the time of the 2021 Canadian census.

London, Ontario

London, Ontario

London is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, along the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor. The city had a population of 422,324 according to the 2021 Canadian census. London is at the confluence of the Thames River, approximately 200 km (120 mi) from both Toronto and Detroit; and about 230 km (140 mi) from Buffalo, New York. The city of London is politically separate from Middlesex County, though it remains the county seat.

Oshawa

Oshawa

Oshawa is a city in Ontario, Canada, on the Lake Ontario shoreline. It lies in Southern Ontario, approximately 60 km (37 mi) east of Downtown Toronto. It is commonly viewed as the eastern anchor of the Greater Toronto Area and of the Golden Horseshoe. It is the largest municipality in the Regional Municipality of Durham. The name Oshawa originates from the Ojibwa term aazhawe, meaning "the crossing place" or just "a cross".

Ontario is Canada's leading manufacturing province, accounting for 52% of the total national manufacturing shipments in 2004.^[68] Ontario's largest trading partner is the American state of Michigan. As of April 2012^[update], Moody's bond-rating agency rated Ontario debt at AA2/stable,^[69] while S&P rated it AA-.^[70] Dominion Bond Rating Service rated it AA(low) in January 2013.^[71] Long known as a bastion of Canadian manufacturing and financial solvency, Ontario's public debt-to-GDP ratio is projected to be 38.4% in fiscal year 2023–2024.^[72]

Container ship at Algoma Steel. The Great Lakes provide ocean access for industries in the province's interior.

Mining and the forest products industry, notably pulp and paper, are vital to the economy of Northern Ontario. As of 2011, roughly 200,000 ha are clearcut each year; herbicides for hardwood suppression are applied to a third of the total.^[73] There has been controversy over the Ring of Fire mineral deposit, and whether the province can afford to spend CAD$2.25 billion on a road from the Trans-Canada Highway near Kenora to the deposit, currently valued at CAD$60 billion.^[74]

An abundance of natural resources, excellent transportation links to the North American heartland and the inland Great Lakes making ocean access possible via container ships, have all contributed to making manufacturing the principal industry of the province, 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 Belt. Important products include motor vehicles, iron, steel, food, electrical appliances, machinery, chemicals, and paper.

Hamilton is the largest steel manufacturing city in Canada followed closely by Sault Ste. Marie, and Sarnia is the centre for petrochemical production. Construction employed more than 6.5% of the province's work force in June 2011.^[75] Ontario's steel industry was once centred in Hamilton. Hamilton harbour, which can be seen from the QEW Skyway bridge, is an industrial wasteland; U.S. Steel-owned Stelco announced in the autumn of 2013 that it would close in 2014, with the loss of 875 jobs. The move flummoxed a union representative, who seemed puzzled why a plant with capacity of 2 million tons per annum would be shut while Canada imported 8 million tons of steel the previous year.^[76] Algoma Steel maintains a plant in Sault Ste Marie.

A worker at the Oakville Assembly installs a battery in an automobile. The automotive industry is a contributor to the economy of Ontario.

Ontario surpassed Michigan in car production, assembling more than 2,696,000 vehicles in 2004. Ontario has Chrysler plants in Windsor and Bramalea, two GM plants in Oshawa and one in Ingersoll, a Honda assembly plant in Alliston, Ford plants in Oakville and St. Thomas and Toyota assembly plants in Cambridge and Woodstock. However, as a result of steeply declining sales, in 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, that resulted in 8,000 job losses in Ontario alone. In 2006, Ford Motor Company 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-introduction of the Camaro which will be produced in Oshawa. On December 4, 2008, Toyota announced the grand opening of the RAV4 plant in Woodstock,^[77] and Honda also plans to add an engine plant at its facility in Alliston. Despite these new plants coming online, Ontario has not yet fully recovered following massive layoffs caused by the global recession; its unemployment rate was 7.3% in May 2013,^[78] compared to 8.7 percent in January 2010^[79] and approximately 6% in 2007. In September 2013, the Ontario government committed CAD$70.9 million to the Ford plant in Oakville, while the federal government committed CAD$71.1mn, to secure 2,800 jobs.^[80] The province has lost 300,000 manufacturing jobs in the decade from 2003, and the Bank of Canada noted that "while the energy and mining industries have benefitted from these movements, the pressure on the manufacturing sector has intensified, since many firms in this sector were already dealing with growing competition from low-cost economies such as China."^[81][82]

Toronto's Financial District serves as the centre for Canada's financial services.

Toronto, the capital of Ontario, is the centre of Canada's financial services and banking industry. Neighbouring cities are home to product distribution, IT centres, and manufacturing industries. Canada's Federal Government is the largest single employer in the National Capital Region, which centres on the border cities of Ontario's Ottawa and Quebec's Gatineau.^[83][84]

The information technology sector is important, particularly in the Silicon Valley North section of Ottawa, home to Canada's largest technology park.^[85] IT is also important in the Waterloo Region, where the headquarters of BlackBerry is located.^[86]

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 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, Cornwall, Sarnia and Niagara Falls, the latter of which attracts millions of US and other international visitors.^[87]

Agriculture

Aerial view of farms in Waterloo. A significant portion of the land in Southern Ontario is used as farmland.

