Lake Ontario
The lake seen from Dutch Street Road, Huron, New York
Lake Ontario and the other Great Lakes
Location	North America
Group	Great Lakes
Coordinates	43°42′N 77°54′W / 43.7°N 77.9°W / 43.7; -77.9Coordinates: 43°42′N 77°54′W / 43.7°N 77.9°W / 43.7; -77.9
Primary inflows	Niagara River
Primary outflows	St. Lawrence River
Catchment area	24,720 sq mi (64,030 km2)[1]
Basin countries	United States  Canada
Max. length	193 mi (311 km)[2]
Max. width	53 mi (85 km)[2]
Surface area	7,340 sq mi(18,960 km2)[1]
Average depth	283 ft (86 m)[2][3]
Max. depth	802 ft (244 m)[2][3]
Water volume	393 cu mi (1,640 km3)[2]
Residence time	6 years
Shore length1	712 mi (1,146 km)[1]
Surface elevation	243 ft (74 m)[2]
Settlements	Toronto, Hamilton, Ontario, Rochester, New York
References	[3]
1 Shore length is not a well-defined measure.

Lake Ontario (French: Lac Ontario) is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south by the American state of New York. Ontario, Canada's most populous province, was named for the lake. In the Wyandot (Huron) language, ontarío means “Lake of Shining Waters”. It is the last in the Great Lakes chain and serves as the outlet to the Atlantic Ocean via the St. Lawrence River. Lake Ontario is also the only one of the five Great Lakes not to share a coast with the state of Michigan.

Geography[link]

Lake Ontario is the easternmost of the Great Lakes and the smallest in surface area (7,340 sq mi, 18,960 km²),^[1] although it exceeds Lake Erie in volume (393 cu mi, 1,639 km³). It is the 14th largest lake in the world. When its islands are included, the lake has a shoreline that is 712 miles (1,146 km) long. As the last lake in the Great Lakes' hydrologic chain, Lake Ontario has the lowest mean surface elevation of the lakes at 243 feet (74 m)^[2] above sea level; 326 feet (99 m) lower than its neighbor upstream. Its maximum length is 193 statute miles (311 km; 168 nmi) and its maximum width is 53 statute miles (85 km; 46 nmi).^[2] The lake's average depth is 47 fathoms 1 foot (283 ft; 86 m), with a maximum depth of 133 fathoms 4 feet (802 ft; 244 m).^[2][3] The lake's primary source is the Niagara River, draining Lake Erie, with the St. Lawrence River serving as the outlet. The drainage basin covers 24,720 square miles (64,030 km²).^[1][4] As with all the Great Lakes, water levels change both within the year (owing to seasonal changes in water input) and among years (owing to longer term trends in precipitation). These water level fluctuations are an integral part of lake ecology, and produce and maintain extensive wetlands^[5][6]. The lake also has an important freshwater fishery, although it has been negatively affected by factors including over-fishing, water pollution and invasive species^[7].

Baymouth bars built by prevailing winds and currents have created a significant number of lagoons and sheltered harbors, mostly (but not limited to) Prince Edward County, Ontario and the easternmost shores. Perhaps the best-known example is Toronto Bay, chosen as the site of the Upper Canada (Ontario) capital for its strategic harbour. Other prominent examples include Hamilton Harbour, Irondequoit Bay, Presqu'ile Bay, and Sodus Bay. The bars themselves are the sites of long beaches, such as Sandbanks Provincial Park and Sandy Island Beach State Park. These sand bars are often associated with large wetlands, which support large numbers of plant and animal species, as well as providing important rest areas for migratory birds^[8][9]. Presqu'ile, on the north shore of Lake Ontario, is particularly significant in this regard. One unique feature of the lake is the Z-shaped Bay of Quinte which separates Prince Edward County from the Ontario mainland, save for a 2-mile (3.2 km) isthmus near Trenton; this feature also supports many wetlands and aquatic plants, as well as associated fisheries.

Major rivers draining into Lake Ontario include the Don River; Humber River; Trent River; the Cataraqui River; the Genesee River; the Oswego River; the Black River; and the Salmon River.

Geology[link]

The lake basin was carved out of soft, weak Silurian-age rocks by the Wisconsin ice sheet during the last ice age. The action of the ice occurred along the pre-glacial Ontarian River valley which had approximately the same orientation as today's basin. Material that was pushed southward by the ice sheet left landforms such as drumlins, kames, and moraines, both on the modern land surface and the lake bottom,^[10] reorganizing the region's entire drainage system. As the ice sheet retreated toward the north, it still dammed the St. Lawrence valley outlet, so that the lake surface was at a higher level. This stage is known as Lake Iroquois. During that time the lake drained through present-day Syracuse, New York into the Mohawk River, thence to the Hudson River and the Atlantic. The shoreline created during this stage can be easily recognized by the (now dry) beaches and wave-cut hills 10 to 25 miles (15 to 40 km) from the present shoreline.

