ONTARIO

ONTARIO, third largest, most populous, richest, and most important province of Canada, lies N. of the great lakes between Quebec and Manitoba, and is thrice the size of Great Britain; the surface is mostly undulating; there are many small lakes, the chief rivers flow eastward to join the Ottawa; agriculture is the chief industry, enormous crops of wheat, maize, and other cereals are raised; stock-rearing and dairy-farming are important; the climate is subject to less extremes than that of Quebec, but the winter is still severe; there are rich mineral deposits, especially of iron, copper, lead, and silver, petroleum and salt; manufactures of agricultural implements, hardware, textiles, and leather are carried on; Toronto is the capital and largest town, formerly, Ottawa was the capital of the Dominion, Hamilton an important railway centre; the prosperity of the province is largely promoted by the magnificent waterways, lakes, rivers, and canals with which it is furnished. Founded by loyalists from the United States after the Declaration of Independence, the province was constituted in 1791 as Upper Canada, united to Quebec or Lower Canada in 1840, it received its present name on the federation of Canada in 1867; education in it is free and well conducted; there are many colleges and universities; municipal and provincial government is enlightened and well organised; the prevalent religious faith is Protestant.