Once the dominant industry, agriculture now uses a small percentage of the workforce. However, much of the land in southern Ontario is given over to agriculture. As the following table shows, while the number of individual farms has steadily decreased and their overall size has shrunk at a lower rate, greater mechanization has supported increased supply to satisfy the ever-increasing demands of a growing population base; this has also meant a gradual increase in the total amount of land used for growing crops.

Grapevines growing in Prince Edward County, a wine-growing region

Common types of farms reported in the 2001 census include those for cattle, small grains and dairy. The fruit- and wine industry is primarily on the Niagara Peninsula, Prince Edward County, and along the northern shore of Lake Erie, where tobacco farms are also situated. Market vegetables grow in the rich soils of the Holland Marsh near Newmarket. The area near Windsor is also very fertile. The Heinz plant in Leamington was taken over in these autumn of 2013 by Warren Buffett and a Brazilian partner, following which it put 740 people out of work.^[89] Government subsidies followed shortly; Premier Kathleen Wynne offered CAD$200,000 to cushion the blow, and promised that another processed-food operator would soon be found.^[90] On December 10, 2013, Kellogg's announced layoffs for more than 509 workers at a cereal manufacture plant in London.^[91]

The area defined as the Corn Belt covers much of the southwestern area of the province, extending as far north as close to Goderich, but corn and soy are grown throughout the southern portion of the province. Apple orchards are a common sight along the southern shore of Nottawasaga Bay (part of Georgian Bay) near Collingwood and along the northern shore of Lake Ontario near Cobourg. Tobacco production, centred in Norfolk County, has decreased, allowing an increase in alternative crops such as hazelnuts and ginseng. The Ontario origins of Massey Ferguson, once one of the largest farm-implement manufacturers in the world, indicate the importance agriculture once had to the Canadian economy.

A sign marking the Ottawa Greenbelt, an initiative to protect farmland and limit urban sprawl

Southern Ontario's limited supply of agricultural land is going out of production at an increasing rate. Urban sprawl and farmland severances contribute to the loss of thousands of acres of productive agricultural land in Ontario each year. Over 2,000 farms and 150,000 acres (61,000 ha) 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.^[92] In an effort to protect the farmland and green spaces of the National Capital Region, and Greater Toronto Area, the Federal^[93] and Provincial Governments introduced greenbelts around Ottawa^[94] and the Golden Horseshoe, limiting urban development in these areas.^[95]

Energy

Ontario's rivers make it rich in hydroelectric energy.^[96] In 2009, Ontario Power Generation generated 70 percent of the province's electricity, of which 51 percent is nuclear, 39% is hydroelectric and 10% is fossil-fuel derived.^[97] By 2025, nuclear power is projected to supply 42%, while fossil-fuel-derived generation is projected to decrease slightly over the next 20 years.^[98] 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 One.

The Pickering Nuclear Generating Station is one of three nuclear power stations in 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. Ontario's basic domestic rate in 2010 was 11.17 cents per kWh; by contrast. Quebec's was 6.81.^[99] In December 2013, the government projected a 42 percent hike by 2018, and 68 percent by 2033.^[98] Industrial rates are projected to rise by 33% by 2018, and 55% in 2033.^[98]

The Green Energy and Green Economy Act, 2009 (GEA), takes a two-pronged approach to commercializing renewable energy; first, it aims to bring more renewable energy sources to the province; and secondly, it aims to adopt more energy-efficiency measures to help conserve energy. The bill envisaged appointing a Renewable Energy Facilitator to provide "one-window" assistance and support to project developers to facilitate project approvals.^[100]

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 loans to finance the capital cost of renewable energy generating facilities like solar panels.^[100]

The Sir Adam Beck Hydroelectric Generating Stations are hydroelectric plants located in Niagara Falls.

Ontario is home to Niagara Falls, which supplies a large amount of electricity to the province. The Bruce Nuclear Generating Station, the largest operational nuclear power plant in the world, is also in Ontario and uses 8 CANDU reactors to generate electricity for the province.

Ontario had the most wind energy capacity of the country with 4,900 MW of power (41% of Canada's capacity).^[101]

Discover more about Economy related topics

Economy of Ontario

Economy of Ontario

The economy of Ontario is diversified. Ontario is the largest economy in Canada, making up around 38% of Canadian GDP. Though manufacturing plays an important role in Ontario's economy responsible for 12.6% of Ontario's GDP, the service sector makes up the bulk, 77.9%, of the economy. Ontario's net debt-to-GDP ratio will rise to 40.7% in the year 2019–2020.

Michigan

Michigan

Michigan is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. It is bordered by Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the southwest, Indiana and Ohio to the south, and Lakes Superior, Huron, and Erie to the north and east. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly 97,000 sq mi (250,000 km2), Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the largest by area east of the Mississippi River. Its capital is Lansing, and its largest city is Detroit. Metro Detroit is among the nation's most populous and largest metropolitan economies. Its name derives from a gallicized variant of the original Ojibwe word ᒥᓯᑲᒥ, meaning "large water" or "large lake".