When the ice finally receded from the St. Lawrence valley, the outlet was below sea level, and for a short time the lake became a bay of the Atlantic Ocean, in association with the Champlain Sea. Gradually the land rebounded from the release of the weight of about 6,500 feet (2,000 m) of ice that had been stacked on it. It is still rebounding about 12 inches (30 cm) per century in the St. Lawrence area. Since the ice receded from the area last, the most rapid rebound still occurs there. This means that the lake bed is gradually tilting southward, inundating the south shore and turning river valleys into bays. Both north and south shores experience shoreline erosion, but the tilting amplifies this effect on the south shore, causing loss to property owners.

History[link]

Toronto from the bay in 1901. A then heavily industrialized and busy harbour has been mostly replaced with condominium high-rise developments and urban parks.

Name[link]

Map of Lac de Frontenac (now Lake Ontario), showing Teiaiagon and Lac Taronto (now Lake Simcoe).

The lake was previously identified in some maps under different French names. In 1632 and 1656 is was referred to as Lac de St. Louis or Lake St. Louis by Samuel de Champlain and cartographer Nicolas Sanson respectively (likely for Louis XIV of France)^[11] In 1660 Jesuit historian Francis Creuxius coined the name Lacus Ontarius. In a map drawn in the Relation des Jésuites (1662–1663), the lake bears the legend "Lac Ontario ou des Iroquois" with the name "Ondiara" in smaller type. A French map produced in 1712 (currently in the Canadian Museum of Civilization^[12]), created by military engineer Jean-Baptiste de Couagne, identified Lake Ontario as "Lac Frontenac". Iroquois people called the lake "Skanadario".

17th to 20th centuries[link]

The lake was a border between the Huron and their vassals and the Iroquois Confederacy in pre-European times. The first documented European to reach the lake was Étienne Brûlé in 1615. Artifacts which are believed to be of Norse origin have been found in the area of Sodus Bay, indicating possible earlier visits by Europeans, but this remains unproven. A series of trading posts was established by both the British and French, such as Fort Oswego in 1722 and Fort Rouillé (Toronto) in 1750. After the French and Indian War, all forts around the lake were under British control. The United States did not take possession of forts on present-day American territory until the signing of the Jay Treaty in 1794. Permanent, non-military European settlement began during the American Revolution. As the easternmost and nearest lake to the Atlantic seaboard of Canada and the United States, population centres here are among the oldest in the Great Lakes basin, with Kingston, formerly the capital of Canada, dating to the 1780s. The lake became a hub of commercial activity following the War of 1812 with canal building on both sides of the border and heavy travel by lake steamers. Steamer activity peaked in the mid-19th century before competition from railway lines.

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a type of scow known as a stonehooker was in operation on the north-west shore, particularly around Port Credit and Bronte. Stonehooking was the practice of raking flat fragments of Dundas shale from the shallow lake floor of the area for use in construction, particularly in the growing city of Toronto.^[13]

Ecology and environmental concerns[link]

The Great Lakes watershed is a region of high biodiversity, and Lake Ontario is important for its diversity of birds, fish, reptiles amphibians and plants[1][2]. Many of these special species are associated with shorelines, particularly sand dunes, lagoons, and wetlands. The importance of wetlands to the lake has been appreciated, and many of the larger wetlands have protected status. However, these wetlands are changing in part because the natural water level fluctuations have been reduced. Many wetland plants are dependent upon low water levels to reproduce^[14]. When water levels are stabilized, the area and diversity of the marsh is reduced. This is particularly true of meadow marsh (also known as wet meadow wetlands); in Eel Bay near Alexandria Bay, regulation of lake levels has resulted in large losses of wet meadow ^[15]. Often this is accompanied by invasion by cattails, which displace many of the native plant species and reduce plant diversity. Eutrophication may accelerate this process by providing nitrogen and phosphorus for the more rapid growth of competitively dominant plants^[16]. Similar effects are occuring on the north shore, in wetlands such as Presqu'ile, which have interdunal wetlands called pannes, with high plant diversity and many unusual plant species^[17].

Most of the forests around the lake are deciduous forests that are classified as part of the Great Lakes Ecoregion. Deforestation in the vicinity of the lake has also had considerable negative impacts^[18], with loss of forest birds, extinction of native salmon, and increased amounts of sediment flowing into the lake. Guidelines for restoration stress the importance of maintaining and restoring forest cover, particularly along streams and wetlands^[19][20].

The open water is less affected by shoreline features, such as wetlands, and more affected by nutrient levels that control the production of algae. Algae are the basis of the open water food web, and the source of primary production that ends up as Lake Trout and Walleye at the top of the open water food web.File:Lake Ontario food web.pdfThis food web has been damaged not only by over-fishing, and changes in nutrient levels, but also by other types of polluted from industrial chemicals, agricultural fertilizers, untreated sewage, phosphates, such as from laundry detergents, and chemicals. Some pollutant chemicals that have been found in the lake include DDT, benzo[a]pyrene and other pesticides; PCBs, aramite, chromium, lead, mirex, mercury, and carbon tetrachloride.

