CANADIAN RELOCATION
ONTARIO PROFILE

Ontario: population: 13.6 million (2014); Area: 412,581 square miles (1,068,580 square km). Ontario has 68,491 square miles (177,390 square km) of inland water.

Ontario the second largest province of Canada, situated between Hudson and James bays to the north and the St. Lawrence River-Great Lakes chain to the south, and bordered by the provinces of Quebec to the east and Manitoba to the west.

Toronto is the capital of the province, in the southeast of which is also located the national capital, Ottawa. Ontario is Canada's demographic and economic centre and is a major force in national politics.

Ontario was ceded by France to Britain in 1763 at the conclusion of the French and Indian War. In 1784 about 10,000 American loyalists emigrating from the newly independent United States were resettled by the British along the northern shores of Lakes Ontario and Erie and along the St. Lawrence River.

They became the core of Ontario's future population.The Canadian federation was formed in 1867, and Canada West became the province of Ontario. Through the rest of the 19th and 20th centuries, Ontario developed economically and enjoyed a fairly high level of prosperity under moderately conservative provincial governments.

Most employment and economic activity are concentrated in manufacturing industries and services. Agricultural settlement is more frequent in southern Ontario, which is an important farming region. The principal cash crop is tobacco, though the main activities of most farms are dairying and livestock raising.

Large quantities of grain are imported from the United States. The Niagara Peninsula and the Holland Marsh north of Toronto are the chief fruit- and vegetable-growing regions, while Kent and Essex counties are the province's chief centre for the production of grain (mostly corn [maize] and soybeans).

Ontario is Canada's chief mining province and one of the world's main producers of nickel. Significant quantities of copper, iron ore, zinc, gold, and uranium are also mined. The province employs half of Canada's work force and is the leading manufacturing province.

Automobile production increased threefold in the late 1960s and 1970s. Other leading manufactures include textiles, furniture, processed foods, industrial machinery, electrical goods, farm implements, rubber and synthetics, and aircraft. Although the federal government dominates economic planning, the provincial government has increasingly stimulated industrial research and development.

Ontario is governed by the Legislative Assembly, which selects the premier, or prime minister. The premier names his own Executive Council, or Cabinet. A lieutenant governor, whose duties are ceremonial, is designated by the governor-general. There are three political parties: the Progressive Conservative, the Liberal, and the New Democratic. The last, founded in 1961, is an amalgamation of a socialist group and sections of the trade-union movement.

Primary and secondary education in the province is free and compulsory through grade 13, with public and Roman Catholic schools operating in conjunction. There are 21 degree-granting universities, of which the University of Toronto is preeminent, and 22 colleges of applied arts and technology.

There is comprehensive medical insurance for all residents.

Both Toronto and Ottawa have symphony orchestras, museums, and art galleries. Stratford is famous for its annual Shakespeare Festival.

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