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Everything聽in Canada inevitably leads back to Ontario. The聽country鈥檚 most populated province by a wide margin, one in three Canadians dwell within its borders, along with聽practically everything powerful聽and important. Among other landmarks, Ontario houses Canada’s聽parliament, its聽largest city, the national stock exchange, the country’s聽biggest university, the headquarters of virtually聽every major Canadian newspaper, television station, corporation, and bank, and 鈥斅爅ust to top it off 鈥� Canada’s聽tallest building聽and biggest waterfall, too.

Ontario’s power comes at a price, however, and Canadians who live outside its borders will often regard it with a mixture of resentment and skepticism 鈥� surely they don’t deserve all that.聽When other provinces dub Ontario聽鈥渢he centre of the universe” they intend it as an insult, but to Ontarians it聽probably sounds聽like a perfectly聽factual observation聽鈥� at least in the context of Canada.

Note: This chapter provides a broad overview on Ontario. For information on things to see and do in Ontario, see the Ontario tourism chapter.

Geography of Ontario

Ontario is a large, vaguely fish-shaped province with most people living in the tail. Its distinctive shape comes as a result of being sandwiched between two massive bodies of water: Hudson Bay in the north, and four of the five Great Lakes in the south.

Northern Ontario is a grim mix of dense forest, wet swamp, and rocky, barren soil. Early settlers found the land so harsh they were often forced to abandon their farms, and in some areas,聽even trees have a difficult time growing. The southern peninsula that dips聽into the Great Lakes is a different聽story, and contains聽arable, temperate lowlands of rolling hills and deciduous trees that have proven聽the province鈥檚 most livable and economically useful territory. The so-called Golden Horseshoe聽of southern land that聽borders the western coast of Lake Ontario is the most densely-populated part聽of Canada, though the聽ensuing聽urban sprawl has come at the expense of much natural beauty. Between the two extremes,聽the relatively small聽Central Ontario聽region聽houses pleasant forests and countrysides that are聽popular spots for聽campsites聽and cottages.

Marbled with lakes and rivers, water has historically been one of the major industries of Ontario, both in terms of drinkable freshwater and hydroelectricity聽produced from dams and turbines.聽If global supplies decline, they聽say聽Ontario could someday be to water what Saudi Arabia is to oil.

History of Ontario

The history of Canada is very much the history of Ontario. Or at least a lot of it starts there. As we learned in the history聽chapters, the land that’s now Ontario was originally settled by the British, in contrast to Quebec, which was settled by the French.聽After the British conquered Quebec in the Seven Years War聽(1754鈥�1763), the two colonies were governed by a number of different political systems before becoming founding provinces of the Dominion of Canada聽in 1867, when the current Canadian constitution was adopted. The provinces continued to define themselves by their differences, and well into the 20th century, Ontario聽played the role聽of the聽defender of English and Protestant rights in Canada just as aggressively as Quebec defended the interest of the French and Catholics.

In contrast to most other parts of Canada, Ontario urbanized extremely rapidly during the 19th century. Already possessing large cities and well-developed economic infrastructure, it quickly became the hub of Canadian manufacturing, trade and commerce in the peak years of the late Industrial Revolution. Though the province鈥檚 farming sector declined quickly, an ample mining industry centred around iron, steel and nickel picked up the slack, and allowed Ontario to establish a thriving automobile industry after World War II (1939-1945). More controversially, the province was also able to enrich itself by cheaply importing聽raw materials like lumber, wheat and oil from the Prairie provinces聽after the Ontario-dominated Canadian聽parliament imposed聽high international tariffs to聽discourage the west from trading with neighbouring cities in United States.

More immigrants settle in Ontario than anywhere else in Canada, and as the province’s聽population 鈥� 聽particularly its largest city, Toronto 鈥� continues聽to grow, an already big place gets even bigger. The provincial population gap is now quite severe 鈥� Canada’s second-largest province,聽Quebec has聽five聽million fewer people than Ontario聽and is shrinking 鈥斅爓hich has the聽effect of making Canada a rather lopsided federation. It’s easy to be successful in Canadian business or politics by simply appealing聽to Ontario and ignoring聽everywhere else, which can make “everywhere else” more than a little bitter.

Toronto

If Ontario is Canada, Toronto is Ontario. Over 40 per cent of Ontarians live in Toronto proper or the area around it 鈥� known as either the聽Greater Toronto Area聽(GTA) or “The 905,” after the regional area code 鈥� and the thriving metropolis houses聽most of the corporate聽and commercial聽centres that make the province so rich and important.

Established聽on the coast of Lake Ontario on the province鈥檚 great southern peninsula, Toronto (first known as Fort York) was originally chosen as Upper Canada鈥檚 colonial capital for its strategic distance from the United States 鈥� a concern that seems ironic today, given how much trade the city does聽with America. After Confederation, Toronto lost the bid to become Canada’s聽capital, but remains the capital of Ontario, with the聽provincial legislature overlooking the scenic Queen鈥檚 Park area.

As the fifth-largest city in North America, Toronto is home to the same sort of vibrant big-city urban culture that defines its competitors like New York and Chicago, with huge department stores, expensive restaurants, first-run musicals, crowded subways, gigantic sports arenas and gritty slums. It鈥檚 now something of a running joke, in fact, to debate just how 鈥渨orld class鈥� this-or-that element of Toronto is.聽Once sneeringly known as the “Methodist Rome” for its uptight聽population of white, middle class Protestants, a massive influx of聽postwar immigration聽has聽transformed聽Toronto into one of the most聽multicultural cities on earth.聽Today聽half of the city鈥檚 residents were born outside of the country, and 140 different languages are spoken in its apartments, restaurants, workplaces and community centres.

Ottawa

鈥�Ottawa,鈥� in the language of the typical Canadian, is a word meaning 鈥渢he federal government鈥� and聽everything associated with聽national politics. But the place is also Canada鈥檚 sixth-largest city (and Ontario鈥檚 second-biggest) with聽a large suburban population making聽it聽much聽more than a mere huddle聽of politicians and bureaucrats.

Practically everything that defines Ottawa is the result of careful government planning. A聽humble logging community in the pre-Confederation era, in 1867 Britain picked the city to be the new capital of Canada because of its strategic position. Located far from the United States and smack on the Quebec border, here was an聽Ontario town with a high French population聽that聽seemed to perfectly embody the spirit of bicultural cooperation聽intended to be the founding creed of the new country. Since then, successive governments have passed laws ensuring the city remains the most functionally聽bilingual聽part聽of Canada, where any resident can drift from English to聽French without confusing their waiter or cashier, and where 鈥淎RRET鈥� shares equal space with 鈥淪TOP鈥� on the city鈥檚 traffic signs.

The highlight of Ottawa is the massive neo-gothic Parliament buildings that sit on the cusp of the man-made Rideau Canal and serve as a聽leading聽symbol of Canadian political authority. Nearby are countless other government tourist attractions such as the Supreme Court, the official residences of the prime minister and governor general, and a vast array of embassies, galleries, museums and monuments.