Eastern Ontario Est de l'Ontario (French) | |
---|---|
Secondary region | |
Country | Canada |
Province | Ontario |
Area | |
• Total | 34,356.45 km2 (13,265.09 sq mi) |
• Core | 28,014.95 km2 (10,816.63 sq mi) |
• Extended area | 6,341.50 km2 (2,448.46 sq mi) |
Population (2021) | |
• Total | 1,892,332 |
• Density | 55/km2 (140/sq mi) |
• Core | 1,720,882 |
• Extended area | 171,450 |
Time zone | UTC−5 (EST) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC−4 (EDT) |
Postal code prefixes | |
Area codes | 613/343 |
Eastern Ontario (census population 1,892,332 in 2021) (French : Est de l'Ontario) is a secondary region of Southern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario. It occupies a wedge-shaped area bounded by the Ottawa River and Quebec to the northeast and east, the St. Lawrence River and New York to the south, and Northern Ontario and Central Ontario to the west and northwest.
The traditional definition of the region boundary can be traced back to early colonial districts in the British Province of Quebec and Upper Canada. The Midland and Eastern Districts, originally known as the Mecklenburg District and Lunenburg District, from 1788 to 1792, [1] were originally designated as everything east of north-south lines intersecting the outlets of the Trent River into the Bay of Quinte (in the case of Mecklenburg/Midland) and the Gananoque River into the St. Lawrence River (in the case of Lunenberg/Eastern). [2] The original boundary lines followed a straight north-south alignment, but were eventually changed to a northwest-southeast orientation, similar to how the modern county boundaries are aligned.
Some government sources may include Hastings County, Prince Edward (considered part of the Eastern Ontario extended area), and occasionally Northumberland County within the definition of Eastern Ontario, but are otherwise classified as part of Central Ontario.
The region is also occasionally referred to as Southeastern Ontario to differentiate it from Northeastern Ontario, a secondary region of Northern Ontario.
Indigenous peoples had occupied Eastern Ontario for thousands of years prior to European settlement. Archaeological sites such as the Point Peninsula Complex indicate the presence of Paleo-Indians in the area dating back approximately 9,000 years. First Nations peoples located in the region included Anishinaabe, Algonquin, and Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) peoples.
Initial European settlement and colonization of the region occurred in the 17th and 18th centuries by the French and by fur traders as part of the colony of Canada within New France. Étienne Brûlé and Samuel de Champlain were the first colonists to navigate the Ottawa River in 1610 and 1613, respectively. The oldest continually-inhabited European settlement in Eastern Ontario is Kingston, which originated as a pre-European settlement named Cataraqui, and was established as Fort Cataraqui in 1673. [3] The city would eventually serve as Canada's first capital city from 1841 to 1844. Further development occurred under the British as part of the Province of Quebec from 1763 to 1791, and eventually the Province of Upper Canada from 1791 to 1841. Many cities in Eastern Ontario were established as United Empire Loyalist settlements following the American Revolution. The earliest loyalist settlement was Cornwall, originally known as New Johnstown, was established in 1784. [4] Belleville was originally settled as a logging outpost in 1789, known originally as Meyer's Creek. [5] Ottawa was originally settled as Wright's Town and later Bytown in 1800 as an agricultural and logging community. Further development of the community was spurred during the construction of the Rideau Canal, conceived as an alternate waterway bypassing the St. Lawrence River, a vulnerable location to American attacks following the War of 1812. [6] The town was formally established as Ottawa in 1855, and remained inconsequential until it was selected as the permanent capital of Canada by Queen Victoria in 1857. [7] Ottawa was chosen as the capital due to being situated in an isolated area further away from the US-Canada border, with the intention of being more defensible, [8] and as a political compromise between Canada West and Canada East, who each desired Toronto and Montreal to serve as the national capital, respectively. [9]
