Ontario, the most populous and wealthy province of the Dominion of Canada, is bounded NE. and E. by Labrador and Quebec, SE., S., and SW. by the St Lawrence and the Great Lakes, N. by St James' Bay, and NW. and W. by Keewatin and Manitoba. Area, 181,800 sq. m.; pop. (1881) 1,923,228; (1891) 2,112,989. The province extends from about to W. long. The surface is generally undulating, and there are no elevations of any considerable height. The Laurentian Hills run westward from the Thousand Islands near Kingston, and extend north of Lake Simcoe, forming the coasts of Georgian Bay and Lake Huron. In the middle of the province the high land forms a watershed, separating the rivers flowing into the Great Lakes from those entering the Ottawa and the St Lawrence. The principal rivers of Ontario are tributaries of the Ottawa, which forms part of its north-eastern boundary. The St Lawrence forms the boundary of the eastern portion of the province, dividing it from the United States. Bounded by the Great Lakes, among its smaller lakes are Simcoe, Nipissing, Nipigon, and many others. Ontario is largely an agricultural country, and its resources are very great. Immense crops are raised of all the products of a temperate climate, and in the south-west corner of the province Indian corn is a regular crop, and grapes, peaches, and tomatoes are grown and ripen in the open air. In addition to arable farming, stock-raising, dairy-farming, and fruit-growing are important industries. In minerals the country is also rich. Iron is found in many parts; copper, lead, plumbago, apatite, antimony, arsenic, gypsum, marble, and building-stone are abundant; there are also gold and silver deposits—the latter very extensive in the country along the shores of Lake Superior and west to the Lake of the Woods. The nickel deposits at Sudbury are probably the most extensive in the world. The petroleum-wells, in the south-west part of the province, are yielding immense and apparently inexhaustible supplies; the same may be said of the salt-wells on the shores of Lake Huron. Largely owing to the favourable position which the province occupies with regard to water-power—although steam-power is established to a large extent, coal being obtained without difficulty by means of the lakes, from Pennsylvania, and also from Nova Scotia—the manufactures are numerous and abundant.
The principal manufactures are agricultural implements, iron and woodware, wagons and carriages, railway rolling-stock (including locomotives), cottons and woollens, leather, furniture, flax, ordinary iron and hardware, paper, soap, woodenware, &c. The most thickly populated part of Ontario more nearly resembles England than any of the other colonies. There is only one large city, Toronto, which contains nearly 200,000 inhabitants; but smaller cities and towns, such as Ottawa (44,000 inhabitants), Hamilton (43,000), London (27,000), Kingston (17,000), Guelph (11,000), St Catherine's (11,000), Brantford (13,000), St Thomas, Peterborough, Port Hope, Woodstock, Galt, Lindsay, Paris, and Port Arthur, are scattered all over the province, and are usually manufacturing or agricultural centres. The farms in these districts are well cultivated and fenced, with houses as a rule superior to those found in Great Britain. Ontario has a perfect network of railways (between 5000 and 6000 miles), which has proved of great advantage in the development of the manufacturing and agricultural industries; and in summer it is supplemented by the means of transport provided by the lakes and by the magnificent system of canals on the St Lawrence. The revenue of Ontario is about $5,000,000, made up of subsidies and contributions from the Dominion treasury, land and lumber sales, licenses, stamps, &c. The expenditure is invariably under the revenue, and the finances of the province are in a thoroughly satisfactory condition.
The value of the imports in 1889 was 42,292,819, including 24,912,245 from the United States and 14,542,782 from Great Britain. The value of the exports in the same year was 30,336,698, of which 23,449,821 went to the United States and 3,728,174 to Great Britain. The exports in 1893 (manufactured goods, agricultural products, animals and their products, timber, minerals) had a value of 33,850,783, while the imports were valued at 48,243,786. The industries in 1893 produced goods to the value of $250,000,000.
The school system of Ontario is admirable, and is under the control of a minister of Education, who is always a member of the Provincial Cabinet. The schools are supported by a tax on property, with state grants, and are free to all. Roman Catholics may, if they think proper, establish separate schools, and are then exempted from supporting the public schools, receiving a separate grant from government. The children attending the schools in 1887 were 493,212, out of a total school population of 611,212. There are many universities and colleges, and the facilities for higher education are quite equal to those provided for elementary purposes. The municipal system is one of the most perfect in the world, and affords a pattern which has been followed in many other countries. The public affairs are administered by a lieutenant-governor, an executive council of eight members, and a legislative assembly of 93 members elected every four years. In the Dominion parliament the province is represented by 24 members in the Senate and 92 members in the House of Commons. In Ontario the Protestant religious bodies predominate; the Methodists are the most numerous, followed by the Presbyterians, then by the Church of England.
History.—Ontario was largely founded by the immigration of United Empire loyalists into Canada after the declaration of independence of the United States. It was made into a separate province and called Upper Canada in 1791 (see article CANADA). The two provinces were reunited in 1840, as the result of the disturbances in 1837 and 1838, and remained in that position until confederation in the year 1867, when the province received the name of Ontario.