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Province of Canada
Photo: User: (WT-shared) Johnycanal at wts wikivoyage, CC BY-SA 1.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Ontario is Canada's second-largest province, and the most populous, with more than 14 million inhabitants. It is home to the Canadian capital city of Ottawa, and Toronto, which is Ontario's capital and Canada's largest city. Stretching from the shores of Hudson Bay (an arm of the Arctic Ocean) in the north to four of the five Great Lakes in the South and from Manitoba in the west to Quebec in the east, Ontario is truly massive at over a million square kilometres (almost half a million square miles).
The wealthiest and most urban region, made up of several different communities centred on Toronto. Filled with museums, architecture, restaurants, shopping, nightclubs, live theatre and professional sports.
Includes the once-rough, now gentrifying city of Hamilton, Canada's leading wine region, multiple historic sites related to the War of 1812, and the world-famous Niagara Falls
A land of rivers, lakes, and boreal forests, it also contains the elegant national capital: Ottawa. Along the Ottawa and St. Lawrence Rivers and Rideau Canal (a world heritage site) there is a multitude of historic towns.
Ontario's breadbasket with extensive farmland and quiet, historic villages sprinkled throughout. Also contains Canada's main information tech hub in Waterloo.
Peaceful lakes and rivers earn this region the nickname "Cottage Country". Where urbanites spend their summer weekends, but available any time for quintessentially Canadian moments relaxing on the lake shore.
A vast region of extensive boreal forests and isolated communities. Home of the ancient rock formations of the Canadian Shield, indigenous cultures persevering in the modern world, and literally millions of clean, swimmable lakes with some of the world's best freshwater sport fishing.
By car
Driving from the USA, border crossings include: International Falls, Minn. to Fort Frances, Ontario; Sault Ste.
By bus
By train
On foot or bicycle
A few central points in Ottawa (such as the Byward Market, Centretown, Parliament Hill, the National Gallery and Major Hill Park) are within walking distance from Hull.
By bus
Around the Greater Toronto Area, GO Transit buses serve many cities and towns as far as Barrie, Niagara Falls, Peterborough, and Waterloo.
By boat
Ontario contains many excellent recreational waterways including: the Great Lakes, the Rideau Canal, the Trent-Severn Waterway, the Ottawa and St Lawrence Rivers.
By train
VIA Rail services many areas of Ontario, from small towns to the largest cities. Many of the larger stations are served by several trains each day.
By plane
Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ), as the province's largest airport, is a major hub for most Canadian air carriers with regular service to regional airports throughout Ontario.
By snowmobile
Snowmobile is a viable means for getting around some regions in the province, especially if you want to experience the countryside and the wilderness.
Choose an airport to see hotels, stations, taxi ranks and car rental desks around it.
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Toronto is a diverse, energetic and liveable city, home to many tourist attractions, and seemingly endless dining, shopping and entertainment possibilities. It's the most populous city in Canada, the centre of the country's financial sector, and the provincial capital of Ontario.
Ottawa is Canada's capital. With over a million citizens, it is Canada's fourth-largest city, and Ontario's second-largest city.
Hamilton is a port city in Ontario with a population around 520,000, at the westernmost end of Lake Ontario—the city wraps around the lake and continues towards the Niagara Escarpment, referred to by locals as "the mountain".
Kingston is one of the most historic cities in Canada with many churches, old buildings, picturesque neighbourhoods, and 19th-century fortifications. The city provides venues for nightlife such as clubbing and pubbing, and provides weekend escapes for people living in the neighbouring cities of Ottawa, Montreal and Toronto.
Kitchener and neighbouring Waterloo and Cambridge form a tightly-integrated metro area within the larger Region of Waterloo in Southwestern Ontario. At the time of the 2021 Canadian census, the population of the city of Kitchener was 256,885 people and the population of the Region of Waterloo area was 587,165.
London is a medium-sized city in Southwestern Ontario with a population of 378,000. It is west of Toronto, between Lake Huron and Lake Erie at the fork of the Thames River, which was named after the River Thames in London, England.
Niagara Falls, Ontario, is the self-proclaimed "Honeymoon Capital of the World". For over a century, the grandeur of the waterfalls of the Niagara River have attracted tourists to this destination.
Thunder Bay lies at the far northwestern point of the Great Lakes of North America. It is a transportation bridge between the rich agricultural Prairies of Canada and the rest of the world, via the Great Lakes and Saint Lawrence Seaway which connects it to the Atlantic Ocean.
Windsor is a mid-sized Canadian city on the southwest tip of Ontario. It's an extremely multicultural city with over 20% of its population having been born outside of Canada.
Grand Bend is a community of about 3,000 people (2021) in Huron County on the shores of Lake Huron.
Bruce County is a region in Ontario comprising the Bruce Peninsula, 2½ hr north and west of the city of Toronto. The Bruce Peninsula is a finger of land surrounded by the waters of Lake Huron and Georgian Bay from Sauble Beach to Tobermory, and Wiarton to Lion's Head.
Algonquin Park is the oldest and most famous of all the provincial parks in Canada, and the largest park in the Ontario Provincial Parks system. The park protects an area of 7,600 km², twice the size of Rhode Island, and larger than every county in England except North Yorkshire.
The Thousand Islands are an island group split between New York's North Country and Eastern Ontario, lying on the Canada-US border, where Lake Ontario meets the St. Lawrence River.
The Rideau Canal is a historical scenic waterway that connects the towns of Kingston and Ottawa in Ontario, Canada. It has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
St. Joseph Island is home to about 2,300 residents (2021) in Algoma District in the Lake Superior North Shore region of Northern Ontario.
For the county in Virginia, please see the Central Virginia article. Prince Edward County is a county and amalgamated municipality of about 26,000 people (2021) in Eastern Ontario, Canada.
Canada's only mixed (i.e. natural and cultural) world heritage site
Articles and travel topics about Ontario and Canada.
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