The region's economy was initially focused largely on the fur trade, forestry, mining, and agriculture when the major cities were all colonial outposts. The dominance of the public sector and government services in both the cities of Ottawa and Kingston emerged during the 19th and 20th centures, with both serving as historical federal capital cities. Kingston initially served as a major military outpost and operated some of United Canada's earliest major hospitals and prisons. In Ottawa, the Public Service of Canada is the single-largest employer in the city, hosting Parliament Hill, the national headquarters for all major federal departments, and the National Defense Headquarters for the Department of National Defense. The 1980s and 1990s saw the emergence of Silicon Valley North in Ottawa, Canada's original technology cluster, and currently one of the largest in Canada. [10]
Census Region | Population (2021) [11] | Population (2016) [11] | Population (2011) [11] | Population (2006) [11] | Population (2001) [11] | Area (km2) [11] |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ottawa (Ontario) | 1,017,449 | 934,243 | 883,391 | 812,129 | 774,072 | 2,790.31 |
Frontenac | 161,780 | 150,475 | 149,738 | 143,865 | 138,606 | 3,336.62 |
Hastings* | 145,746 | 136,445 | 134,934 | 130,474 | 125,915 | 5,291.05 |
Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry | 114,637 | 113,429 | 111,164 | 110,399 | 109,522 | 3,309.87 |
Renfrew | 106,365 | 102,394 | 101,326 | 97,545 | 95,138 | 7,357.94 |
Leeds and Grenville | 104,070 | 100,546 | 99,306 | 99,206 | 96,606 | 3,350.08 |
Prescott and Russell | 95,639 | 89,333 | 85,381 | 80,184 | 76,446 | 2,004.47 |
Lanark | 75,760 | 68,698 | 65,667 | 63,785 | 62,495 | 3,025.98 |
Lennox and Addington | 45,182 | 42,888 | 41,824 | 40,542 | 39,461 | 2,839.68 |
Prince Edward* | 25,704 | 24,735 | 25,258 | 25,496 | 24,901 | 1,050.45 |
Total | 1,720,882 | 1,602,006 | 1,537,797 | 1,447,655 | 1,392,376 | 28,014.95 |
Total *(incl ext. area) | 1,892,332 | 1,763,186 | 1,697,989 | 1,603,625 | 1,543,192 | 34,356.45 |
Metropolitan area | Type | Population [12] [13] | Change | Land area (km2) [12] | Population density (/km2) | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
(2023) Estimate | (2021) | (2016) | |||||
Ottawa–Gatineau | CMA | 1,609,805 | 1,488,307 | 1,371,576 | +8.51% | 8046.99 | 185.0 |
Ottawa (Ontario) | CMA | 1,244,997 | 1,017,449 | 934,243 | +8.90% | 2,790.31 | 364.7 |
Kingston | CMA | 188,267 | 172,546 | 161,175 | +7.06% | 1919.17 | 89.9 |
Belleville–Quinte West* | CMA | 121,982 | 111,184 | 103,401 | +7.53% | 1337.50 | 83.1 |
Cornwall | CA | 66,351 | 61,415 | 59,699 | +2.87% | 509.21 | 120.6 |
Brockville | CA | 33,649 | 31,661 | 31,200 | +1.48% | 576.87 | 54.9 |
Pembroke | CA | 25,068 | 23,814 | 23,269 | +2.34% | 553.40 | 43.0 |
Petawawa | CA | 19,464 | 18,160 | 17,187 | +5.66% | 164.70 | 110.3 |
Hawkesbury | CA | 12,668 | 12,010 | 11,974 | +0.30% | 12.91 | 930.3 |
Hawkesbury (Ontario) | CA | 10,747 | 10,194 | 10,263 | −0.67% | 10.00 | 1019.4 |
