When was ontario created

In , Metrolinx merged with GO transit, a regional public transit service, and in introduced PRESTO, an electronic fare card with the goal of allowing passengers to transfer easily between different transit systems.

There are few roads in the North, and the most reliable form of transportation in this part of the province is still by air or water. The Ontario Northland Transportation Commission, a provincial agency, provides train and bus services to northern communities.

Ontario has a large navigable water system, the St. Lawrence Seaway , along its southern frontier. Thunder Bay moves mainly coal, wheat and canola , while Hamilton handles iron ore, iron, steel, alloys and coal. Munro International Airport. Artistic and cultural endeavour in Ontario is encouraged through a variety of government subsidy programs, some federal and some provincial, such as the Ontario Arts Council founded , an independent government agency that gives grants to individuals and organizations.

A major Shakespearean festival called the Stratford Festival was founded in and is held each year in Stratford.

Major museums in Ontario include the Royal Ontario Museum, focusing on natural history and cultures from around the world, and the Aga Khan Museum, focusing on Muslim civilizations. Both are located in Toronto. The midth century Jesuit missions to the Wendat were among the first historic sites opened to the public. Having supported research in the area since , the Ontario government undertook the reconstruction of Sainte-Marie Among the Hurons near Midland in , and opened it to the public three years later.

Picturesque forts, the legacy of a long period of tension along the American-Canadian border dating from the beginning of the American Revolution, dot the southern reaches of the province. At Kingston, Fort Henry , whose stone walls were originally completed in the s, is perhaps the best known, but Fort George and Fort Erie on the Niagara Historic Frontier , Fort Wellington Prescott , Fort York Toronto and Fort Malden Amhertsburg have also been restored to their appearance at the time of the international crises and conflicts that marked the first part of the 19th century.

Boating enthusiasts enjoy two 19th-century canals — the Rideau Canal , built from to by the Royal Engineers for the movement of troops and military supplies, and the Trent, which dates back to MacDonald, ed. Rogers and Donald B. Smith, eds. Schindeler, Responsible Government in Ontario ; J. Wood, ed. Ontario Archaeological Society The Ontario Archaeological Society is a provincial organization concerned with recording and preserving Ontario's non-renewable cultural heritage.

Their website offers an archaeological history of Ontario. Archives of Ontario The collections held by the Archives of Ontario are a rich resource for the study of the history of Ontario and its people. Check out the historic photographs, paintings, documents, patriotic posters, personal letters, audio files, and other online features.

Government of Ontario The official website of the Government of Ontario. A good resource for information about Ontario's history, economy, geography, and much more. Search The Canadian Encyclopedia. Remember me. I forgot my password. Why sign up? Create Account. Suggest an Edit. Enter your suggested edit s to this article in the form field below. Accessed 11 November In The Canadian Encyclopedia.

Historica Canada. Article published August 09, ; Last Edited November 04, The Canadian Encyclopedia , s. Thank you for your submission Our team will be reviewing your submission and get back to you with any further questions. Thanks for contributing to The Canadian Encyclopedia. King Street, Toronto, c Farmland north of London, Ontario. Rock cut at the Foster Mine, Cobalt, Ontario, Ontario legislative buildings, Toronto, seat of the Ontario provincial government.

The entrance to the Canadian Museum of Nature in Ottawa, Ontario, showing glass structure with hanging whale. Photo taken on 22 November Upper Canada province Ontario.

Further Reading C. External Links Ontario Archaeological Society The Ontario Archaeological Society is a provincial organization concerned with recording and preserving Ontario's non-renewable cultural heritage. Norman Hillmer , Robert Bothwell. Members of the Nipissing First Nation voted in favour of adopting their own constitution , or Gichi-Naaknigewin, believed to be the first such document among First Nations communities in Ontario. Its purpose is to allow the nation to define its membership and create laws.

Legal experts say it is unclear, however, whether this constitution will run up against Canadian laws such as the Indian Act , which it is designed to replace. Elizabeth Dowdeswell, former undersecretary general of the United Nations, was sworn in as Ontario Lieutenant-Governor.

The Ontario Court of Justice in Guelph, ON, sentenced former Conservative staffer Michael Sona to nine months in prison for his role in the robocall scandal that erupted in the wake of the federal election. On the day of the election, 6, Guelph voters received automated calls directing them to incorrect voting locations. Sona was the only person charged in relation to the fraudulent calls. Prolific choreographer and director Brian Macdonald died in Stratford, Ontario.

