Ontario

Ontario

Coat of arms of Ontario Flag Coat of arms
Motto: Ut Incepit Fidelis Sic Permanet (Latin: Loyal she began, loyal she remains)
Capital	Toronto
Largest city	Toronto
Official languages	English
Government
- Lieutenant-Governor	James K. Bartleman
- Premier	Dalton McGuinty (Liberal)
Federal representation	in Canadian Parliament
- House seats	106
- Senate seats	24
Confederation	July 1, 1867 (1st)
Area	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) (14.8%)
Population	Ranked 1st
- Total (2006)	12,726,336
- Density	13.93/km² (36.1/sq mi)
GDP	Ranked 1st
- Total (2005)	$537.604 billion
- Per capita	$42,866 (4th)
Abbreviations
- Postal	ON
- ISO 3166-2	CA-ON
Time zone	UTC-5 & -6
Postal code prefix	K L M N P
Flower	White Trillium
Tree	Eastern White Pine
Bird	Common Loon
Web site	www.ontario.ca
Rankings include all provinces and territories

Ontario is a province located in the east-central part of Canada, the largest by population and second largest (after Quebec) in total area. Ontario is bordered by the provinces of Manitoba to the west, Quebec to the east, and the American states of Michigan, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Minnesota. Most of Ontario's borders with the United States are natural, starting at the Lake of the Woods and continuing through the four Great Lakes: Superior, Huron, Erie, and Ontario (for which the province is named), then along the Saint Lawrence River. Ontario is the only Canadian province that borders the Great Lakes.

The capital of Ontario is Toronto, the largest city in Canada. Ottawa, the capital of Canada, is located in Ontario as well. The 2006 census counted 12,160,282 residents in Ontario, which accounted for 38.5 percent of the national population.

The province takes its name from Lake Ontario, which is thought to be derived from ontarí:io, a Huron word meaning "great lake", or possibly skanadario which means "beautiful water" in Iroquoian. Along with New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Quebec, Ontario is one of the four original provinces of Canada when the nation was formed on July 1, 1867, by the British North America Act.

Ontario is Canada's leading manufacturing province, accounting for 52 percent of total national manufacturing shipments in 2004.

Geography

File:Canada provinces evolution.gif

Evolution of the borders of Ontario

The province consists of three main geographical regions:

• The thinly populated Canadian Shield in the northwestern and the central portions, which covers over half the land area in the province; though mostly infertile land, it is rich in minerals and studded with lakes and rivers; sub-regions are Northwestern Ontario and Northeastern Ontario.
• The virtually unpopulated Hudson Bay Lowlands in the extreme north and northeast, mainly swampy and sparsely forested; and
• The temperate, and therefore most populous region, fertile Great Lakes-Saint Lawrence Valley in the south where agriculture and industry are concentrated. Southern Ontario is further sub-divided into four regions; Southwestern Ontario (parts of which were formerly referred to as Western Ontario), Golden Horseshoe, Central Ontario (although not actually the province's geographic center) and Eastern Ontario.

File:DSCN0019.JPG

Bruce Peninsula.

Despite the absence of any mountainous terrain, 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 m above sea level, located in Northeastern Ontario.

The Carolinian forest zone covers most of the southwestern section; its northern extent is part of the Greater Toronto Area at the western end of Lake Ontario. The best-known geographic feature is Niagara Falls, part of the much more extensive Niagara Escarpment. The Saint Lawrence Seaway allows navigation to and from the Atlantic Ocean as far inland as Thunder Bay in Northwestern Ontario. Northern Ontario occupies roughly 85 percent of the surface area of the province; conversely Southern Ontario contains 94 percent of the population.

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

Lake of the Woods occupies parts of Ontario and Manitoba and the U.S. state of Minnesota. It separates a small land area of Minnesota from the rest of the United States. The lake drains into the Winnipeg River and then into Lake Winnipeg. Ultimately, its outflow goes through the Nelson River to Hudson Bay.

Lake of the Woods from space, May 1998

Lake of the Woods is over 70 miles long and wide and contains over 14,552 islands and 65,000 miles (105,000 km) of shoreline, which would amount to the longest coastline of any Canadian lake, except that the lake is not entirely within Canada. The lake's islands provide nesting habitat for the piping plover and large numbers of American white pelicans. There are also several hundred nesting pairs of bald eagles in this area.