By the 1960s and 1970s, the increased pollution caused frequent algal blooms to occur in the summer^[21]. These blooms killed large numbers of fish, and left decomposing piles of filamentous algae and dead fish along the shores^[22]. At times the blooms became so thick that waves could not break. Fish eating birds such as osprey, bald eagle and cormorant were being poisoned by contaminated fish. Since the 1960s and 1970s, environmental concerns have forced a cleanup of industrial and municipal wastes. Cleanup has been accomplished through better treatment plants, tighter environmental regulations, deindustrialization and increased public awareness. Today, Lake Ontario has recovered some of its pristine quality but regional airshed pollution remains a concern. For example, walleye, a fish species considered as a marker of clean water, are now found. The lake has also become an important sport fishery, although with introduced species (Coho and Chinook salmon) rather than the native species. Bald eagle and osprey populations are also beginning to recover.

Invasive species are a problem for Lake Ontario, particularly lamprey and zebra mussels. Lamprey are being controlled by poisoning in the juvenile stage in the streams where they breed. Zebra mussels in particular are difficult to control, and pose major challenges for the lake and its waterways.

Thermal pollution from the Pickering Nuclear Generating Station and Darlington Nuclear Generating Station just east of Toronto has become a concern in recent years, with the warm wastewater released from the plant being a problem year-round.^[23] Radioactive and heavy metal contamination from these nuclear plants, as well as nuclear-industry fuel manufacturing in Port Hope, Ontario, is also an ongoing concern.

Climate[link]

Lake Ontario as seen from the top of the CN Tower

The lake has a natural seiche rhythm of eleven minutes. The seiche effect normally is only about ¾ inches (2 cm) but can be greatly amplified by earth movement, winds, and atmospheric pressure changes.

Because of its great depth, the lake as a whole never freezes in winter, but an ice sheet covering between 10% and 90% of the lake area typically develops, depending on the severity of the winter. Ice sheets typically form along the shoreline and in slack water bays, where the lake is not as deep. During the winters of 1877 and 1878, the ice sheet coverage was up to 95–100% in most of the lake. In the winter of 1812, the ice cover was stable enough that the American naval commander stationed at Sackets Harbor feared a British attack from Kingston, over the ice.

When the cold winds of winter pass over the warmer water of the lake, they pick up moisture and drop it as lake-effect snow. Since the prevailing winter winds are from the northwest, the southern and southeastern shoreline of the lake is referred to as the snowbelt. In some winters the area between Oswego and Pulaski may receive twenty or more feet (600 cm) of snowfall. Also impacted by lake-effect snow is the Tug Hill Plateau, an area of elevated land that is about 20 miles (32 km) east of Lake Ontario, creating ideal conditions for lake-effect snowfall. The "Hill", as it is often referred to, typically receives more snow than any other region in the eastern United States. As a result, Tug Hill is a popular location for winter enthusiasts, such as snow-mobilers and cross-country skiers. Lake-effect snow often extends inland as far as Syracuse, with that city often recording the most winter snowfall accumulation of any large city in the United States. Other cities in the world receive more snow annually, such as Quebec City, which averages 135 inches (340 cm), and Sapporo, Japan, which receives 250 inches (640 cm) each year and is often regarded as the snowiest city in the world. Foggy conditions (particularly in fall) can be created by thermal contrasts and can be an impediment for recreational boaters. In a normal winter, Lake Ontario will be at most one quarter ice-covered, in a mild winter almost completely unfrozen. Lake Ontario has completely frozen over on five recorded occasions: from about January 20 to about March 20, 1830^[24]; in 1874^[25]; in 1893^[26]; in 1912^[27]; and in February 1934.^[28]

Lake breezes in spring tend to retard fruit bloom until the frost danger is past, and in the autumn delay the onset of fall frost, particularly on the south shore. Cool onshore winds also retard early bloom of plants and flowers until later in the spring season, protecting them from possible frost damage. Such microclimatic effects have enabled tender fruit production in a continental climate, with the southwest shore supporting a major fruit-growing area. Apples, cherries, pears, plums, and peaches are grown in many commercial orchards around Rochester. Between Stoney Creek and Niagara-on-the-Lake on the Niagara Peninsula is a major fruit-growing and wine-making area. The wine-growing region extends over the international border into Niagara and Orleans counties. Apple varieties that tolerate a more extreme climate are grown on the lake's north shore, around Cobourg.

Settlements[link]

A large conurbation called the Golden Horseshoe occupies the lake's westernmost shores, anchored by the cities of Toronto and Hamilton. Ports on the Canadian side include St. Catharines, Oshawa, Cobourg and Kingston, near the St. Lawrence River outlet. Close to 9 million people or over a quarter of Canada's population lives within the watershed of Lake Ontario. The American shore is largely rural, with the exception of Rochester and the much smaller ports at Oswego and Sacket's Harbor. The city of Syracuse is 40 miles (64 km) inland, connected to the lake by the New York State Canal System. Over 2 million people live in Lake Ontario's American watershed.