Eastern Ontario is located within both the Mixedwood Plains Ecozone (as classified by Environment and Climate Change Canada, further subclassified into the St. Lawrence Lowland, Frontenac Axis, Manitoulin-Lake Simcoe regions), [14] and Boreal Shield Ecozone (further subclassified into the Algonquin-Lake Nipissing region). [15] Surficial geology largely consists of glacial till, glaciolacustrine and glaciomarine silt/clay plains, and low-lying wetlands underlain by sedimentary limestone, dolostone, siltstone, sandstone, arkose, and shale bedrock, in addition to sections of plutonic igneous granite, quartz, gneiss, and conglomerate bedrock of the Canadian Shield, which is exposed at the surface in many locations. Eastern Ontario's geography is highly varied, with flat plains and rolling hills in the eastern section of the region, near the St. Lawrence River and Lake Ontario, and rugged highland areas in the sections that the Canadian Shield covers, including the Laurentian Highlands and Opeongo Hills, ranging from Algonquin Provincial Park south toward Lake Ontario. The Thousand Islands region is a unique bedrock archipelago in the St. Lawrence River that consists of approximately 1,864 islands straddling the Canada-US border. Geological fault zones run through the region, including the Western Quebec Seismic Zone and the St. Lawrence Rift System. These fault zones result in a graben (Ottawa-Bonnechere Graben) that forms the Ottawa Valley, running the length of the Ottawa River and Mattawa River north to Lake Nipissing. Subsequently, the region is prone to sinkholes [16] and earthquakes. More severe earthquakes (Richter Magnitude scale of 5-6 or greater) occur at a frequency of approximately 60 years on average. The most recent severe earthquake to occur, the 2010 Central Canada Earthquake, caused minor damage to power grid systems and buildings in Ottawa and other nearby areas. [17] Additional major historical earthquakes include the 1944 Cornwall-Massena Earthquake.
Eastern Ontario maintains significant forest coverage, predominantly in the areas of the Canadian Shield that could not be cleared for agricultural purposes. A singular forest region is located in Eastern Ontario, [18] known as the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence forest. [19] The historical prominence of the logging industry has resulted in significant historical clearing of these forests, but the implementation of more sustainable forestry practices and governmental protections on certain areas has resulted in regrowth and retention of forests on areas not suitable for agriculture. One major federally protected area, Thousand Islands National Park, is located in Eastern Ontario. Multiple provincial parks are also located in the region, with the most significant of which being Algonquin Provincial Park, itself established to encourage sustainable forestry practices after being clearcut in the late 19th century. [20]
Eastern Ontario's climate is heavily influenced by the proximity of the Great Lakes and its relative northern latitude compared to other parts of Southern Ontario. Winters in the region are typically severe, with regions experiencing low temperatures and significant amounts of snow and ice during winter months. Highland regions experience more severe winters due to their higher elevation. Significant snowfall is common in the area even into the spring. [21] Summers are typically hot and humid in lower-lying areas, with milder and cooler summers occurring in the north. Eastern Ontario also experiences ice storms on a regular basis due to the presence of the arctic high-pressure system, [22] heavily impacting the low-lying areas of the Ottawa Valley and St. Lawrence Valley, with significant events including the 1998 North American Ice Storm and the 2023 Canadian Ice Storm. Eastern Ontario also regularly experiences severe weather events, including tornadoes, and thunderstorms as a result of humid summer temperatures.
Under the Köppen climate classification, Eastern Ontario has a humid continental climate, with the entire area experiencing a warm-summer Dfb climate. Temperatures are warmer along the north shore of Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River, in areas such as Prince Edward County, in comparison to the more northern areas of the region.