Moody's Corporation

Moody's Corporation

Moody's Corporation, often referred to as Moody's, is an American business and financial services company. It is the holding company for Moody's Investors Service (MIS), an American credit rating agency, and Moody's Analytics (MA), an American provider of financial analysis software and services.

Canadian public debt

Canadian public debt

Canadian public debt, or general government debt, is the liabilities of the government sector. Government gross debt consists of liabilities that are a financial claim that requires payment of interest and/or principal in future. They consist mainly of Treasury bonds, but also include public service employee pension liabilities. Changes in government debt over time reflect primarily borrowing due to past government deficits.

Debt-to-GDP ratio

Debt-to-GDP ratio

In economics, the debt-to-GDP ratio is the ratio between a country's government debt and its gross domestic product (GDP). A low debt-to-GDP ratio indicates that an economy produces goods and services sufficient to pay back debts without incurring further debt. Geopolitical and economic considerations – including interest rates, war, recessions, and other variables – influence the borrowing practices of a nation and the choice to incur further debt.

Fiscal year

Fiscal year

A fiscal year is used in government accounting, which varies between countries, and for budget purposes. It is also used for financial reporting by businesses and other organizations. Laws in many jurisdictions require company financial reports to be prepared and published on an annual basis but generally not the reporting period to align with the calendar year. Taxation laws generally require accounting records to be maintained and taxes calculated on an annual basis, which usually corresponds to the fiscal year used for government purposes. The calculation of tax on an annual basis is especially relevant for direct taxes, such as income tax. Many annual government fees—such as council tax and license fees, are also levied on a fiscal year basis, but others are charged on an anniversary basis.

Algoma Steel

Algoma Steel

Algoma Steel Inc. is an integrated primary steel producer located on the St. Marys River in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada. Its products are sold in Canada and the United States as well as overseas. Algoma Steel was founded in 1902 by Francis Clergue, an American entrepreneur who had settled in Sault Ste. Marie. The company emerged from bankruptcy protection in 2004. In April 2007, Algoma Steel was purchased by India's Essar Group for US$ 1.63 billion, continuing operations as a subsidiary known as Essar Steel Algoma Inc. It was purchased again in 2017, by a group of US investors.

Great Lakes

Great Lakes

The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. There are five lakes, which are Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario and are in general on or near the Canada–United States border. Hydrologically, lakes Michigan and Huron are a single body joined at the Straits of Mackinac. The Great Lakes Waterway enables modern travel and shipping by water among the lakes.

Hardwood

Hardwood

Hardwood is wood from dicot trees. These are usually found in broad-leaved temperate and tropical forests. In temperate and boreal latitudes they are mostly deciduous, but in tropics and subtropics mostly evergreen. Hardwood contrasts with softwood.

Kenora

Kenora

Kenora, previously named Rat Portage, is a city situated on the Lake of the Woods in Ontario, Canada, close to the Manitoba boundary, and about 210 km (130 mi) east of Winnipeg by road. It is the seat of Kenora District.

Natural resource

Natural resource

Natural resources are resources that are drawn from nature and used with few modifications. This includes the sources of valued characteristics such as commercial and industrial use, aesthetic value, scientific interest, and cultural value. On Earth, it includes sunlight, atmosphere, water, land, all minerals along with all vegetation, and wildlife.

Container ship

Container ship

A container ship is a cargo ship that carries all of its load in truck-size intermodal containers, in a technique called containerization. Container ships are a common means of commercial intermodal freight transport and now carry most seagoing non-bulk cargo.

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 Ontario." The assembly currently has 124 seats (increased from 107 as of the 42nd Ontario general election) representing ridings elected in a first-past-the-post system across the province.

The legislative buildings at Queen's Park are the seat of government. Following the Westminster system, 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 cabinet or Executive Council 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 Assembly); both are acceptable but the latter is uncommon. 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.

Law

Osgoode Hall houses the Court of Appeal for Ontario, the appellate court for the province.

Ontario has grown, from its roots in Upper Canada, into a modern jurisdiction. The old titles of the chief law officers, the Attorney-General and the Solicitor-General, remain in use. They both are responsible to the Legislature. The Attorney-General drafts the laws and is responsible for criminal prosecutions and the administration of justice, while the Solicitor-General is responsible for law enforcement and the police services of the province. The Municipal Act, 2001 (Ontario)^[102] is the main statute governing the creation, administration and government of municipalities in the Canadian province of Ontario, other than the City of Toronto. After being passed in 2001, it came into force on January 1, 2003, replacing the previous Municipal Act.^[103] Effective January 1, 2007, the Municipal Act, 2001 (the Act) was significantly amended by the Municipal Statute Law Amendment Act, 2006 (Bill 130).^[104][105]

Politics

The Ontario Legislative Building at Queen's Park. The building serves as the meeting place for the Legislative Assembly of Ontario.

Ontario has numerous political parties which run for election. The four main parties are the centre-right Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario, the social democratic Ontario New Democratic Party (NDP), the centre to centre-left Ontario Liberal Party, and Green Party of Ontario. The Progressive Conservatives, Liberals and New Democrats have each governed the province, while the Greens elected their first member to the Legislative Assembly in 2018.