Climate

Enjoying summer at Sandbanks Provincial Park on Lake Ontario.

Ontario has three main climate zones. Most of southwestern Ontario has a moderate humid continental climate, similar to that of the inland Mid-Atlantic States and the lower Great Lakes portion of the U.S. Midwest. The region has hot, humid summers and cold winters. It is considered a temperate climate when compared with most of Canada. In the summer, the air masses often come out of the southern United States, as the stronger the Bermuda High Pressure ridges into the North American continent, the more warm, humid air is drawn northward from the Gulf of Mexico. Throughout the year, but especially in the fall and winter, temperatures are moderated somewhat by the lower Great Lakes, making it considerably milder than the rest of the provinces and allowing for a longer growing season than areas at similar latitudes in the continent's interior. Both spring and fall are generally pleasantly mild, with cool nights. Annual precipitation ranges from 750 mm (30 inches) to 1000 mm (40 inches) and is well distributed throughout the year with a summer peak. Most of this region lies in the lee of the Great Lakes and receive less snow than any other part of Ontario.

The Thames river in London, Ontario.

The more northern and windward parts of Southern Ontario, plus all of Central and Eastern Ontario and the southern parts of Northern Ontario, have a more severe humid continental climate (Koppen Dfb). This region has warm to hot summers (although somewhat shorter than in Southwestern Ontario) with cold and somewhat longer winters and a shorter growing season. The southern parts of this region lie at the windward side of the lakes, primarily Lake Huron. The Great Lakes also have a moderating effect for shoreline areas. However, the open lakes frequently result in lake effect snow squalls on the eastern and southern shores of the lakes, that affect much of the Georgian Bay shoreline including Killarney, Parry Sound, Muskoka and Simcoe County; the Lake Huron shore from east of Sarnia northward to the Bruce Peninsula, sometimes reaching London. Wind-whipped snow squalls or lake effect snow can affect areas as far as 100 kilometers (62 miles) or greater from the shore, but the heaviest snows usually occur within 20 kilometers (12 miles) from the shoreline. Some snowbelt areas receive an annual average of well over 300 cm (120 inches) of snow annually.

The northernmost parts of Ontario - primarily north of 50°N - have a subarctic climate with long, very cold winters and short, warm summers and dramatic temperature changes from time to time. In the summer, hot weather occasionally reaches even the northernmost parts of Ontario, although humidity is generally lower than in the south. With no major mountain ranges blocking Arctic air masses, winters are generally very cold, especially in the far north and northwest where temperatures below -40°C (-40°F) are not uncommon. The snow stays on the ground much longer in the region as opposed to any other regions of Ontario; it is not uncommon to see snow on the ground from October to May here.

Severe thunderstorms peak in frequency in June and July in most of the province, although in Southern Ontario they can occur at any time from March to November due to the collision of colder, Arctic air and warm, often moist Gulf air. In summer they form from convective heating. These storms tend to be more isolated in nature than those associated with frontal activity. Derecho-type thunderstorms can also occur in summer, often nocturnally, bringing severe straight-line winds over wide areas. These storms usually develop along stationary frontal boundaries during hot weather periods and most areas of the province can be struck. Only the Hudson/James Bay Lowlands region rarely experience one. The regions most prone to severe weather are Southwestern and Central Ontario, due to the effect of the localized Lake Breeze Front. London has the most lightning strikes per year in Canada, and is also one of the most active areas in the country for storms. Tornadoes are common throughout the province, especially in the southwestern/south-central parts, although they are rarely destructive (the vast majority are classified as F0 or F1 on the Fujita Scale). In Northern Ontario, some tornadoes go undetected by ground spotters due to the sparse population; they are often discovered after the fact by aircraft pilots, who observe from the air the sections of destroyed forest left by them.

File:Toronto Downtown Core at Night.jpg

Toronto: Ontario's capital city and Canada's largest metropolis.

History

Pre-1867

Before the arrival of the Europeans, the region was inhabited both by Algonquian (Ojibwa, Cree and Algonquin) and Iroquoian (Iroquois and Huron) tribes. The French explorer Étienne Brûlé explored part of the area in 1610-1612. The English explorer Henry Hudson sailed into Hudson Bay in 1611 and claimed the area for England, but 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 would ally themselves with the British.