The vast majority of the primary vehicular traffic network in Eastern Ontario is served mainly by the controlled-access 400-series highways. Highway 401, the main highway in the network, starts as a continuation of Autoroute 20 at the Quebec border in South Glengarry and runs southwest to Belleville, where it continues southwest through the Golden Horseshoe and Southwestern Ontario. Highway 416, another major highway, runs north from Highway 401 near Johnstown, where it connects with Highway 417 in Ottawa. Highway 417 starts as a continuation of Autoroute 40 at the Quebec border in East Hawkesbury and runs northwest through Ottawa toward Arnprior, after which it becomes Highway 17. Highways 401 and 417 carry Trans-Canada Highway designations throughout Eastern Ontario. Additional major provincial highways in the region include Highway 7, Highway 15, Highway 16, Highway 33, Highway 37, Highway 62, Highway 137, and Highway 138. An extension of Highway 417 toward Renfrew is under construction as of 2024. [23] In 2024, the province announced that ownership of Highway 174 will be transferred to the provincial government from the city of Ottawa. [24]
Eastern Ontario also has multiple road connections with the United States. These include the Thousand Islands Bridge near Gananoque, the Odgensburg-Prescott International Bridge in Johnstown, and the Seaway International Bridge in Cornwall, all of which cross the St. Lawrence River. Multiple bridges also connect the region with Quebec, including the Champlain Bridge, Chaudiere Bridge, Portage Bridge, Alexandra Bridge, and the MacDonald-Cartier Bridge in Ottawa, and the Long-Sault Bridge in Hawkesbury, all of which cross the Ottawa River. Additional major bridges include the Norris Whitney Bridge in Belleville and the Quinte Skyway near Desoronto, which cross the Bay of Quinte.
Via Rail operates inter-regional passenger train service on the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor, in Toronto-Ottawa-Montreal and Toronto-Montreal configurations, running predominantly along the route adjacent to Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River toward Montreal, but for trains bound for Ottawa, there is a spur route that runs north of Brockville and through Smiths Falls to Ottawa, as well as an additional line that roughly follows Highway 417 from Ottawa to Quebec. [25] Ottawa is currently the only municipality in Eastern Ontario that has a rail-based transit system in operation. This transit system is known as the O-Train, which as of 2024, has two lines; the east-west Line 1 Confederation and the north-south Line 2 Trillium. [26] Multiple lines are currently under construction as of 2024, including an extension of Line 1 Confederation, an extension/reconstruction of Line 2 Trillium, a new Line 3 Confederation spur, and a new Line 4 Airport Link, which connects the transit system to Ottawa MacDonald-Cartier International Airport. [27] Additional future extensions of the O-Train system are planned for Barrhaven and Kanata, [28] and connections with the proposed Gatineau LRT are also planned. [29] A proposed commuter rail system called Letsgomoose that would extend as far as Arnprior, Smiths Falls, and Alexandria in Ontario, as well as Bristol, La Peche, and Montebello in Quebec, was initially proposed in 2007 by a private company called Moose Consortium Inc., [30] but no movement has been made on the proposal since 2017. [31]
Freight rail in the region is dominated by CN Rail and CPKC, the two major cross-national Canadian rail companies. [32]
Eastern Ontario does not have any major ports. While cargo ships transit through the region as part of the Great Lakes/St. Lawrence Seaway system, most major port activities are located upstream in Thunder Bay, Windsor, and Hamilton, or downstream in Montreal and Quebec City. Minor ports are located in Belleville, Picton, Bath, and Kingston.
The Ontario government currently operates passenger ferry services connecting Kingston to Wolfe Island. Other smaller locally-operated ferry services provide transit through the Thousand Islands on the Canadian side of the St. Lawrence River.
Eastern Ontario is home to only one major airport; Ottawa MacDonald-Cartier International Airport (YOW), in addition to multiple minor airports in either Ottawa or various smaller communities, such as Kingston Norman Rogers Airport (YKR), Pembroke & Area Airport (YTA), and Rockliffe Airport (YRO). Ottawa International Airport is a major airport in the Canadian transportation network and offers flights to many major cities across Canada, in addition to select cities in the United States and the Caribbean. [33] Additionally, a major Canadian Forces base, CFB Trenton (YTR), is located in Trenton and is operated by the Royal Canadian Air Force.