The 2018 provincial election resulted in a Progressive Conservative majority government under party leader Doug Ford, who was sworn in as Premier on June 29. Ontario NDP leader Andrea Horwath was sworn in as the leader of her Majesty's Loyal Opposition.

Administrative divisions

Map of the counties, regional municipalities, districts, and municipalities of Ontario.

Ontario has three types of first-level administrative divisions. They include single-tier municipalities, upper-tier municipalities (which may be in the form of either regional municipalities or counties), and districts. Upper-tier municipalities and districts are made up of smaller municipalities and other types of administrative divisions.

Administrative divisions differ primarily in the services that they provide to their residents, with the differing structures of these administrative regions resulting in disparities among Ontario's different regions. The administrative regions of Ontario are roughly coterminous with the census divisions used by Statistics Canada, although some exceptions do exist.^{[note 2]}

Urban 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.^[106]

*Parts of Quebec (including Gatineau) are included in the Ottawa CMA. The population of the Ottawa CMA, in both provinces, is shown.

Ten largest municipalities by population^[107]

Discover more about Government, law and politics related topics

Monarchy in Ontario

Monarchy in Ontario

By the arrangements of the Canadian federation, Canada's monarchy operates in Ontario as the core of the province's Westminster-style parliamentary democracy. As such, the Crown within Ontario's jurisdiction may be referred to as the Crown in Right of Ontario, His Majesty in Right of Ontario, the King in Right of Ontario, or His Majesty the King in Right of Ontario. The Constitution Act, 1867 leaves many functions in Ontario specifically assigned to the sovereign's viceroy, the lieutenant governor of Ontario, whose direct participation in governance is limited by the constitutional conventions of constitutional monarchy.

Executive Council of Ontario

Executive Council of Ontario

The Executive Council of Ontario, often informally referred to as the Cabinet of Ontario, is the cabinet of the Canadian province of Ontario. It comprises ministers of the provincial Crown, who are selected by the premier of Ontario and appointed by the lieutenant governor. The activities of the Government of Ontario are directed by the Executive Council.

Legislative Assembly of Ontario

Legislative Assembly of Ontario

The Legislative Assembly of Ontario is the legislative chamber of the Canadian province of Ontario. Its elected members are known as Members of Provincial Parliament (MPPs). Bills passed by the Legislative Assembly are given royal assent by the lieutenant governor of Ontario to become law. Together, the Legislative Assembly and Lieutenant Governor make up the unicameral Legislature of Ontario or Parliament of Ontario. The assembly meets at the Ontario Legislative Building at Queen's Park in the provincial capital of Toronto.

Electoral district (Canada)

Electoral district (Canada)

An electoral district in Canada is a geographical constituency upon which Canada's representative democracy is based. It is officially known in Canadian French as a circonscription but frequently called a comté (county). In Canadian English it is also colloquially and more commonly known as a riding or constituency.

Plurality voting

Plurality voting

Plurality voting refers to electoral systems in which a candidate, or candidates, who poll more than any other counterpart, are elected. In systems based on single-member districts, it elects just one member per district and may also be referred to as first-past-the-post (FPTP), single-member plurality (SMP/SMDP), single-choice voting, simple plurality or relative majority. A system which elects multiple winners elected at once with the plurality rule, such as one based on multi-seat districts, is referred to as plurality block voting.

Queen's Park (Toronto)

Queen's Park (Toronto)

Queen's Park is an urban park in Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Opened in 1860 by Edward, Prince of Wales, it was named in honour of Queen Victoria. The park is the site of the Ontario Legislative Building, which houses the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. The phrase "Queen's Park" is regularly used as a metonym for the Government of Ontario or the Legislative Assembly of Ontario.

Cabinet (government)

Cabinet (government)

A cabinet is a body of high-ranking state officials, typically consisting of the executive branch's top leaders. Members of a cabinet are usually called cabinet ministers or secretaries. The function of a cabinet varies: in some countries, it is a collegiate decision-making body with collective responsibility, while in others it may function either as a purely advisory body or an assisting institution to a decision-making head of state or head of government. Cabinets are typically the body responsible for the day-to-day management of the government and response to sudden events, whereas the legislative and judicial branches work in a measured pace, in sessions according to lengthy procedures.

Member of the Legislative Assembly

Member of the Legislative Assembly

A member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) is a representative elected by the voters of a constituency to a legislative assembly. Most often, the term refers to a subnational assembly such as that of a state, province, or territory of a country. Still, in a few instances, it refers to a national legislature.

Osgoode Hall

Osgoode Hall

Osgoode Hall is a landmark building in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The original 2+1⁄2-storey building was started in 1829 and finished in 1832 from a design by John Ewart and William Warren Baldwin. The structure is named for William Osgoode, the first Chief Justice of Upper Canada.

Court of Appeal for Ontario

Court of Appeal for Ontario

The Court of Appeal for Ontario is the appellate court for the province of Ontario, Canada. The seat of the court is Osgoode Hall in downtown Toronto, also the seat of the Law Society of Ontario and the Divisional Court of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice.