Rob Ford , the municipal politician who became an international celebrity during his scandal-plagued term as the mayor of Toronto from to 20 14, died after a battle with cancer. A staunch conservative , Ford campaigned against tax hikes and fought to cut spending at City Hall, famously running for office under the slogan "stop the gravy train. Composer Howard Cable died in Toronto , Ontario , at age Over a prolific career that spanned more than seven decades, Cable made a profound impact on music in Canada.

In addition to his work in radio , television and musical theatre , he composed, arranged and conducted music for a wide variety of organizations and bands. In response to the recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission , Ontario premier Kathleen Wynne formally apologizes on behalf of the provincial government for the abuses committed against Indigenous peoples in the residential school system , as well as for the oppressive policies and practices supported by past Ontario governments.

Toronto police chief Mark Saunders publicly expressed "regret" on behalf of his force for the bathhouse raids. On 5 February of that year, Toronto police officers arrested about gay men on charges of being found in a common bawdy house or keeping a common bawdy house.

Most of the charges were dropped, but the raids further persecuted and marginalized a group whose rights were largely unprotected in Canadian society of the time. Novelist, short-story writer and journalist Austin Clarke died in Toronto at age Clarke grew up in Barbados and moved to Canada in to study at the University of Toronto.

The first-time Olympian from Toronto skyrocketed to fame in the space of two weeks, stepping onto the podium again and again as the country looked on with amazement. She took home gold in the m freestyle, silver in the m butterfly and bronze in both the 4x m freestyle relay and 4x m freestyle relay. An internationally exhibited winner of the Sobey Art Award, Pootoogook came from a family of accomplished Inuit artists.

She moved from Cape Dorset , Nunavut, to Ottawa in , after achieving international recognition. The incident resulted in an internal investigation and, ultimately, a three-month demotion for Hrnchiar, who pleaded guilty to two charges under the Police Services Act.

Zimmerman was a long-time executive at Noranda Mines , serving first as assistant comptroller in then rising through the ranks to become president and CEO in Zimmerman retired in He was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada in Nineteen-year-old Sam Oosterhoff became the youngest member of Provincial Parliament in the history of Ontario , winning the riding of Niagara West—Glanbrook in a by-election.

They lost the match 5—4 in penalty shootout. See also Soccer. The award is given out annually by a panel of Canadian sports journalists. Tom Harpur, theologian, priest and journalist with the Toronto Star , died at the age of Ontario Superior Court judge Edward Belobaba ruled in favour of Sixties Scoop victims, finding that the federal government did not take adequate steps to protect the cultural identity of on- reserve children taken away from their homes.

This was the first victory of a Sixties Scoop lawsuit in Canada. Labour leader Bob White died in Kincardine , Ontario. Among his many achievements as a union organizer, White was the founding president of the Canadian Auto Workers union. In , he was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada. Short story writer and novelist Bonnie Burnard died in London , Ontario , at age The four books she published in her lifetime earned her critical acclaim and literary prizes , including the Giller Prize in for her novel A Good House.

Progressive Conservative politician Gerry Martiniuk died at the age of Martiniuk served as a Member of the Provincial Parliament of Ontario from to Historian Michael Bliss died in Toronto , Ontario. He received many career honours, including the Order of Canada , honorary degrees from six universities and honorary fellowship in the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. For many years he was in demand as a lecturer, speaker and public intellectual in North America and Europe.

Hungarian chess master Zoltan Sarosy, who emigrated to Halifax and then Toronto after the Second World War , died at the age of of natural causes. At the time of his death, he was considered one of the oldest people in Canada. The Supreme Court of Canada ruled that Indigenous peoples do not have the power to veto resource development projects such as pipelines. Arnold Chan, Liberal member of Parliament for the Ontario riding of Scarborough -Agincourt, died at age 50 after a battle with cancer.

He was remembered by colleagues in Parliament and at the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, where he previously served as an aide, as an exemplary politician who deeply valued democracy and civic engagement. A member of provincial parliament with a seat in Brampton , the year-old Sikh criminal lawyer served as deputy leader of the Ontario NDP before stepping down to run for the federal leadership.