Eastern Ontario has multiple tertiary education institutions in the form of both universities and colleges. Two universities, University of Ottawa and Queen's University, are part of the U15 Group, the association of Canada's dominant research universities.
The accent/dialect in the region, Ottawa Valley English, is distinct from the rest of Ontario. [34] The region also has a significant Francophone population, encompassing approximately 15.4% of the Eastern Ontario population and 43.1% of all Franco-Ontarians as of 2022, [35] owing to the region's historical roots in French colonization and proximity to Quebec.
Eastern Ontario has a rich professional sports scene, largely centred on Ottawa, where two "Big Six" teams (MLB, NBA, NFL, NHL, MLS, and CFL) currently play - the Ottawa Senators of the NHL, and the Ottawa Redblacks of the CFL. The Ottawa Charge of the PWHL also play in the city, in addition to multiple other additional professional franchises from other leagues, including the AHL, CEBL, CPL, and NLL. Additional professional hockey teams were previously located in the region, including in the NHA's (the predecessor of the modern NHL) Renfrew Creamery Kings, and the WHA's (which later merged with the modern NHL) Ottawa Civics and Ottawa Nationals. Historical Canadian football teams from the ORFU and QRFU included the Brockville Football Club, Kingston Granites, and Ottawa Trojans. The history of professional sports in the Ottawa region has long been tumultuous and saw professional franchises leave the city on multiple occastions, including the original Ottawa Senators of the NHL, being founded in 1883 and relocating in 1934, the Ottawa Rough Riders of the CFL, being founded in 1876 and folding in 1996, and the Ottawa Renegades of the CFL, being founded in 2002 and folding in 2008.
A bid for a Major League Soccer franchise was made by former Ottawa Senators owner Eugene Melnyk in 2010, [36] with intention of constructing a new stadium in Kanata. [37] The Ottawa bid was ultimately rejected in favour of the Portland Timbers and Vancouver Whitecaps expansion teams. [38]
Club | Sport | League | Level | City | Stadium | Years Active |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ottawa Senators | Ice hockey | NHL | Professional | Ottawa | Canadian Tire Centre | 1992–present |
Ottawa Charge | Ice hockey | PWHL | Professional | Ottawa | TD Place Arena | 2023–present |
Belleville Senators | Ice hockey | AHL | Professional | Belleville | CAA Arena | 2017–present |
Ottawa Titans | Baseball | FL | Professional | Ottawa | Ottawa Stadium | 2020–present |
Ottawa Blackjacks | Basketball | CEBL | Professional | Ottawa | TD Place Arena | 2019–present |
Ottawa Redblacks | Football | CFL | Professional | Ottawa | TD Place Stadium | 2014–present |
Ottawa Black Bears | Lacrosse | NLL | Professional | Ottawa | Canadian Tire Centre | 2024–present |
Atletico Ottawa | Soccer | CPL | Professional | Ottawa | TD Place Stadium | 2020–present |
Kingston Frontenacs | Ice hockey | OHL | Major Junior | Kingston | Slush Puppie Place | 1989–present |
Ottawa 67's | Ice hockey | OHL | Major Junior | Ottawa | TD Place Arena | 1967–present |
Club | Sport | League | Level | City | Stadium | Years Active |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ottawa Skyhawks | Basketball | NBLC | Professional | Ottawa | Canadian Tire Centre | 2014 |
Ottawa Giants | Baseball | IL (AAA) | Pro-Minor | Ottawa | Lansdowne Park | 1951 |
Ottawa Athletics | Baseball | IL (AAA) | Pro-Minor | Ottawa | Lansdowne Park | 1952 - 1954 |
Ottawa Lynx | Baseball | IL (AAA) | Pro-Minor | Ottawa | Ottawa Stadium | 1993 - 2007 |