Appellate court

Appellate court

A court of appeals, also called a court of appeal, appellate court, appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. In much of the world, court systems are divided into at least three levels: the trial court, which initially hears cases and reviews evidence and testimony to determine the facts of the case; at least one intermediate appellate court; and a supreme court which primarily reviews the decisions of the intermediate courts, often on a discretionary basis. A particular court system's supreme court is its highest appellate court. Appellate courts nationwide can operate under varying rules.

Courts of Ontario

Courts of Ontario

Accounts of the Indigenous law governing dispute resolution in the area now called Ontario, Canada, date from the early to mid-17th century. French civil law courts were created in Canada, the colony of New France, in the 17th century, and common law courts were first established in 1764. The territory was then known as the province of Quebec.

In Canada, education falls under provincial jurisdiction. Publicly funded elementary and secondary schools are administered by the Ontario Ministry of Education, while colleges and universities are administered by the Ontario Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities. The Minister of Education is Stephen Lecce, the Minister of Colleges and Universities is Ross Romano, and the Minister of Labour, Training and Skills Development Monte McNaughton.

Higher education

Higher education in Ontario includes post-secondary 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.^[108] The minister is Merrilee Fullerton. The ministry administers laws covering 22 public universities,^[109] 24 public colleges (21 Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology (CAATs) and three Institutes of Technology and Advanced Learning (ITALs)),^[110] 17 privately funded religious universities,^[111] and over 500 private career colleges.^[112] The Canadian constitution provides each province with the responsibility for higher education and there is no corresponding national federal ministry of higher education.^[113] Within Canadian federalism the division of responsibilities and taxing powers between the Ontario and Canadian governments creates the need for co-operation to fund and deliver higher education to students. Each higher education system aims to improve participation, access, and mobility for students. There are two central organizations that assist with the process of applying to Ontario universities and colleges: the Ontario Universities' Application Centre and Ontario College Application Service. While application services are centralized, admission and selection processes vary and are the purview of each institution. Admission to many Ontario postsecondary institutions can be highly competitive. Upon admission, students may get involved with regional student representation with the Canadian Federation of Students, the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations, the Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance, or through the College Student Alliance in Ontario.

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Education in Ontario

Education in Ontario

Education in Ontario comprises public and private primary and secondary schools and post-secondary institutions. Publicly funded elementary and secondary schools are administered by the Ontario Ministry of Education, while colleges and universities are administered by the Ontario Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities. The current respective Ministers for each are Stephen Lecce and Ross Romano. The province's public education system is primarily funded by the Government of Ontario, with education in Canada falling almost entirely under provincial jurisdiction. There is no federal government department or agency involved in the formation or analysis of policy regarding education for most Canadians. Schools for Indigenous people in Canada with Indian status are the only schools that are funded federally, and although the schools receive more money per individual student than certain provinces, the amount also includes the operation and maintenance of school facilities, instructional services, students supports and staff. Most provincial allocations per students do not include the maintenance and operation of buildings, as most provincial governments offer additional grants.

Ministry of Education (Ontario)

Ministry of Education (Ontario)

The Ministry of Education is the ministry of the Government of Ontario responsible for government policy, funding, curriculum planning and direction in all levels of public education, including elementary and secondary schools.

Monte McNaughton

Monte McNaughton

Monte Gary McNaughton is a Canadian politician who has served as the minister of labour, immigration, training and skills development in Ontario since June 20, 2019. A Progressive Conservative (PC), McNaughton has sat as a member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) and has represented the riding Lambton—Kent—Middlesex in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario since the 2011 provincial election. McNaughton first joined the provincial Cabinet in 2018 as the minister of infrastructure.

Higher education in Ontario

Higher education in Ontario

Higher education in Ontario includes postsecondary education and skills training regulated by the Ministry of Colleges and Universities and provided by universities, colleges of applied arts and technology, and private career colleges. The current minister is Jill Dunlop who was appointed in June 2021. The ministry administers laws covering 22 public universities, 24 public colleges, 17 privately funded religious universities, and over 500 private career colleges. 18 of the top 50 research universities in Canada are in Ontario.

List of colleges in Ontario

List of colleges in Ontario

The province of Ontario has 24 publicly funded colleges, known as Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology (CAATs). In 2003, three CAATs were designated as Institutes of Technology and Advanced Learning.

Merrilee Fullerton

Merrilee Fullerton

Merrilee K. Fullerton is a Canadian politician and physician who is the Ontario Minister of Children, Community and Social Service since June 18, 2021. She represents the riding of Kanata-Carleton in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as a member of the Progressive Conservative Party since 2018.

Higher education

Higher education

Higher education is tertiary education leading to the award of an academic degree. Higher education, also called post-secondary education, third-level or tertiary education, is an optional final stage of formal learning that occurs after completion of secondary education. It represents levels 5, 6, 7, and 8 of the 2011 version of the International Standard Classification of Education structure. Tertiary education at a non-degree level is sometimes referred to as further education or continuing education as distinct from higher education.

Canadian federalism

Canadian federalism

Canadian federalism involves the current nature and historical development of the federal system in Canada.

