Ontario

Ontario
Motto(s): 
Ut Incepit Fidelis Sic Permanet (Latin)
"Loyal she began, loyal she remains"
Coordinates: 49°15′N 84°30′W / 49.250°N 84.500°W / 49.250; -84.500
CountryCanada
Before confederationCanada West
ConfederationJuly 1, 1867 (1st, with New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Quebec)
Capital
(and largest city)
Toronto
Largest metroGreater Toronto Area
Government
  TypeParliamentary constitutional monarchy
  Lieutenant GovernorEdith Dumont
  PremierDoug Ford
LegislatureLegislative Assembly of Ontario
Federal representationParliament of Canada
House seats122 of 343 (35.6%)
Senate seats24 of 105 (22.9%)
Area
 (2021 land)
  Total
1,076,395 km2 (415,598 sq mi)
  Land892,411.76 km2 (344,562.11 sq mi)
  Water158,654 km2 (61,257 sq mi)  14.7%
  Rank4th
 10.8% of Canada
Population
 (2021)
  Total
14,223,942
  Estimate 
(Q2 2025)
16,176,977
  Rank1st in Canada
  Density15.94/km2 (41.3/sq mi)
DemonymOntarian
Official languagesEnglish
GDP
  Rank1st
  Total (2024)CA$1,178.092 billion
  Per capitaCA$73,064 (8th)
HDI
  HDI (2022)0.942—Very high (3rd)
Time zones
East of 90th meridian westUTC−05:00 (EST)
  Summer (DST)UTC−04:00 (EDT)
West of 90th meridian west, except Atikokan and Pickle LakeUTC−06:00 (CST)
  Summer (DST)UTC−05:00 (CDT)
Atikokan and Pickle Lake (No DST)UTC−05:00 (EST)
Canadian postal abbr.
ON
Postal code prefix
K L M N P
ISO 3166 codeCA-ON
FlowerWhite trillium
TreeEastern white pine
BirdCommon loon
Rankings include all provinces and territories

Ontario is the southernmost province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it is home to 38.5% of the country's population, and is the second-largest province by total area (after Quebec). Ontario is Canada's fourth-largest jurisdiction in total area of all the Canadian provinces and territories. It is home to the nation's capital, Ottawa, and its most populous city, Toronto, which is Ontario's provincial capital.

Ontario is bordered by the province of Manitoba to the west, Hudson Bay and James Bay to the north, and Quebec to the east and northeast. To the south, it is bordered by the U.S. states of (from west to east) Minnesota, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York. Almost all of Ontario's 2,700 km (1,700 mi) border with the United States follows rivers and lakes: from the westerly Lake of the Woods, eastward along the major rivers and lakes of the Great Lakes/Saint Lawrence River drainage system. There is only about 1 km (58 mi) of actual land border, made up of portages including Height of Land Portage on the Minnesota border.

The great majority of Ontario's population and arable land are in Southern Ontario, and while agriculture remains a significant industry, the region's economy depends highly on manufacturing. In contrast, Northern Ontario is sparsely populated with cold winters and heavy forestation, with mining and forestry making up the region's major industries.