The British established trading posts on Hudson Bay in the late seventeenth 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. The region was annexed to Quebec in 1774. From 1783 to 1796, the United Kingdom granted United Empire Loyalists leaving the United States following the American Revolution 200 acres (0.8 km²) of land and other items with which to rebuild their lives. This measure substantially increased the population of Canada west of the St. Lawrence-Ottawa River confluence during this period, a fact recognized by the Constitutional Act of 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.

American troops in the War of 1812 invaded Upper Canada across the Niagara River and the Detroit River but were successfully defeated and pushed back by British and Native American forces. The Americans gained control of Lake Erie and Lake Ontario, however, and during the Battle of York occupied the Town of York (later named Toronto) in 1813. Not able to hold the town, the departing soldiers burned it to the ground.

After the War of 1812, relative stability allowed for increasing numbers of immigrants to arrive from Britain and Ireland 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 from Europe (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 would follow. Still, a mostly agrarian-based society, canal projects and a new network of plank roads spurred greater trade within the colony and with the United States, thereby improving 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.

Many in the colony, however, began to chafe against the aristocratic Family Compact that 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 favor of responsible government rose in both regions; Louis-Joseph Papineau led the Lower Canada Rebellion and William Lyon Mackenzie led the Upper Canada Rebellion.

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.

Due to heavy waves of immigration in the 1840s, the population of Canada West more than doubled by 1851 over the previous decade, and 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.

A political stalemate between the French- and English-speaking legislators, as well as fear of aggression from the United States during 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 at this point into Ontario and Quebec so that each linguistic group would have its own province. Both Quebec and Ontario were required by section 93 of the BNA Act to safeguard existing educational rights and privileges of 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 at this time.

1867 to 1896

Once constituted as a province, Ontario proceeded to assert its economic and legislative power. In 1872, the lawyer Oliver Mowat became premier 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 tenaciously 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 the National Policy (1879) and the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway (1875-1885) through Northern Ontario and the 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 railroad to the Prairie Provinces and British Columbia.

From 1896 to the present

Mineral exploitation accelerated in the late 19th century, leading to the rise of important mining centers 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 of Canada Ltd. was formed in 1918. The motor vehicle industry would go on to become the most lucrative industry for the Ontario economy.

In July 1912, the Conservative government of Sir James P. 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 distill and retain their own personal supply and liquor producers could continue distillation and export for sale, which allowed Ontario to become a hotbed for the illegal smuggling of liquor into the United States, which was under complete prohibition. Prohibition came to an end in 1927 with the establishment of the Liquor Control Board of Ontario by the government of George 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 Minister 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 center of Canada. Depressed economic conditions in the Maritime Provinces have also resulted in depopulation 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.

Government and politics

The Ontario Legislature Building at Queen's Park.

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 103 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 currently 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, while permissible in English and correct in French (le Premier ministry), is generally avoided in favor of "Premier" to avoid confusion with the Prime Minister of Canada.

Politics

Ontario has traditionally operated under a three-party system. In the last few decades the liberal Ontario Liberal Party, conservative Ontario Progressive Conservative Party, and social-democratic Ontario New Democratic Party have all ruled the province at different times.

Currently Ontario is under a Liberal government headed by Premier Dalton McGuinty.

Federally, Ontario is known as being the province that offers the strongest support for the Liberal Party of Canada. The majority of the party's present 106 seats in the Canadian House of Commons represent Ontario ridings. As the province has the most seats of any province in Canada, earning support from Ontario voters is considered a crucial matter for any party hoping to win a Canadian federal election.

Territorial evolution 1788-1899

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 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.

• Early Districts and Counties 1788-1899

Economy

Ontario's rivers, including its share of the Niagara River, make it rich in hydroelectric energy. Since the privatization of Ontario Hydro, which began in 1999, Ontario Power Generation runs 85% of electricity generated in the province, of which 41% is nuclear, 30% is hydroelectric and 29% is fossil fuel derived. 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 neighbors, Quebec and Michigan to supplement its power needs during peak consumption periods.

One London Place, London, Ontario.

The CN Tower in Toronto is the world's tallest freestanding structure on land.

An abundance of natural resources, excellent transportation links to the American heartland and the inland Great Lakes making ocean access possible via ship containers, have all contributed to making manufacturing the principal industry, found mainly in the Golden Horseshoe region, which is the largest industrialized area in Canada. Important products include motor vehicles, iron, steel, food, electrical appliances, machinery, chemicals, and paper. Ontario surpassed Michigan in car production, assembling 2.696 million vehicles in 2004.