Ontario College Application Service

Ontario College Application Service

The Ontario College Application Service (OCAS) is a non-profit corporation created by Yomi O and the Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology and Institutes of Technology and Advanced Learning in the province of Ontario, Canada.

Canadian Federation of Students

Canadian Federation of Students

The Canadian Federation of Students (CFS) is the largest student organization in Canada, representing over 530,000 students from across Canada. Formed in 1981, the stated goal of the Federation is to represent the collective voice of Canadian students and work at the federal level for high quality, accessible post-secondary education. The CFS has its roots in Canada's long tradition of having national student organizations, such as formerly the National Union of Students (Canada), the Canadian Union of Students, the National Federation of Canadian University Students, the Canadian Student Assembly, and the Student Christian Movement of Canada (SCM).

Canadian Alliance of Student Associations

Canadian Alliance of Student Associations

The Canadian Alliance of Student Associations (CASA) is a federally focused student advocacy organization. CASA currently has 24 members, who represent over 275,000 students from across Canada. With a formal partnership with the Quebec Student Union, CASA represents 365,000 students. CASA works towards an accessible, affordable, innovative and high-quality post-secondary education system.

College Student Alliance

College Student Alliance

The College Student Alliance (CSA) is a provincial advocacy organization in Ontario that represents students attending community colleges. The alliance represents 8 colleges and 10 student associations with over 78,000 student members.

Outdoor recreation is popular in Southern Ontario and the region is home to numerous cultural events and festivals. There is no single regional dish in Southern Ontario, but fish and wild game, such as walleye and moose, are popular. Poutine, a dish that originated in Quebec and is popular in Northern Ontario, can also be found in the region.

In 2019, the government of Ontario passed legislation that established the Poet Laureate of Ontario.^[114]

Songs and slogans

An Ontario licence plate with the slogan Yours to Discover at the bottom of the plate

In 1973, the first slogan to appear on licence plates in Ontario was "Keep It Beautiful". This was replaced by "Yours to Discover" in 1982,^[115] apparently inspired by a tourism slogan, "Discover Ontario", dating back to 1927.^[116] Plates with the French equivalent, Tant à découvrir, were made available to the public beginning in May 2008.^[117] (From 1988 to 1990,^[118] "Ontario Incredible"^[119] gave "Yours to Discover" a brief respite.)

A Place to Stand, a Place to Grow is a song commissioned by the government of Ontario for its pavilion in Expo 67, and an unofficial anthem of the province.^[120] As a part of the Canada 150 celebrations in 2017, the provincial government released an updated rendition.^[120] In 2007, the provincial tourism agency commissioned a new song, "There's No Place Like This" is featured in television advertising, performed by Ontario artists including Molly Johnson, Brian Byrne, Keshia Chanté,^[121] as well as Tomi Swick and Arkells.

Professional sports

The province has professional sports teams in baseball, basketball, Canadian football, ice hockey, lacrosse, rugby league, rugby union and soccer.

Notable residents

Museums

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Hollywood North

Hollywood North

Hollywood North is a colloquialism used to describe film production industries and/or film locations north of its namesake, Hollywood, California. The term has been applied principally to the film industry in Canada, specifically to the city of Toronto, Ontario and more recently also Vancouver, British Columbia.

Music of Ontario

Music of Ontario

As the Canadian province with the largest population, Ontario has a particularly prominent role in Canadian music. The provincial capital city of Toronto, Canada's largest municipality, is home to much of the English Canadian music industry and many individual musicians, and the most popular destination for musicians from other parts of Canada, besides French-Canadian musicians, looking to advance their careers. Toronto also supports Canadian music as the centre of English language media in Canada. Hamilton, Ottawa, Kingston and Guelph have also been important centres for Canadian music.

Poet Laureate of Ontario

Poet Laureate of Ontario

The Poet Laureate of Ontario is the poet laureate for the province of Ontario in Canada. The position was established in 2019 as an office of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario in honour of musician and writer Gord Downie.

A Place to Stand, a Place to Grow

A Place to Stand, a Place to Grow

"A Place to Stand, a Place to Grow" (Ontari-ari-ari-o!) is the unofficial provincial anthem of the Canadian province of Ontario. It was written as the signature tune for a movie of the same name that was featured at the Expo 67 Ontario pavilion.

Expo 67

Expo 67

The 1967 International and Universal Exposition, commonly known as Expo 67, was a general exhibition from April 27 to October 29, 1967. It was a category One World's Fair held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is considered to be one of the most successful World's Fairs of the 20th century with the most attendees to that date and 62 nations participating. It also set the single-day attendance record for a world's fair, with 569,500 visitors on its third day.

Molly Johnson

Molly Johnson

Margaret Leslie "Molly" Johnson, OC is a Canadian Juno Award-winning singer-songwriter of pop and jazz.

Brian Byrne

Brian Byrne

Brian Byrne is a Canadian singer and songwriter. He was the second vocalist for the band I Mother Earth.