A high-speed passenger/vehicle ferry, the Spirit of Ontario I, operated between Toronto and Rochester from 17 June 2004 to 10 January 2006, when the service was cancelled. The Crystal Lynn II, out of Irondequoit, New York has been operating between Irondequoit Bay and Henderson, New York since May 2000, operated by Capt. Bob Tein.

Winter scene on Toronto Bay in 1835

Toronto Harbour in 2007

Ocean and lake navigation[link]

The Great Lakes Waterway connects the lake sidestream to the Atlantic Ocean via the St. Lawrence Seaway, and upstream to the other rivers in the chain via the Welland Canal and to Lake Erie. The Trent-Severn Waterway for pleasure boats connects Lake Ontario at the Bay of Quinte to Georgian Bay (Lake Huron), via Lake Simcoe. The Oswego Canal connects the lake at Oswego to the New York State Canal System, with outlets to the Hudson River, Lake Erie, and Lake Champlain.

The Rideau Canal, also for pleasure boats, connects Lake Ontario at Kingston to the Ottawa River in downtown Ottawa.

Lighthouses[link]

• Braddock Point Light
• Charlotte-Genesee Lighthouse
• Gibraltar Point Lighthouse
• Oswego Harbor West Pierhead Light
• Sodus Point Light
• Stony Point Light
• Presqui'le Lighthouse
• Thirty Mile Point Light

Islands[link]

British gunboats capture French corvette L'Outaouaise during the Battle of the Thousand Islands in 1760.

Several of the thousand islands viewed from New York toward Ontario

Nearly all of Lake Ontario's islands are located on the eastern and north-eastern shores, between the Prince Edward County headland and the lake's outlet at Kingston. The Toronto Islands on the north-western shore are the remnants of a sand spit formed by coastal erosion, whereas the mostly larger eastern islands are underlain by the basement rock found throughout the region. The Thousand Islands, mostly found in the St. Lawrence River, have several large members near the Lake Ontario side of the outlet. Wolfe Island, located near Kingston at the St. Lawrence outlet, is the largest island in the basin. It is accessible by ferry from both Canada and the U.S.

• Thousand Islands
• Toronto Islands – only island on the western end of the lake
• Association Island
• Galloo Island
• Amherst Island
• Simcoe Island
• Garden Island
• Grenadier Island
• Waupoos Island
• Nicholson Island
• Big Island

Other topics[link]

The Great Lakes Circle Tour and Seaway Trail are designated scenic road systems connecting all of the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River.^[29]As the Seaway Trail is posted on the US side only, Lake Ontario is the only of the five Great Lakes to have no posted bi-national circle tour.

In the 1800s, there were reports of an alleged creature similar to the so-called Loch Ness Monster being sighted in the lake. The creature is described as large with a long neck, green in colour, and generally causes a break in the surface waves.^[30][31][32]

Images[link]

• 

  Lake Ontario in its context. Note green of Adirondack forests to right.

• 

  The lake seen from dead end of Dutch St.; Huron, New York (A sparsely populated neighboring town of Wolcott, New York)

• 

  Pier 4 Park, Hamilton, Ontario

• 

  Beach seen from Toronto, Ontario's Humber Bay, west of downtown

• 

  Sandbanks Provincial Park

• RobertKafarski OntarioLakeWinter Toronto.jpg

  From Toronto lakeshore in winter

• 

  A glimpse of Lake Ontario

• Toronto from LO.JPG

  The Toronto skyline viewed from across Lake Ontario (Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario)

• 

  Bathers at Southwick Beach State Park, eastern shore of Lake Ontario, New York State

See also[link]

• Lake Ontario Waterkeeper
• Glacial Lake Iroquois
• Glacial Lake Admiralty
• Welland Canal
• Engagements on Lake Ontario
• Bay of Quinte
• Niagara River
• St. Lawrence River
• United Empire Loyalist
• Fort Niagara
• Wyandot people
• Iroquois Confederacy
• Ontario Lacus, a hydrocarbon-lake on Saturn's moon Titan named after Lake Ontario

Great Lakes in general[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Lake Ontario

• Lake Ontario NOAA nautical chart #14820 online
• Lake Ontario United
• Lake Ontario Waterkeeper
• EPA's Great Lakes Atlas
• Great Lakes Coast Watch
• Pollution in the Great Lakes
• Lake Ontario Bathymetry
• The Problem of Vinland (Norsemen on Lake Ontario)