Ottawa Voyageurs | Baseball | CA (Ind) | Pro-Minor | Ottawa | Ottawa Stadium | 2008 - 2009 |
Ottawa Champions | Baseball | CA (Ind) | Pro-Minor | Ottawa | Ottawa Stadium | 2015 - 2019 |
Ottawa Senators | Ice hockey | NHL | Professional | Ottawa | Ottawa Auditorium | 1909 - 1934 |
Renfrew Creamery Kings | Ice hockey | NHA | Professional | Renfrew | Renfrew Hockey Arena | 1909-1911 |
Ottawa Nationals | Ice hockey | WHA | Professional | Ottawa | Ottawa Civic Centre | 1972 - 1973 |
Ottawa Civics | Ice hockey | WHA | Professional | Ottawa | Ottawa Civic Centre | 1976 |
Cornwall Aces | Ice hockey | AHL | Professional | Cornwall | Ed Lumley Arena | 1993 - 1996 |
Hull-Ottawa Canadiens | Ice hockey | EPHL | Pro-Minor | Ottawa | Ottawa Auditorium | 1959 - 1963 |
Kingston Frontenacs | Ice hockey | EPHL | Pro-Minor | Kingston | Kingston Memorial Centre | 1959 - 1963 |
Ottawa Lady Senators | Ice hockey | CWHL | Pro-Am | Ottawa | Ottawa Civic Centre | 2007 - 2010 |
Ottawa Rough Riders | Football | CFL | Professional | Ottawa | Lansdowne Park | 1876 - 1996 |
Ottawa Renegades | Football | CFL | Professional | Ottawa | Lansdowne Park | 2002 - 2006 |
Brockville Football Club | Football | QRFU | Pro-Am | Brockville | Unknown | 1899 - 1902 |
Kingston Granites | Football | ORFU | Pro-Am | Kingston | Unknown | 1898 - 1903 |
Ottawa Trojans | Football | ORFU | Pro-Am | Ottawa | Lansdowne Park | 1943 - 1948 |
Ottawa Fury FC | Soccer | USLC | Professional | Ottawa | TD Place Stadium | 2011 - 2019 |
Kingston Clippers | Soccer | L1O | Semi-Pro Minor | Kingston | Tindall Field | 2014 - 2016 |
Ottawa South United | Soccer | L1O | Semi-Pro Minor | Ottawa | Quinn's Pointe | 2017 - 2019 |
Belleville Bulls | Ice hockey | OHL | Major Junior | Belleville | Yardmen Arena | 1981 - 2015 |
Cornwall Royals | Ice hockey | OHL | Major Junior | Cornwall | Ed Lumley Arena | 1969 - 1992 |
Gatineau is a city in southwestern Quebec, Canada. It is located on the northern bank of the Ottawa River, immediately across from Ottawa, Ontario. Gatineau is the largest city in the Outaouais administrative region of Quebec and is also part of Canada's National Capital Region. As of 2021, Gatineau is the fourth-largest city in Quebec with a population of 291,041, and it is part of the Ottawa-Gatineau census metropolitan area with a population of 1,488,307 making it the fourth largest in Canada.
Hull is the central business district and oldest neighbourhood of the city of Gatineau, Quebec, Canada. It is located on the west bank of the Gatineau River and the north shore of the Ottawa River, directly opposite Ottawa. As part of Canada's National Capital Region, it contains offices for more than 20,000 civil servants. It was named after Kingston upon Hull in England.
Kingston is a city in Ontario, Canada, on the northeastern end of Lake Ontario. It is at the beginning of the St. Lawrence River and at the mouth of the Cataraqui River, the south end of the Rideau Canal. Kingston is near the Thousand Islands, a tourist region to the east, and the Prince Edward County tourist region to the west. Kingston is nicknamed the "Limestone City" because it has many heritage buildings constructed using local limestone.
Belleville is a city in Ontario, Canada situated on the eastern end of Lake Ontario, located at the mouth of the Moira River and on the Bay of Quinte. Belleville is between Ottawa and Toronto, along the Quebec City-Windsor Corridor. Its population as of the 2021 Canadian census was 55,071. It is the seat of Hastings County, but politically independent of it, and is the centre of the Bay of Quinte Region.
