Ontario

Ontario is the most populous province of Canada and its economic engine, home to both Toronto, the country's largest city, and Ottawa, the national capital. Located in east-central Canada, it borders the Great Lakes and the United States. It is the heart of Canadian finance, industry and government.

Ontario stretches from the Great Lakes and the fertile, densely populated south to the vast forests, lakes and rugged Canadian Shield of the north, reaching Hudson Bay. It contains Niagara Falls and a huge share of the world's fresh water. The climate ranges from humid continental in the south to subarctic in the north.

Ontario is Canada's most multicultural province, with Toronto among the most diverse cities in the world. It is a center of finance, theatre, music and major-league sport, and blends urban cosmopolitanism with extensive wilderness and cottage country.

Home to the Anishinaabe, Haudenosaunee and other First Nations, the region was settled by the French and British and became Upper Canada, then Ontario at Confederation in 1867. It grew into Canada's industrial and financial powerhouse.