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v t e Lighthouses of Lake Ontario New York, U.S. Braddock Point Light Charlotte-Genesee Light East Charity Shoal Light Fort Niagara Light Galloo Island Light Horse Island Light Oak Orchard Light Olcott Light Oswego Harbor West Pierhead Light Rochester Harbor Light Selkirk Light Sodus Outer Light Sodus Point Light Stony Point (Henderson) Light Thirty Mile Point Light Tibbetts Point Light Ontario, Canada Burlington Canal Main Light Burlington Canal Pier Light Cobourg East Pierhead Light False Duck Island Light Gibraltar Point Light Niagara River (Front & Rear Range) Light Oakville Light Point Petre Light Port Dalhousie (Front & Rear Range) Light Port Weller Light Presquile Point Light Prince Edward Point Light Queen's Wharf Light Salmon Point Light Toronto Harbour Light Mimico Cruising Club Lighthouse

Ontario
Flag Coat of arms
Motto: Ut Incepit Fidelis Sic Permanet (Latin) ("Loyal she began, thus she remains")
Capital	Toronto
Largest city	Toronto
Largest metro	Greater Toronto Area
Official languages	English (de facto)
Demonym	Ontarian
Government
Type	Constitutional monarchy
Lieutenant Governor	David Onley
Premier	Dalton McGuinty (Liberal)
Legislature	Legislative Assembly of Ontario
Federal representation	In Canadian parliament
House seats	106 of 308 (34.4%)
Senate seats	24 of 105 (22.9%)
Confederation	July 1, 1867 (1st, with QC, NS, NB)
Area [1]	Ranked 4th
Total	1,076,395 km2 (415,598 sq mi)
Land	917,741 km2 (354,342 sq mi)
Water (%)	158,654 km2 (61,257 sq mi) (14.7%)
Proportion of Canada	10.8% of 9,984,670 km2
Population	Ranked 1st
Total (2011)	12,851,821 [2]
Density (2011)	14 /km2 (36 /sq mi)
GDP	Ranked 1st
Total (2009)	C$614 billion[3]
Per capita	C$43,847 (6th)
Abbreviations
Postal	ON
ISO 3166-2	CA-ON
Time zone	Eastern: UTC-5/-4 (most of province) Eastern: UTC-5 (No DST) (Atikokan) Central: UTC-6/-5 (Most of NW Ontario)
Postal code prefix	K L M N P
Flower	White Trillium
Tree	Eastern White Pine
Bird	Great Northern Loon
Website	www.ontario.ca
Rankings include all provinces and territories

Ontario /ɒnˈtɛərioʊ/ is one of the provinces of Canada, located in east-central Canada.^[4][5] It is Canada's most populous province or territory^[6] and fourth largest in total area.^[1] It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto,^[7] and the nation's capital, Ottawa.

Ontario is bordered by the province of Manitoba to the west, Hudson Bay to the north, Quebec to the east, and to the south by the U.S. states of Minnesota, Michigan (portions to the west), New York (portions to the east), Ohio and Pennsylvania. All but a small part of Ontario's 2,700 km (1,677 mi) border with the United States follow inland waterways: from the west at Lake of the Woods, eastward along the major rivers and lakes of the Great Lakes/St. Lawrence River drainage system. These are the Rainy River, the Pigeon River, Lake Superior, the St. Mary's River, Lake Huron, the St. Clair River, Lake St. Clair, the Detroit River, Lake Erie, the Niagara River, Lake Ontario, and along the St. Lawrence River from Kingston, Ontario to the Quebec boundary just east of Cornwall, Ontario.

Ontario is sometimes conceptually divided into two regions, Northern Ontario and Southern Ontario. The great majority of Ontario's population and its arable land is located in the south. In contrast, the larger, northern part of Ontario is sparsely populated.

Etymology[link]

The province is named after Lake Ontario, which is thought to have been derived from Ontarí:io, a Huron (Wyandot) word meaning "great lake",^[8] or possibly skanadario which means "beautiful water" in the Iroquoian languages.^[9] Ontario contains about 250,000 freshwater lakes.

Geography[link]

See also List of parks and protected areas of Ontario

Toronto, the capital of Ontario

The province consists of three main geographical regions:

• The thinly populated Canadian Shield in the northwestern and central portions, which comprises over half the land area of Ontario; though this area mostly does not support agriculture it is rich in minerals and in part covered by the Central and Midwestern Canadian Shield forests, 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, mainly swampy and sparsely forested.

• Southern Ontario which is further sub-divided into four 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 located in Temagami, Northeastern Ontario. In the south, elevations of over 500 m (1,640.42 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 occupies roughly 87% of the surface area of the province; 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[link]

Summer at Sandbanks Provincial Park on Lake Ontario.

The Niagara Escarpment on the Bruce Peninsula.

Ontario has three main climatic regions. Parts of Southwestern Ontario have a moderate humid continental climate (Köppen climate classification Dfa), similar to that of the inland Mid-Atlantic States and the Great Lakes portion of the Midwestern United States. The region has warm, humid summers and cold winters. Annual precipitation ranges from 750–1,000 mm (30–39 in) and is well distributed throughout the year with a usual summer peak. Most of this region lies in the lee of the Great Lakes making for abundant snow in some areas. In December 2010, the snowbelt between London and Lucan set a new record when it was hit by more than a metre of snow within 48 hours.^[10] Under the Köppen climate parameters, Point Pelee and Middle Island, the southernmost parts of Canada located close to the lake boundary with Ohio, are at the dividing line of a humid continental climate and a humid subtropical climate (Dfa/Cfa).