Central Canada is a Canadian region consisting of Ontario and Quebec, the largest and most populous provinces of the country. Geographically, they are not at the centre of Canada but instead overlap with Eastern Canada toward the east. Because of their large populations, Ontario and Quebec have traditionally held a significant amount of political power in Canada, leading to some amount of resentment from other regions of the country. Before Confederation, the term "Canada" specifically referred to Central Canada. Today, the term "Central Canada" is less often used than the names of the individual provinces.
The Ottawa Valley is the valley of the Ottawa River, along the boundary between Eastern Ontario and the Outaouais, Quebec, Canada. The valley is the transition between the Saint Lawrence Lowlands and the Canadian Shield. Because of the surrounding shield, the valley is narrow at its western end and then becomes increasingly wide as it progresses eastward. The underlying geophysical structure is the Ottawa-Bonnechere Graben. Approximately 1.3 million people reside in the valley, around 80% of whom reside in Ottawa. The total area of the Ottawa Valley is 2.4 million ha. The National Capital Region area has just over 1.4 million inhabitants in both provinces.
Maniwaki is a town in the province of Quebec, Canada. It is situated 130 kilometres (81 mi) north of Ottawa, Ontario, on the Gatineau River, at the crossroads of Route 105 and Route 107, near Route 117. The town is the administrative centre for La Vallée-de-la-Gatineau Regional County Municipality.
Southern Ontario is a primary region of the Canadian province of Ontario. It is the most densely populated and southernmost region in Canada, with approximately 13.5 million people, approximately 36% of Canada's population of 37 million. The region lies south of the province's other primary region, Northern Ontario, although the exact northern boundary of Southern Ontario is disputed. However, its core region is situated south of Algonquin Park, the latter being in an area of transition between coniferous forest north of the French and Mattawa Rivers and southern deciduous forest. It covers between 14 and 15% of the province, depending on the inclusion of the Parry Sound and Muskoka districts which also lie in the transitional area between northern and southern forest regions. Southern Ontario differs greatly from Northern Ontario, having a much higher population density, a different climate, and a different culture than its northern counterpart. It is broken into smaller subregions, including Central Ontario, Eastern Ontario, the Golden Horseshoe, and Southwestern Ontario.
The National Capital Region (NCR), also known as Canada's Capital Region and Ottawa–Gatineau, is an official federal designation encompassing the Canadian capital of Ottawa, Ontario, the adjacent city of Gatineau, Quebec, and surrounding suburban and exurban areas. Despite its designation, the NCR is not a separate political or administrative entity and falls within the provinces of Ontario and Quebec.
The Gatineau River is a river in western Quebec, Canada, which rises in lakes north of the Baskatong Reservoir and flows south to join the Ottawa River at the city of Gatineau, Quebec. The river is 386 kilometres (240 mi) long and drains an area of 23,700 square kilometres (9,200 sq mi).
King's Highway 2, commonly referred to as Highway 2, is the lowest-numbered provincially maintained highway in the Canadian province of Ontario, and was originally part of a series of identically numbered highways which started in Windsor, stretched through Quebec and New Brunswick, and ended in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Prior to the 1990s, Highway 2 travelled through many of the major cities in Southern Ontario, including Windsor, Chatham, London, Brantford, Hamilton, Burlington, Mississauga, Toronto, Oshawa, Belleville, Kingston and Cornwall, and many other smaller towns and communities.
Southwestern Ontario is a secondary region of Southern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario. It occupies most of the Ontario Peninsula bounded by Lake Huron, including Georgian Bay, to the north and northwest; the St. Clair River, Lake St. Clair, and Detroit River, to the west; and Lake Erie to the south. To the east, on land, Southwestern Ontario is bounded by Central Ontario and the Golden Horseshoe.
