Ontario Facts

niagra falls

Ontario is the most populated province in Canada with a population of about 14,000,000 people. It is the financial hub of Canada, but it is also famous for its agricultural industry, particularly fruits and vegetables like apples, grapes and carrots. Ontario's economy is well diversified with major sectors including manufacturing of auto-parts (particularly in Windsor), as well as textiles such as clothing (in southwestern Ontario). Quebec is the second most populated province in Canada.

  • 1. Toronto is the capital city of Ontario and the largest city. In the late 1700s, the area was called Teiaiagon by the native Huron (Wendat) people, who were then dispersed by settlers. The area was part of Upper Canada and called York at that time.
  • 2. The name Ontario comes from a Huron - Iroquois word meaning "beautiful lake". It is in reference to Lake Ontario because it is a larger lake than Lake Erie and Lake Huron and therefore first seen by Europeans as they explored northwards along the eastern side of Lake Erie, along the south shore of Lake Ontario.
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  • 3. The Toronto Stock Exchange is North America’s fourth-largest stock exchange by market capitalization and the ninth largest by share turnover.
  • 4. Ontario is the third largest manufacturing economy in North America, after the United States and Mexico. The percentage of jobs in manufacturing has fallen to a low of just over 10% of total employment although well above Canada's average, but recently has begun to increase again due to investment by automakers in Ontario's southwestern "auto belt" region (Windsor, etc.).
  • 5. Ontario is one of three Canadian provinces that border the Great Lakes. The other two are Quebec and Michigan. Ontario's Lake Erie shoreline is limited to a narrow strip of land (Joggins, Nova Scotia to Point Pelee). Nearly 90 percent of Ontario's population lives in the Golden Horseshoe region, also called Greater Toronto, which is situated between Georgian Bay (Lake Huron) and Lake Ontario in the south, through Hamilton to Oshawa and back around to Barrie in the northwest corner.
  • 6. Ontario is Canada's second-largest province by land area after Quebec, and the most populous province in Canada.
  • 7. The economy of Ontario is the most diverse in Canada and one of the most diverse in North America. It is home to three important financial centers: Toronto and Ottawa; however, Ontario’s largest economic sector, when measured by dollar value, is in manufacturing. This sector includes automobiles (parts), iron products, food-processing, machinery, chemicals, textile products (such as clothing), wood products, nonmetallic mineral products as well as plastics.
  • 8. Ontario, along with British Columbia, has the largest number of manufacturing plants in Canada.
  • 9. Ontario is Canada’s most urbanized region, with about 10 million residents concentrated in its Golden Horseshoe area (the province, though, has a total population of 14 million people).
  • 10. The Government of Ontario is a parliamentary democracy based on the Westminster model and has a constitutional monarchy form with a lieutenant-governor acting as its head of state.
  • 11. The Legislative Assembly of Ontario is composed of 124 members, elected to represent ridings (constituencies) across the province. The leader of the party that wins the most seats in the legislature usually becomes premier (head of government) and forms a government. The premier of Ontario is Kathleen Wynne, who represents the riding of Don Valley West for the Liberal Party of Ontario and has been since 2013.
  • 12. Since the 1990s to now, Ontario has had lots of premiers (head of government). They include David Peterson, Bob Rae, Mike Harris (also known as the Common Sense Revolution), Ernie Eves, Dalton McGuinty and Kathleen Wynne. The longest-serving premier in Ontario was Oliver Mowat who left office in 1896 after 15 years. The shortest-serving premier was George Henry (he left office on November 8th, 1919 when his government decided to call an election).
  • 13. Niagara Falls is the most famous site in Ontario. The falls are made of three sectors: the Horseshoe Falls, the American Falls and the Bridal Veil Falls. It is located on the Niagara River along the Canada-USA border.
  • 14. The number of Ontario Premiers in the history of Ontario? There have been 24 Premiers in the history of Ontario.
  • 15. Toronto's CN Tower is North America's tallest free-standing tower.