Central and Eastern Ontario have a more severe humid continental climate (Köppen Dfb). This region has warm and sometimes hot summers with colder, longer winters, ample snowfall and annual precipitation similar to the rest of Southern Ontario. Along the eastern shores of Lake Superior and Lake Huron, frequent heavy lake-effect snow squalls increase seasonal snowfall totals upwards of 3 m (9.8 ft) in some places.

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, snowfall remains on the ground for sometimes over half the year. Precipitation is generally less than 70 cm (28 in).

Severe thunderstorms peak in summer. London, situated in Southern (Southwestern) Ontario, has the most lightning strikes per year in Canada, averaging 34 days of thunderstorm activity per year. In a typical year, Ontario averages 15 confirmed tornado touchdowns, where more are reported in the Windsor-Essex - Chatham Kent area, though many are seldom destructive (the majority between F0 to F2 on the Fujita scale) and only few are stronger and very destructive. 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, in October 1954.

History[link]

Territorial evolution[link]

Evolution of the borders of Ontario.
View full resolution for time-lapsed evolution

Land was not legally subdivided into administrative units until a treaty had been concluded with the native peoples ceding the land. In 1788, while part of the Province of Quebec (1763–1791), 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.

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.

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.

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 to eventually 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 it was interested in were rapidly growing. After the federal government asked Ontario to pay for construction in the new disputed area, the province asked for an elaboration on its limits, and its boundary was moved north to the 51st parallel north.^[11]

The northern and western boundaries of Ontario were in dispute after 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.^[12]

European contact[link]

Statue of United Empire Loyalists in downtown Hamilton on Main Street East.

Before the arrival of the Europeans, the region was inhabited both by Algonquian (Ojibwa, Cree and Algonquin) in the northern/western portions and Iroquois and Wyandot (Huron) tribes more in the south/east.^[13] During the 17th century, the Algonquians and Hurons fought a bitter war against the Iroquois.^[14] The French explorer Étienne Brûlé explored part of the area in 1610-12.^[15] The English explorer Henry Hudson sailed into Hudson Bay in 1611 and claimed the area for England.

Samuel de Champlain reached Lake Huron in 1615, and French missionaries began to establish posts along the Great Lakes. French settlement was hampered by their hostilities with the Iroquois, who allied themselves with the British.^[16] From 1634 to 1640, Hurons were devastated by European infectious diseases, such as measles and smallpox, to which they had no immunity.^[17]

The British established trading posts on Hudson Bay in the late 17th century and began a struggle for domination of Ontario. The 1763 Treaty of Paris ended the Seven Years' War by awarding nearly all of France's North American possessions (New France) to Britain.^[18] The region was annexed to Quebec in 1774.^[19] From 1783 to 1796, the Kingdom of Great Britain granted United Empire Loyalists leaving the United States following the American Revolution 200 acres (81 ha) of land and other items with which to rebuild their lives.^[16]

This measure substantially increased the population of Canada west of the St. Lawrence-Ottawa River confluence during this period, a fact recognized by the Constitutional Act of 1791, which split Quebec into the Canadas: Upper Canada southwest of the St. Lawrence-Ottawa River confluence, and Lower Canada east of it. John Graves Simcoe was appointed Upper Canada's first Lieutenant-Governor in 1793.^[20]

Upper Canada[link]

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 British regulars, Canadian fencibles and militias, and First Nations warriors. The Americans gained control of Lake Erie and Lake Ontario, however. During the Battle of York they occupied the Town of York (later named Toronto) in 1813. The Americans looted the town and burned the Parliament Buildings but were soon forced to leave.

After the War of 1812, relative stability allowed for increasing numbers of immigrants to arrive from Europe rather than from the United States. As was the case in the previous decades, this deliberate immigration shift was encouraged by the colonial leaders. Despite affordable and often free land, many arriving newcomers, mostly from Britain and Ireland, found frontier life with the harsh climate difficult, and some of those with the means eventually returned home or went south. However, population growth far exceeded emigration in the decades that followed. It was a mostly agrarian-based society, but canal projects and a new network of plank roads spurred greater trade within the colony and with the United States, thereby improving previously damaged relations over time.

Lower Ontario in 1718, Guillaume de L'Isle map, approximate province area highlighted.

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.^[21]

Many in the colony however, 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 the power to effect change (much as the Château Clique ruled Lower Canada). 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 led the Upper Canada Rebellion.

Canada West[link]

Although both rebellions were put down in short order, the British government sent Lord Durham to investigate the causes of the unrest. He recommended that self-government be granted and that Lower and Upper Canada be re-joined in an attempt to assimilate the French 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. 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.