However, as a result of steeply declining sales, on November 21, 2005, General Motors announced massive layoffs at production facilities across North America including two large GM plants in Oshawa and a drive train facility in St. Catharines which by 2008 will result in 8,000 job losses in Ontario alone. Subsequently in January 23, 2006 money-losing Ford Motor Co. announced between 25,000 and 30,000 layoffs phased until 2012, Ontario was spared the worst, but job losses were announced for the St. Thomas facility and the Windsor casting plant. However, these losses will be offset by Ford's recent announcement of a hybrid vehicle facility slated to begin production in 2007 at its Oakville plant and GM's re-introduction of the Camaro which will be produced in Oshawa. Toyota also announced plans to build a new plant in Woodstock by 2008, and Honda also has plans to add an engine plant at its facility in Alliston.

Some economists believe that the North American Free Trade Agreement has contributed to a decline in manufacturing in part of North America's manufacturing "Rust Belt" that includes a portion of Southern Ontario from roughly Windsor east to St. Catharines (50km south of Toronto). This area and the Greater Toronto region contain the bulk of the auto sector in the province. The biggest contributing factor is the increased globalization and particularly the increasing manufacturing power from China and India that has led to the de-industrialization of Ontario and the gradual shift to a dominant service-oriented economy. These factors considered, Ontario remains an industrial giant within North America, therefore its overall economic health is still very responsive to changes that occur in this sector.

Toronto, the capital of Ontario, is the center of Canada's financial services and banking industry. Suburban cities in the Greater Toronto Area like Brampton, Mississauga and Vaughan are large product distribution centers, in addition to having manufacturing industries. The information technology sector is also important, particularly in Markham, Waterloo and Ottawa. Hamilton is the largest steel manufacturing city in Canada and Sarnia is a center for petrochemical production. Construction employs at least 7% of the work force, but due to undocumented workers, the figure is likely over 10%. This sector has thrived over the last ten years due to steadily increasing new house and condominium construction combined with low mortgage rates and climbing prices, particularly in the Greater Toronto area.

Mining and the forest products industry, notably pulp and paper, are vital to the economy of Northern Ontario. More than any other region, tourism contributes heavily to the economy of Central Ontario, peaking during the summer months owing to the abundance of fresh water recreation and wilderness found there in reasonable proximity to the major urban centers. At other times of the year, hunting, skiing, and snowmobiling are among the out of high-season draws. This region has some of the most vibrant fall color 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 and Niagara Falls which attract many U.S. visitors.

Ontario has the largest economy in Canada. Nominal Gross Domestic Product in 2003 was an estimated C$494.229 billion (40.6% of the Canadian total), larger than the GDP of Austria, Belgium or Sweden. Broken down by sector, the primary sector is 1.8% of total GDP, secondary sector 28.5%, and service sector 69.7%. Also, its economic growth is expected to outpace France, Germany, and Japan in 2006.

Further economic information on the provincial economy can be found at Ontario Facts.

Niagara Falls is a major tourist attraction in Ontario as well as a huge supplier of clean hydroelectric energy for the province.

Transportation

Historically, the province has used two major east-west routes, both starting from Montreal in the neighboring province of Quebec. The northerly route, which was pioneered by early French-speaking fur traders, travels northwest from Montreal along the Ottawa River, then continues westward toward Manitoba. The much more heavily traveled southerly route, which was popularized by later English-speaking 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. Most of Ontario's major transportation infrastructure is oriented east-west and roughly follows one of these two original routes.

Water transportation

The St. 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 they have been nearly totally supplanted by vehicle, rail, and air travel.

Rail transportation

The O-Train, Ottawa's light rail train system (LRT).

Via Rail operates the inter-regional passenger train service on the Quebec City-Windsor Corridor. In addition Amtrak rail connects Ontario with key New York cities including Buffalo, Albany, and New York. 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 CN 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, which serves a train/bus network spanning the Golden Horseshoe region, its hub in Toronto. The TTC in Toronto operates the province's only subway and streetcar system, one of the busiest in North America. Outside of Toronto, the O-Train LRT line operates in Ottawa with ongoing expansion of the current line and proposals for additional lines.

