Ontario

== History ==
{{Main|History of Ontario}}
{{Further|Monarchy in Ontario#History}}

===Indigenous habitation (pre–1610)===
{{Main|Settlement of the Americas}}
[[Paleo-Indians]] were the first people to settle on the lands of Ontario, arriving there after the [[Laurentide Ice Sheet]] melted roughly 11,000 years ago.<ref>{{cite web |title=Laurentide Ice Sheet {{!}} ice sheet, North America {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Laurentide-Ice-Sheet |website=www.britannica.com |access-date=July 9, 2022 |archive-date=July 9, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220709160951/https://www.britannica.com/place/Laurentide-Ice-Sheet |url-status=live }}</ref> From them, many ethnocultural groups emerged and came to exist on the lands of Ontario: the [[Algonquin people|Algonquins]], [[Mississaugas]], [[Ojibway]], [[Cree]], [[Odawa]], [[Potawatomi|Pottowatomi]], and [[Iroquois]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.attorneygeneral.jus.gov.on.ca/inquiries/ipperwash/policy_part/research/pdf/Spotton_Profile-of-Aboriginal-Peoples-in-Ontario.pdf|title=A Profile of Aboriginal Peoples in Ontario|access-date=July 10, 2022|archive-date=January 19, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220119062558/http://www.attorneygeneral.jus.gov.on.ca/inquiries/ipperwash/policy_part/research/pdf/Spotton_Profile-of-Aboriginal-Peoples-in-Ontario.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Pays d'en Haut (1610–1763)===
{{Main|Exploration of North America|New France|Pays d'en Haut}}
In the 15th century, the [[Fall of Constantinople|Byzantine Empire fell]], prompting Western Europeans to search for new [[sea lane|sea routes]] to the [[Far East]]. Around 1522–1523, [[Giovanni da Verrazzano]] persuaded [[King Francis I of France]] to commission an expedition to find a western route to [[Cathay]] (China) via a [[Northwest Passage]]. Though this expedition was unsuccessful, it established the name "[[New France]]" for northeastern North America.{{sfn|Charpentier|Durocher|Laville|Linteau|1985|p=50}} After a few expeditions, France mostly abandoned North America for 50 years because of its financial crisis; France was involved in the [[Italian Wars]] and there were religious wars between [[Protestant]]s and [[Catholic]]s.<ref>{{cite book|first=Marcel |last=Trudel |title=Histoire de la [[Nouvelle-France]] : les vaines tentatives 1524–1603 |publisher=Fides |year=1963 |page=307}}</ref> Around 1580 however, the rise of the [[fur trade]] (particularly the demand for [[beaver]] pelts), reignited French interest.<ref name=mathieu>{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/fr/article/nouvelle-france|encyclopedia=[[The Canadian Encyclopedia]]|title=Nouvelle-France|trans-title=New France|language=FR|last=Mathieu|first=Jacques|date=September 4, 2013|access-date=July 10, 2022|archive-date=July 10, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220710044155/https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/fr/article/nouvelle-france|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1608, [[Samuel de Champlain]] established France's first colonial settlement in New France, the [[Habitation de Québec]] (now [[Quebec City]]), in the [[Canada (New France)|colony of Canada]] (now southern Quebec). Afterwards, French explorers continued to travel west, establishing new villages along the coasts of the Saint Lawrence River. French explorers, the first of which was [[Étienne Brûlé]] who explored the Georgian Bay area in 1610–1612,<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/82078/Etienne-Brule|title=Étienne Brûlé|encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]|access-date=January 5, 2007|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081207030900/https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/82078/Etienne-Brule|archive-date=December 7, 2008}}</ref> mapped [[Southern Ontario]] and called the region the [[Pays d'en Haut]] ("Upper Country"), in reference to the region being upstream of the Saint Lawrence River. The colony of the Pays d'en Haut was formally established in 1610 as an administrative dependency of Canada, and was for defence and business rather than a settlement colony. The territory of the Pays-d'en-Haut was quite large and would today include the province of Ontario, as well as, in whole or in part, the American states of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York. Indigenous peoples were the vast majority of the Pays d'en Haut population.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.axl.cefan.ulaval.ca/francophonie/Nlle-France_Pays_d'en-Haut.htm#:~:text=Le%20premier%20Europ%C3%A9en%20%C3%A0%20s,Outaouais%20et%20du%20lac%20Nipissing|title=Le Pays-d'en-Haut (Canada)|access-date=July 16, 2022|archive-date=June 21, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210621223241/https://www.axl.cefan.ulaval.ca/francophonie/Nlle-France_Pays_d%27en-Haut.htm#:~:text=Le%20premier%20Europ%C3%A9en%20%C3%A0%20s,Outaouais%20et%20du%20lac%20Nipissing.|url-status=live}}</ref>[[File:1755 Bellin Map of the Great Lakes - Geographicus - GreatLakes-bellin-1755.jpg|left|thumb|A 1755 map of the ''[[Pays d'en Haut]]'' region of [[New France]], an area that included most of Ontario]] As for Northern Ontario, the English explorer [[Henry Hudson]] sailed into [[Hudson Bay]] in 1611 and claimed its drainage basin for England. The area would become known as [[Rupert's Land]].