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 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 Protestant and the Catholic minority. 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.

Provincehood[link]

Downtown London at night.

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 Sir John A. 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 increase slowed after a large recession hit the province in 1893, thus slowing growth drastically but only for a few short years. Many newly arrived immigrants and others moved west along the railway to the Prairie Provinces and British Columbia, sparsely settling Northern Ontario.

Mineral exploitation accelerated in the late 19th century, leading to the rise of important mining centres in the northeast like 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. General Motors Canada was formed in 1918. The motor vehicle industry would go on to become the most lucrative industry for the Ontario economy during the 20th century.

Celebrating V-E Day in Ottawa in 1945

In July 1912, the Conservative government of Sir 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". It was eventually repealed in 1927.

Influenced by events in the United States, the government of Sir 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, which allowed this already sizable industry to strengthen further. Ontario became a hotbed for the illegal smuggling of liquor and the biggest supplier into the United States, which was under complete prohibition. Prohibition in Ontario came to an end in 1927 with the establishment of the Liquor Control Board of 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 that strict community standards and revenue generation from the alcohol retail monopoly are upheld. In April 2007, Ontario Member of Provincial Parliament Kim Craitor suggested that local brewers should be able to sell their beer in local corner stores; however, the motion was quickly rejected by Premier Dalton McGuinty.

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

Ontario has no official language, but English is considered the de facto language. Numerous French language services are available under the French Language Services Act of 1990 in designated areas where sizable francophone populations exist.

Demography[link]

The percentages add to more than 100% because of dual responses (e.g., "French and Canadian" response generates an entry in both the category "French Canadian" and the category "Canadian"). Groups with greater than 200,000 responses are included.

The majority of Ontarians are of English or other European descent. Slightly less than 5% of the population of Ontario is Franco-Ontarian, that is those whose native tongue is French, although those with French ancestry account for 11% of the population. In relation to natural increase or inter-provincial migration, 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 Caribbeans, Asians, Latin Americans, Europeans, and Africans. Most populations have settled in the larger urban centres.

Ontario is the second most diverse province in terms of visible minorities after British Columbia, with 22.8% of the population consisting of visible minorities.^[22] The Greater Toronto Area, Ottawa, Windsor, Hamilton and Waterloo Region are quite diverse metropolitan areas. Aboriginal peoples make up 2% of the population, with two-thirds of that consisting of North American Indians and the other third consisting of Métis. The number of Aboriginal people has been increasing at rates greater than the general population of Ontario.^[23]

Religion[link]

The largest denominations by number of adherents according to the 2001 census were the Roman Catholic Church with 3,866,350 (34%); the United Church of Canada with 1,334,570 (12%); and the Anglican Church of Canada with 985,110 (9%),^[29] together representing over half of the population of the province.

The major religious groups in Ontario, as of 2001, are:^[30]

Economy[link]

Parliament Hill in Ottawa. Home of the federal government.

The manufacturing sector is a major employer in Ontario.

The Acura ZDX is built in Alliston. As of 2010, Ontario is the largest producer of automobiles in North America.

A Bombardier Q400 aircraft. The aircraft is built in Downsview, Toronto.

Ontario is Canada's leading manufacturing province, accounting for 52% of the total national manufacturing shipments in 2004.^[32] Ontario's largest trading partner is the American state of Michigan. The government of Ontario posted a record C$21.3 billion ($20.7 billion) deficit for the 2009-10 fiscal year.^[33] The province’s net debt will rise to C$220 billion in 2010-11, or a record 37% of gross domestic product.^[33]

Ontario's rivers, including its share of the Niagara River, make it rich in hydroelectric energy.^[34] In 2009 Ontario Power Generation generated 70% of the electricity of the province, of which 51% is nuclear, 39% is hydroelectric and 10% is fossil fuel derived.^[35] 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. Despite its diverse range of power options, problems related to increasing consumption, lack of energy efficiency and aging nuclear reactors, Ontario has been forced in recent years to purchase power from its neighbours Quebec and Michigan to supplement its power needs during peak consumption periods.

An abundance of natural resources, excellent transportation links to the American heartland and the inland Great Lakes making ocean access possible via container ships, have all contributed to making manufacturing the principal industry, 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. Ontario surpassed Michigan in car production, assembling 2.696 million 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 resulting 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,^[36] and Honda also has 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 8.1% (as of October 2011),^[37] compared to 8.7% in Jan. 2010^[38] and roughly 6% in 2007.

