I.

Introduction

Ontario, southernmost province of Canada. Ontario is the second largest of Canada’s ten provinces in area and the largest in terms of population. Commonly called the Heartland Province, Ontario is the center of Canada’s industry, population, and agriculture. Its farmers and producers have access to excellent transportation facilities, especially the St. Lawrence Seaway, which connects Lake Superior in the west to the Atlantic Ocean and is a vital trade link. Toronto, on Lake Ontario, is the province’s capital and Canada’s most populous city. The city of Ottawa, the capital of Canada, is also situated in Ontario.

Modern Ontario has its roots in the British colony of Upper Canada, which was created from the British province of Québec by the Constitutional Act of 1791. The area was named Upper Canada because its boundaries lay along the upper reaches of the Ottawa River; the name Lower Canada was given to the part of the British province of Québec that until being conquered by the British in 1763 had been the heart of New France, the French colony in North America. Upper Canada and Lower Canada were joined from 1841 to 1867 into a single administrative unit within the British Empire called the United Province of Canada. Upper Canada became known as Canada West, and Lower Canada became known as Canada East. In 1867, under the name Ontario, the territory became one of the founding provinces of the Dominion of Canada. Ontario’s name is derived from the language of one of the indigenous groups who first inhabited the region. It is frequently thought to come from the Iroquoian word for “handsome lake,” although it is more likely from the Huron for “large lake.”