Air transportation

Lester B. Pearson International Airport is the nation's busiest and the world's 29th busiest, handling over 30 million passengers per year. Other important airports include Ottawa International Airport and John C. Munro International Airport in Hamilton, which is an important courier and freight aviation center. Most Ontario cities have regional airports. 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, since much of the far northern area of the province cannot be reached by road or rail.

Agriculture

Once the dominant industry, agriculture occupies a small percentage of the population. The number of farms decreased from 68,633 in 1991 to 59,728 in 2001, but farms have increased in average size and many are becoming more mechanized. Cattle, grains, and dairy were the common types of farms in the 2001 census. The fruit, grape, and vegetable growing industry is located primarily on the Niagara Peninsula and along Lake Erie, where tobacco farms are also situated. Tobacco production 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 Ltd., once one of the largest farm implement manufacturers in the world, indicate the importance agriculture once had to the Ontario economy.

Southern Ontario's limited supply of agricultural land is going out of production at an increasing rate. Urban sprawl and farmland severances (authorized separations into smaller adjoining properties) contribute to the loss of thousands of acres of productive agricultural land in Ontario each year.

Demographics

File:Visible Minorities of Ontario.png

Visible minorities of Ontario in 2001.

File:Religion in Ontario.png

Religion in Ontario.

Ethnic groups

Ethnic origin	Population	Percent
Canadian	3,350,275	29.70%
English	2,711,485	24.04%
Scottish	1,843,110	16.33%
Irish	1,761,280	15.61%
French	1,235,765	10.95%
German	965,510	8.56%
Italian	781,345	6.92%
South Asian	597,553	5.24%
Chinese	518,550	4.59%
Black	442,713	3.92%
Dutch (Netherlands)	436,035	3.86%
Polish	386,050	3.42%
Ukrainian	290,925	2.58%
North American First Nations	248,940	2.21%
Portuguese	248,265	2.20%

The information regarding ethnicities below is from the 2001 Canadian census. The percentages add to more than 100% because of dual responses (e.g. "French-Canadian" generates an entry in both the category "French" and the category "Canadian"). Groups with greater than 200,000 responses are included. The majority of Ontarians are of British (English, Scottish, Welsh) and Irish ancestry.

The major religious groups in Ontario are:

• 34.9% Protestant
• 34.7% Roman Catholic
• 16.3% No religious affiliation (Atheism, Agnosticism, etc)
• 3.1% Muslim
• 2.7% Other Christian
• 2.3% Orthodox Christian
• 1.9% Hindu
• 1.7% Jewish
• 1.1% Buddhist
• 0.9% Sikh

The vast majority of Ontarians are of British or other European descent. Slightly less than five percent 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.

Immigration is a huge population growth force in Ontario as it has been over the last two centuries, in relation to natural increase or inter-provincial migration. More recent sources of immigrants with already large or growing communities in Ontario include Caribbeans (a majority of whom are Jamaicans), South Asians (for example, Pakistanis, Indians, Bangladeshis and Sri Lankans), East Asians (mostly Chinese and Filipinos), Central/South Americans, Eastern Europeans such as Russians and Bosnians, and groups from Iran, Somalia and Western Africa. Most groups have settled in the Greater Toronto area. A smaller number have settled in other cities such as London, Kitchener, Hamilton and Ottawa.

Education

Elementary and secondary

These efforts will further enhance the ministry’s three core priorities — providing higher levels of student achievement, reducing gaps in student achievement and increasing confidence in publicly funded education.

Here are nine examples of how Ontario will reach every student and help build the future prosperity of the province:

More than 90 per cent of kindergarten to Grade 3 classes will continue to have 20 or fewer students — compared to 32 per cent in 2003-04. That means more than 540,000 primary students are now in classes of 20 or fewer, compared to only 166,000 students five years ago. Students in these smaller classes get more attention, do better and are more likely to succeed. Elementary teachers will receive more support for teaching reading, writing and math. Over recent years, this has helped more students achieve the provincial standard on Grade 3 and 6 provincial tests — rising from 54 in 2002-03 to 65 per cent in 2008. Focused high school programs will continue to give students more choices and opportunities to explore careers. This includes Specialist High Skills Majors and dual credits, which have helped raise the graduation rate to 75 per cent. That’s 22,500 more graduates since 2003-04. Continued investments in new school facilities and vital renovations will create safer and more engaging places for students to learn and grow. Since 2003, the ministry has funded more than 200 new schools and nearly 12,000 renovation projects.

