Ontario

**Ontario** is a province of Canada that is in the eastern half of Canada, between Manitoba and Quebec. Ontario has the largest population of any province, with over 16 million in 2025, and is home to the largest city in Canada, Toronto, which is also the capital of the province.

Ontario also has the second-largest land area, with 1,076,395 kilometers; only Quebec is larger by size. (Nunavut and the Northwest Territories are also larger, but are territories_,_ not provinces.) The province has the longest border with the United States. Along the border are four large lakes: Lake Ontario, Lake Erie, Lake Huron, and Lake Superior. All of them are partly in Ontario and partly in the United States, and the border runs through them. However, Lake Michigan is entirely in the United States. These five lakes are together are called the Great Lakes.

A number of symbols represent the province of Ontario. The Ontario flag is red with the British flag in the top left corner, and the provincial shield is on the right hand side of the flag. The provincial bird is the loon, and the provincial flower is the trillium. It has three flower petals and is usually white but sometimes pink or purple.

## History

Ontario became part of Canada when they were created in 1867. Before 1840, it was known as Upper Canada, which was a colony in the British Empire. Between 1840 and 1867, it was known as Canada West. The government of Ontario sits at Queen's Park, in Toronto. The leader of the government is called the premier, who is now is Doug Ford. The lieutenant governor represents the Queen, and the current Lieutenant Governor is Edith Dumont.

## Geography

Ontario is very large and so people sometimes divide it into Northern Ontario and Southern Ontario. Most of the people in Ontario live in the Southern Ontario, which has the large cities: Toronto and the rest of the Greater Toronto Area, Ottawa and the National Capital Region, Hamilton, London, Windsor, and Sarnia. The cities of Northern Ontario are smaller. In the far north, hardly any people live at all, and there are no roads or railways, which make it difficult even to get to those places.

Much of Ontario gets lots of snow in the winter. In the summer, it can get very hot in the south parts, and in some large cities, there is smog.

Ontario borders the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Quebec and the U.S. states of Minnesota, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York.

## Other websites

- Government of Ontario

## Infobox (province or territory of canada)

- **name**: Ontario
- **settlement type**: Provinces and territories of Canada, Province
- **image flag**: Flag of Ontario.svg
- **flag alt**: A red flag with a large Union Jack in the upper-left corner and a shield in the centre-right
- **image shield**: Coat of arms of Ontario.svg
- **shield alt**: A central shield with the upper part showing the red cross of St. George and the lower part showing three golden maple leaves on a green background. There is a black bear on top of a knight's helmet above the shield with a moose to the left and a Canadian deer to the right. The province's motto "Ut incepit Fidelis sic permanet", Latin for "Loyal she began, loyal she remains" is written below the crest.
- **motto**:
"Loyal she began, loyal she remains"
- **label map**: yes
- **image map**: Ontario in Canada 2.svg
- **map alt**: Map showing Ontario's location east/central of Canada.
- **capital**: Toronto
- **largest city**: Toronto
- **largest metro**: Greater Toronto Area
- **official lang**: Canadian English, English
- **viceroytype**: Lieutenant Governor
- **government type**: Parliamentary system, Parliamentary constitutional monarchy
- **viceroy**: Edith Dumont
- **premier**: Doug Ford
- **premierparty**: Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario, PC
- **legislature**: Legislative Assembly of Ontario
- **houseseats**: 121
- **senateseats**: 24
- **former**: Canada West
- **admittancedate**: July 1, 1867
- **admittanceorder**: 1st, with New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Quebec
- **area footnotes**:  (2021 land)
- **area rank**: 4th
- **area total km2**: 1076395
- **area land km2**: 892,411.76
- **area water km2**: 158654
- **population demonym**: Ontarian
- **population rank**: 1st
- **population as of**: 2021 Canadian census, 2021
- **population total**: 14223942
- **population est**: 16191372
- **pop est as of**: 2025 Q4
- **gdp rank**: 1st
- **gdp year**: 2022
- **gdp total**: CA$1,044.670 billion
- **gdp per capita rank**: 8th
- **gdp per capita**: CA$69,288
- **hdi year**: 2021
- **hdi**: 0.943—<span style="color:#090">Very high</span>
- **hdi rank**: 3rd
- **timezone link**: Time in Canada
- **timezone1 location**: East of 90th meridian west
- **timezone1**: Eastern Time Zone, Eastern
- **utc offset1**: −05:00
- **timezone1 dst**: Eastern Daylight Time, EDT
- **utc offset1 dst**: −04:00
- **timezone2 location**: West of 90th meridian west, except Atikokan and Pickle Lake
- **timezone2**: Central Time Zone, Central
- **utc offset2**: −06:00
- **timezone2 dst**: Central Daylight Time, CDT
- **utc offset2 dst**: −05:00
- **timezone3 location**: Atikokan and Pickle Lake (No DST)
- **timezone3**: EST
- **utc offset3**: −05:00
- **postalabbreviation**: ON
- **postalcodeprefix**: List of K postal codes of Canada, K List of L postal codes of Canada, L List of M postal codes of Canada, M List of N postal codes of Canada, N List of P postal codes of Canada, P
- **iso code**: CA-ON
- **flower**: Trillium grandiflorum, White trillium
- **tree**: Pinus strobus, Eastern white pine
- **bird**: Common loon