The Quebec City–Windsor Corridor is the most densely populated and heavily industrialized region of Canada. As its name suggests, the 1,150 km (710 mi)-long region extends from Quebec City in the northeast and Windsor, Ontario in the southwest. With more than 18 million people, it contains about half of the country's population and seven of Canada's 12 largest metropolitan areas, 3 of which are in the top 4. Its relative importance to Canada's economic and political infrastructure renders it akin to the Northeast megalopolis in the United States. The name was first popularized by Via Rail, which runs frequent passenger rail service in the region in its service area known as "The Corridor".
Ontario is located in East/Central Canada. It is Canada's second largest province by land area. Its physical features vary greatly from the Mixedwood Plains in the southeast to the boreal forests and tundra in the north. Ontario borders Manitoba to the west, Hudson Bay and James Bay to the north, Quebec to the east, and the Great Lakes and the United States to the south. The province is named for Great Lake Ontario, an adaptation of the Iroquois word Onitariio, meaning "beautiful lake", or Kanadario, variously translated as "beautiful water". There are approximately 250,000 lakes and over 100,000 kilometres (62,000 mi) of rivers in the province.
The Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Lowlands, or simply St. Lawrence Lowlands, is a physiographic region of Eastern Canada that comprises a section of southern Ontario bounded on the north by the Canadian Shield and by three of the Great Lakes — Lake Huron, Lake Erie and Lake Ontario — and extends along the St. Lawrence River to the Strait of Belle Isle and the Atlantic Ocean. The lowlands comprise three sub-regions that were created by intrusions from adjacent physiographic regions — the West Lowland, Central Lowland and East Lowland. The West Lowland includes the Niagara Escarpment, extending from the Niagara River to the Bruce Peninsula and Manitoulin Island. The Central Lowland stretches between the Ottawa River and the St. Lawrence River. The East Lowland includes Anticosti Island, Îles de Mingan, and extends to the Strait of Belle Isle.
The Great Lakes megalopolis consists of a bi-national group of metropolitan areas in North America largely in the Great Lakes region. It extends from the Midwestern United States in the south and west to western Pennsylvania and Western New York in the east and northward through Southern Ontario into southwestern Quebec in Canada. It is the most populated and largest megalopolis in North America.
Bus companies in Ontario range in scale from small family-run businesses to subsidiaries of large international transportation groups. Many operate yellow school buses for student transportation on behalf of local school boards, while others concentrate on luxury coach charters and tours. Some municipalities use these private companies to run their public transit systems.
The Capital Pathway, also known informally as the Bike Path, is a 220-kilometre (140 mi) recreational pathway interlinking many parks, waterways and sites in Ottawa, Ontario and Gatineau, Quebec. Most of the pathway is paved, and allows an almost continuous route through the National Capital Region.
The Mixedwood Plains Ecozone is the Canadian ecozone with the most southern extent, covering all of southwestern Ontario, and parts of central and northeastern Ontario and southern Quebec along the Saint Lawrence River. It was originally dominated by temperate deciduous forest growing mostly on limestone covered by glacial till. It is the smallest ecozone in Canada, but it includes the country's most productive industrial and commercial region, and is home to nearly half of Canada's population, including its two largest cities, Toronto, Ontario and Montreal, Quebec. Hence, little of the original forest cover remains, making protection of the remaining forests a high conservation priority. This ecozone includes two regions described by J.S. Rowe in his classic Forest Regions of Canada: the entire Deciduous Forest Region, and the southern portions of the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Forest Region. In the province of Ontario, the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources maps this area as Site Regions 6E and 7E.
The Crawford Purchase was an agreement that surrendered lands that extended west along the north shore of the St. Lawrence River and Lake Ontario from the Mississaugas to the British crown to enable Loyalist settlement in what is now a part of eastern Ontario, Canada. The agreement was made in 1783 in exchange for various items.
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