Higher education

In Ontario, higher education includes postsecondary education and skills training regulated by the Ministry of Training, Colleges, and Universities and provided by universities, colleges of applied arts and technology, and private career colleges. The ministry administers laws covering twenty-two public universities, seventeen privately funded degree-granting institutions, twenty-four colleges, and over 500 private career colleges.

The Canadian constitution provides each province with the responsibility for higher education and there is no corresponding national federal ministry of higher education.

Ontario has two types of publicly funded community colleges: Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology and Institutes of Technology and Advanced Learning. Some courses of study lead to official certifications in skilled trades that are regulated by professional associations. Institutes of Technology and Advanced Learning offer a limited number of degree programs, either in conjunction with a nearby university or on their own.

Most of these colleges were founded in the 1960s, after Ontario's then Minister of Education, William Grenville Davis, announced a plan to create a post-secondary educational system different from that of universities. As of the early 2000s, these colleges may—and many do—offer one or more bachelor's programs in an applied area of study.

Culture

Tourism and recreation

Northern Ontario offers the visitor lakes and rivers, the boreal forest, mountains and hills, skiing, snowshoeing, hiking trails, and other outdoor pursuits. In 2007, tourism to Northern Ontario generated:

• 7.8 million visits, with 71 percent coming from Ontario and 15 percent from U.S. border states;
• $1.3 billion in visitor spending;
• 22,000 jobs in the region and $1.3 billion towards the region's GDP; and
• $717 million in tax revenue from the region for all three levels of government. As of mid-2008, however, the worsening recession in the United States had taken its toll. The number of visitors, hotel occupancy rates, and employment in tourist-related industries had all fallen.

Looking to the future

Ontario is being hard hit by the global economic downturn. Employment dropped by 66,000 jobs in November 2008, the largest monthly decline in 34 years. The province accounted for most of the 70,600 job losses nationwide. Unemployment jumped to 7.1 percent in November 2008, well above the national rate of 6.3 percent. The largest decline was in manufacturing, but other sectors also lost jobs, including business, building and other support services, public administration, and educational services.

The government's economic development plan focuses on new technologies through a Next Generation of Jobs program. "Part of the Ontario government's economic strategy is to support companies that are creating jobs in the green and high-tech sectors," said Michael Bryant, Minister of Economic Development. "These sectors are creating the jobs people want and helping to secure Ontario's position as a premiere destination for investment and innovation."

For example, Ontario is providing financial assistance to encourage ethanol producers and is trying to promote electric vehicles. California-based Better Place will build an electric car demonstration and education center in Toronto to lay the groundwork to help get electric vehicles running on Ontario roads.

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• Ciment, James ed. 2006. Colonial America: An Encyclopedia of Social, Political, Cultural, and Economic History. New York, NY: M.E. Sharpe. ISBN 0521232287.
• Virtual Vault, an online exhibition of Canadian historical art at Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved November 11, 2007.

External links

• Government of Ontario. Retrieved November 11, 2007.
• Tourism Ontario. Retrieved November 11, 2007.
• Historical and Genealogical Resources of Ontario historical census, birth marriage and death records, immigration, settlement, biography, cemeteries, burial records, land records, First Nations and more. Retrieved November 11, 2007.
• Historic Bridges in Ontario. Features numerous photos, detailed information, and maps. Retrieved November 11, 2007.
• Map. Retrieved November 11, 2007.
• Ontario MPP Contact Information. Retrieved November 11, 2007.
• CBC Digital Archives - Ontario Elections: Twenty Tumultuous Years. Retrieved November 11, 2007.
• Ontario's Highway 11 Homepage - A Virtual Town-by-Town Trip along the World's Longest Street. Retrieved November 11, 2007.

Credits

New World Encyclopedia writers and editors rewrote and completed the Wikipedia article in accordance with New World Encyclopedia standards. This article abides by terms of the Creative Commons CC-by-sa 3.0 License (CC-by-sa), which may be used and disseminated with proper attribution. Credit is due under the terms of this license that can reference both the New World Encyclopedia contributors and the selfless volunteer contributors of the Wikimedia Foundation. To cite this article click here for a list of acceptable citing formats.The history of earlier contributions by wikipedians is accessible to researchers here:

• Ontario  ^history

The history of this article since it was imported to New World Encyclopedia:

• History of "Ontario"

Note: Some restrictions may apply to use of individual images which are separately licensed.