Toronto, the capital of Ontario, is the centre of Canada's financial services and banking industry. Neighbouring cities forming part of the Greater Toronto Area, such as Brampton, Mississauga and Vaughan, are large product distribution and IT centres, in addition to having various manufacturing industries. The information technology sector is also important, particularly in the Silicon Valley North section of Ottawa, as well as the Waterloo Region, where the world headquarters of Research in Motion (the developers of the BlackBerry smartphone) is located. Providing more than 19% of the local jobs and employing more than 13% of the entire local population, Canada's Federal Government is by far the largest single employer in the National Capital Region, which centres on the border cities of Ontario's Ottawa and Quebec's Gatineau.^[39][40] Hamilton is the largest steel manufacturing city in Canada, and Sarnia is the centre for petrochemical production. Construction continues to employ more than 6½% of the province's work force as of June 2011.^[41]

Mining and the forest products industry, notably pulp and paper, are vital to the economy of Northern Ontario. More than any other region, tourism contributes heavily to the economy of Central Ontario, peaking during the summer months owing to the abundance of fresh water recreation and wilderness found there in reasonable proximity to the major urban centres. At other times of the year, hunting, skiing and snowmobiling are 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, which attract many U.S. visitors.^[42]

Agriculture[link]

Fruit from the Niagara region shipped to Toronto for distribution, ca. 1914

Once the dominant industry, agriculture occupies a small percentage of the population but still a large part of Southern Ontario's land area. 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.

Cattle, small grains and dairy were the common types of farms in the 2001 census. The fruit and grape growing industry is located primarily on the Niagara Peninsula and along Lake Erie, where tobacco farms are also situated. Market Vegetables are also grown in the rich soils of the Holland Marsh near Newmarket.

The area susinctly 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 leading to an increase in some other new crop alternatives gaining popularity, 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. 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.

Energy[link]

The CANDU Bruce Nuclear Generating Station on Lake Huron is the second largest nuclear power plant in the world.

The Green Energy and Green Economy Act, 2009 (GEA), takes a two-pronged approach to creating a renewable-energy economy. The first is to bring more renewable energy sources to the province and the second is the creation of more energy efficiency measures to help conserve energy. The bill would also appoint a Renewable Energy Facilitator to provide "one-window" assistance and support to project developers in order to facilitate project approvals.^[44]

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.^[44]

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

Government and politics[link]

The Ontario Legislature at Queen's Park in Toronto.

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 has 107 seats representing ridings elected in a first-past-the-post system across the province.

The legislative buildings at Queen's Park in Toronto 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), and both are acceptable. The title of Prime Minister of Ontario, correct in French (le Premier ministre), is permissible in English but now generally avoided in favour of the title "Premier" to avoid confusion with the Prime Minister of Canada.

Politics[link]

Ontario has numerous political parties which run for election. Three political parties dominate election results: the Conservatives,Liberals,and NDP. In the last few decades the liberal Ontario Liberal Party, conservative Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario, and social-democratic Ontario New Democratic Party have all ruled the province at different times.

Ontario is currently under a Liberal government headed by Premier Dalton McGuinty. The present government, first elected in 2003, was re-elected on October 10, 2007. On October 6, 2011, the Ontario Liberal Party won a third mandate, although it lost seats and was reduced to a minority government capturing only 53 seats (as opposed to the 71 it won in 2007), with the Progressive Conservatives and NDP winning 37 seats and 17 seats, respectively.

In the 2011 Canadian federal election in Ontario the Conservatives were elected in 73 ridings, 22 went to the NDP, and 11 to the Liberals. The Green Party did not get a candidate elected in Ontario.

Urban areas[link]

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.^[45]

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

Ten largest municipalities by population^[25]

Education[link]

Higher education[link]

Culture[link]

Songs and slogans[link]

During the John Robarts government of the 1960s, the slogan "Is There Any Other Place You'd Rather Be?" was in use to promote tourism. During a blizzard early in 1971, highway travellers who were stranded at a Highway 401 service centre with Premier Robarts (already in his last months of office) asked him the slogan in an ironic twist.

In 1967, in conjunction with the celebration of Canada's centennial, the song "A Place to Stand" was introduced at the inauguration of Ontario's pavilion at the Expo 67 World's Fair, and became the background for the province's advertising for decades.

In 1973 the first slogan to appear on licence plates in Ontario was "Keep It Beautiful". This was replaced by "Yours to Discover" in 1982,^[46] apparently inspired by a tourism slogan, "Discover Ontario," dating back to 1927.^[47] Plates with the French equivalent, "Tant à découvrir", were made available to the public beginning in May 2008.^[48] (From 1988 to 1990,^[49] "Ontario Incredible"^[50] gave "Yours to Discover" a brief respite.)

In 2007, a new song replaced "A Place to Stand" after four decades. "There's No Place Like This" is featured in current television advertising, performed by Ontario artists including Molly Johnson, Brian Byrne, Keshia Chanté,^[51] as well as Tomi Swick and Arkells. The new song is featured on the Ontario Tourism website.

Notable residents[link]

Please see List of people from Ontario.

Transportation[link]

Historically, the province has used two major east-west routes, both starting from Montreal in the neighbouring province of Quebec. The northerly route, which was mostly pioneered by early fur traders, 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, 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.

Roads[link]

Highway 401 is the busiest highway in North America and among the busiest highways in the World.^[52][53]