Singh is the first member of a visible minority to lead a federal political party in Canada. Toronto's oldest artifact trusted to the care of the city over 80 years after its discovery. An Indigenous arrowhead, estimated to be between 4, and 6, years old, has been trusted to the care of the city of Toronto by the woman who discovered it during a class trip to Fort York in Jeanne Carter discovered what is now considered the oldest artifact discovered on the present-day territory of the city of Toronto.

The race was triggered after party leader Patrick Brown was forced to step down following accusations of sexual assault. This victory ended nearly 15 years of Liberal government, first under Dalton McGuinty from to , and then under Kathleen Wynne from to A total of 58 per cent of the electorate exercised its right to vote , compared to 51 per cent in the previous election.

Kathleen Wynne resigned as leader of the Ontario Liberal Party. Former teacher and union leader Paul Dewar died at age 56 after a year-long battle with brain cancer. In Ontario's southernmost regions, you will find prickly pear cactus and sassafras trees, while polar bears roam our northern tundra.

Common fish in Ontario include yellow perch, bluegill, northern pike, and walleye. The mammals that call Ontario home include beavers, black bears, muskrats, gray wolves, white-tailed deer and walrus.

Familiar birds include blue jays, northern cardinals, great blue herons, red-tailed hawks, great horned owls and pileated woodpeckers. Look carefully and you might see some reptiles and amphibians, including eastern garter snakes, northern leopard frogs, eastern massasauga rattlesnakes, midland painted turtles or one of 11 types of salamanders and newts.

Since then, Ontario's provincial parks have stood for protection of the natural environment and enjoyment of the great outdoors. Today, Ontario's vast system of parks and protected areas totals over 9 million hectares, and includes areas of magnificent old-growth forest, woodland caribou ranges, wilderness rivers, wetlands and habitat for rare and endangered plants and animals.

Our parks attract about 10 million visitors each year and provide places for outdoor activities such as camping, hiking, swimming, canoeing, nature viewing and fishing. Parks are also important for scientific research, environmental monitoring and outdoor education. Most importantly, Ontario's provincial parks will protect and conserve our rich natural and cultural heritage for the benefit of future generations.

It produces more than 25 different metal and non-metal mineral products. Ontario stone was used to build the Ontario legislature, the federal parliament buildings in Ottawa, and the Canadian Embassy Washington, DC.

The ancient rocks of the Canadian Shield cover two-thirds of Ontario and host many mineral deposits. Younger sedimentary rocks also contain valuable minerals and unconsolidated glacial deposits are another important source of mineral riches. Amethyst, a variety of 6-sided purple quartz crystal, was adopted as Ontario's official gemstone in Amethyst, while occurring worldwide, is in rich supply along Lake Superior's north shore near Thunder Bay. It is also found in the Bancroft and North Bay areas.

Ontario is an important Canadian petroleum refining region, ranking second behind Alberta in refinery production in Six facilities 4 fuel refineries, a petro-chemical facility, and a lubes plant produced With the exception of transportation, natural gas is the major fuel used by all sectors of the economy, including residential, commercial and industrial heating.

Together, these stations are capable of generating approximately 35, megawatts of electricity. Ontario now has more than 1, wind turbines with a capacity of more than 2, megawatts, making Ontario the Canadian leader in wind power. With a population of more than Catharines and Niagara Falls. With more than 9 million people, this area is one of the fastest growing areas in North America. The wider region spreads inland in all directions away from the Lake Ontario shoreline, southwest to Brantford, west to the Kitchener-Waterloo area, north to Barrie and northeast to Peterborough.

Counties existed within the districts. As the population grew the original districts were renamed, expanded and subdivided. The Province of Canada established District councils in for municipal administration purposes. When districts were abolished in , county governments took on the responsibilities formerly borne by the district governments.

However, the construction of the new county courthouses and administrative quarters took time. As a result, the transfer of judicial and administrative duties took several years and varied for each county. Also, some counties were "united" for administrative purposes for short periods of time.

In the government of Ontario began dividing Northern Ontario into districts beginning with the District of Muskoka. Unlike the earlier districts, it did not have a centralized government and existed only for the delivery of administrative and judicial services. Click here for a table listing the Pre districts , their years of creation, and the counties that existed within each one.

Click here for a table listing the Pre counties , their years of creation, the counties from which they were separated and the pre districts of which they were a part.