Keshia Chanté

Keshia Chanté

Keshia Chanté Harper is a Canadian singer, television host, actress, songwriter, philanthropist and businesswoman. As a teenager, Chanté gained recognition with the release of her singles "Unpredictable", "Bad Boy" and "Does He Love Me" "Been Gone" "2U" and "Fallen" featuring Drake and has since released four albums. In 2013, she rose to international prominence as co-host of BET's 106 & Park with Bow Wow which launched her career as a TV Host & Television Personality. Chante is also known as Drake's musical muse who he refers to as "KIKI" in his song In My Feelings.

Arkells

Arkells

Arkells is a Canadian rock band, formed in Hamilton, Ontario. In 2006, they signed with Dine Alone Records, and have since signed with Universal Records Canada and Last Gang Records. They are managed by Last Gang Management. They have released six albums, two EPs and a number of singles that have charted in Canada. The band has won multiple Juno Awards, including one for their album High Noon in 2015. The band headlined the 108th Grey Cup halftime show in Hamilton, Ontario on December 12, 2021.

List of professional sports teams in Ontario

List of professional sports teams in Ontario

The province of Ontario, Canada, has professional sports teams in a wide variety of sports:

Baseball

Baseball

Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding team, called the pitcher, throws a ball that a player on the batting team, called the batter, tries to hit with a bat. The objective of the offensive team is to hit the ball into the field of play, away from the other team's players, allowing its players to run the bases, having them advance counter-clockwise around four bases to score what are called "runs". The objective of the defensive team is to prevent batters from becoming runners, and to prevent runners' advance around the bases. A run is scored when a runner legally advances around the bases in order and touches home plate.

Basketball

Basketball

Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball through the defender's hoop, while preventing the opposing team from shooting through their own hoop. A field goal is worth two points, unless made from behind the three-point line, when it is worth three. After a foul, timed play stops and the player fouled or designated to shoot a technical foul is given one, two or three one-point free throws. The team with the most points at the end of the game wins, but if regulation play expires with the score tied, an additional period of play (overtime) is mandated.

Transportation routes in Ontario evolved from early waterway travel and First Nations paths followed by European explorers. Ontario has two major east–west routes, both starting from Montreal in the neighbouring province of Quebec. The northerly route, which was a major fur trade route, travels west from Montreal along the Ottawa River, then continues northwestward towards Manitoba. Major cities on or near the route include Ottawa, North Bay, Sudbury, Sault Ste. Marie, and Thunder Bay. The southerly route, which was driven by growth in 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, Belleville, Peterborough, Oshawa, Toronto, Mississauga, Kitchener-Waterloo, Hamilton, London, Sarnia, and Windsor. This route was also heavily used by immigrants to the Midwestern US particularly in the late 19th century.

Air travel

Thunder Bay International Airport is one of five international airports operating in Ontario.

Important airports in the province include Toronto Pearson International Airport, which is the busiest airport in Canada,^[122] handling nearly 50 million passengers in 2018.^[123] Ottawa Macdonald–Cartier International Airport is Ontario's second largest airport. Toronto/Pearson and Ottawa/Macdonald-Cartier form two of the three points in Canada's busiest set of air routes (the third point being Montréal–Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport). In addition to airports in Ottawa, and Toronto, the province also operates three other international airports, the John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport in Hamilton, the Thunder Bay International Airport in Thunder Bay and the London International Airport in London. John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport serves as cargo hub, reliever for Pearson, and sometimes a hub for discount airlines.

Most Ontario cities have regional airports, many of which have scheduled commuter flights from Air Canada Jazz or smaller airlines and charter companies – flights from the mid-size cities such as Thunder Bay, Sault Ste. Marie, Sudbury, North Bay, Timmins, Windsor, London, and Kingston feed directly into larger airports in Toronto and Ottawa. Bearskin Airlines also runs flights along the northerly east–west route, connecting Ottawa, North Bay, Sudbury, Sault Ste. Marie, Kitchener and Thunder Bay directly.

Remote and isolated towns and settlements in the northern areas of the province rely partly or entirely on air service for travel, goods, and even ambulance services (MEDIVAC), since much of the far northern area of the province cannot be reached by road (or by year-round road) or rail.

Railways

A Via Rail train approaching Belleville station

Via Rail operates the inter-regional passenger train service on the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor, along with The Canadian, a transcontinental rail service from Southern Ontario to Vancouver, and the Sudbury–White River train. Additionally, Amtrak rail connects Ontario with key New York cities including Buffalo, Albany, and New York City. Ontario Northland provides rail service to destinations as far north as Moosonee near James Bay, connecting them with the south.

Freight rail is dominated by the founding cross-country Canadian National Railway and CP Rail companies, which during the 1990s sold many short rail lines from their vast network to private companies operating mostly in the south.

Regional commuter rail is limited to the provincially owned GO Transit, and serves a train-bus network spanning the Golden Horseshoe region, with Union Station in Toronto serving as the transport hub.^[124][125]

There are several city rail-transit systems in the Province. The Toronto Transit Commission operates subways, as well as streetcars (being one of the busiest streetcar systems in North America). OC Transpo operates a light rail metro system in Ottawa.^[126] In addition, Waterloo region operates a surface light rail system.^[127] Plans to build a light rail line is also underway in the Regional Municipality of Peel.^[128][129]

Ontario Northland freight train crossing the Missinaibi River at Mattice-Val Côté in Northern Ontario

Roads

Highway 400 in Seguin. The roadway forms a part of the province's 400-series highways.

400-series highways make up the primary vehicular network in the south of province, and they connect at a number of points to border crossings to the United States, and Quebec, the busiest being the Detroit–Windsor Tunnel and Ambassador Bridge and the Blue Water Bridge (via Highway 402). Some of the primary highways along the southern route are Highway 401, Highway 417, and Highway 400,^[130][131] Highway 401 being the busiest highway in North America. Other provincial highways and regional roads inter-connect the remainder of the province.

Waterways

The Saint Lawrence Seaway, which extends across most of the southern portion of the province and connects to the Atlantic Ocean, is the primary water transportation route for cargo, particularly iron ore 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. Ontario's three largest ports are the Port of Hamilton, Port of Thunder Bay and the Port of Windsor. Ontario's only saltwater port is located in the town of Moosonee on James Bay.

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Fur trade

Fur trade

The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of a world fur market in the early modern period, furs of boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals have been the most valued. Historically the trade stimulated the exploration and colonization of Siberia, northern North America, and the South Shetland and South Sandwich Islands.

Ottawa River

Ottawa River

The Ottawa River is a river in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. It is named after the Algonquin word 'to trade', as it was the major trade route of Eastern Canada at the time. For most of its length, it defines the border between these two provinces. It is a major tributary of the St. Lawrence River and the longest river in Quebec.

Regional Municipality of Waterloo

Regional Municipality of Waterloo

The Regional Municipality of Waterloo is a metropolitan area of Southern Ontario, Canada. It contains the cities of Cambridge, Kitchener and Waterloo, and the townships of North Dumfries, Wellesley, Wilmot and Woolwich. Kitchener, the largest city, is the seat of government.

International airport

International airport

An international airport is an airport with customs and border control facilities enabling passengers to travel between countries around the world. International airports are usually larger than domestic airports and they must feature longer runways and have facilities to accommodate the heavier aircraft such as the Boeing 747 commonly used for international and intercontinental travel. International airports often also host domestic flights, which often help feed both passengers and cargo into international ones.

List of the busiest airports in Canada

List of the busiest airports in Canada

The following is a list of the busiest airports in Canada. The airports are ranked by passenger traffic and aircraft movements. For each airport, the lists cite the city served by the airport as designated by Transport Canada, not necessarily the municipality where the airport is physically located.

Ottawa Macdonald–Cartier International Airport

Ottawa Macdonald–Cartier International Airport

Ottawa/Macdonald–Cartier International Airport or Macdonald–Cartier International Airport is the main international airport serving Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, and its metropolitan area known as the National Capital Region. It is named after the Canadian statesmen and two of the "founding fathers of Canada", Sir John A. Macdonald and Sir George-Étienne Cartier. Located 5.5 nautical miles south of downtown Ottawa in the south end of the city, it is Canada's eighth-busiest airport, Ontario's second-busiest airport by airline passenger traffic, with 2,992,334 passengers in 2022. The airport was the home base for First Air.

John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport

John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport

John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport, also referred to as Hamilton Airport or Toronto–Hamilton Airport, is an international airport in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The airport is part of the neighbourhood of Mount Hope, 6 nautical miles southwest of Downtown Hamilton and 64 km (40 mi) southwest of Toronto. The airport serves the city of Hamilton and adjacent areas of Southern Ontario, including the Greater Toronto Area. It is considered as a reliever for Toronto Pearson International Airport. The airport is named after John Carr Munro, a longtime Member of Parliament for Hamilton East.

London International Airport

London International Airport

London International Airport is located 5 nautical miles northeast of the city of London, Ontario, Canada.

Bearskin Airlines

Bearskin Airlines

Bearskin Lake Air Service LP, operating as Bearskin Airlines, is a regional airline based in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada. It is a division of Perimeter Aviation and operates services in northern Ontario and Manitoba. Its main base is at Thunder Bay International Airport (YQT), with a hub at Greater Sudbury Airport (YSB).

Airline

Airline

An airline is a company that provides air transport services for traveling passengers and/or freight. Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for codeshare agreements, in which they both offer and operate the same flight. Generally, airline companies are recognized with an air operating certificate or license issued by a governmental aviation body. Airlines may be scheduled or charter operators.

Medical evacuation

Medical evacuation

Medical evacuation, often shortened to medevac or medivac, is the timely and efficient movement and en route care provided by medical personnel to wounded being evacuated from a battlefield, to injured patients being evacuated from the scene of an accident to receiving medical facilities, or to patients at a rural hospital requiring urgent care at a better-equipped facility using medically equipped air ambulances, especially helicopters.

Belleville station (Ontario)

Belleville station (Ontario)

The Belleville railway station in Belleville, Ontario, Canada is served by Via Rail trains running from Toronto to Ottawa and Montreal. The station is staffed, with ticket sales, vending machines, telephones, washrooms, and wheelchair access to the station and trains.