[[Samuel de Champlain]] reached Lake Huron in 1615, and French missionaries, such as the [[Jésuites]] and [[Society of the Priests of Saint Sulpice|Supliciens]], began to establish posts along the Great Lakes. The French allied with most Indigenous groups of Ontario, all for the fur trade and for defence against Iroquois attacks (which would later be called the [[Iroquois Wars]]). The French would declare their Indigenous allies to be subjects of the King of France and would often act as mediators between different groups. The Iroquois later allied themselves with the British.<ref name="thefrenchshouldvewon">{{cite web|url=http://www.gov.on.ca/ont/portal/!ut/p/.cmd/cs/.ce/7_0_A/.s/7_0_252/_s.7_0_A/7_0_252/_l/en?docid=004520|title=About Ontario; History; French and British Struggle for Domination|work=Government of Ontario|access-date=January 5, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070905194801/http://www.gov.on.ca/ont/portal/!ut/p/.cmd/cs/.ce/7_0_A/.s/7_0_252/_s.7_0_A/7_0_252/_l/en?docid=004520|archive-date=September 5, 2007}}</ref>

From 1634 to 1640, the Huron were devastated by European infectious diseases, such as [[measles]] and [[smallpox]], to which they had no immunity.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ontarioarchaeology.on.ca/summary/contact.htm |title=The Contact Period |work=ontarioarchaeology.com |access-date=September 26, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091003124851/http://www.ontarioarchaeology.on.ca/summary/contact.htm |archive-date=October 3, 2009}}</ref> By 1700, the Iroquois had been driven out or left the area that would become Ontario and the Mississaugas of the Ojibwa had settled the north shore of Lake Ontario. The remaining Huron settled north of Quebec.

During the [[French and Indian War]], the North American theatre of the [[Seven Years' War]] of 1754 to 1763, the British defeated the armies of New France and its Indigenous allies. In the [[Treaty of Paris 1763]] France ceded most of its possessions in North America to Britain. Using the [[Quebec Act]], Britain re-organised the territory into the [[Province of Quebec (1763–1791)|Province of Quebec]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.solon.org/Constitutions/Canada/English/PreConfederation/qa_1774.html|title=The Quebec Act of 1774|website=Solon.org|access-date=January 15, 2007|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070207151343/http://www.solon.org/Constitutions/Canada/English/PreConfederation/qa_1774.html|archive-date=February 7, 2007}}</ref>

===Province of Quebec (1763–1791)===
{{Main|Province of Quebec (1763–1791)}} [[File:United Empire Loyalist Statue in Hamilton, Ontario.jpg|thumb|A monument in [[Hamilton, Ontario|Hamilton]] commemorating the [[United Empire Loyalists]], a group of settlers who fled the [[United States]] during or after the [[American Revolution]]]]
In 1782–1784, 5,000 [[United Empire Loyalist]]s entered what is now Ontario following the [[American Revolution]].<ref>{{cite EB1911|wstitle= Ontario |volume= 20 | pages = 113–117: see pages 115 and 116 |quote= History. —... |last1= Grant |first1= William Lawson }}</ref> The Kingdom of Great Britain granted them {{convert|200|acre|abbr=on}} land and other items with which to rebuild their lives.<ref name="thefrenchshouldvewon"/> The British also set up reserves in Ontario for the [[Mohawk people|Mohawks]] who had fought for the British and had lost their land in New York state. Other Iroquois, also displaced from New York were resettled in 1784 at the [[Six Nations of the Grand River|Six Nations]] reserve at the west end of Lake Ontario. The Mississaugas, displaced by European settlements, would later move to Six Nations also.

After the American War of Independence, the first reserves for First Nations were established. These are situated at [[Six Nations of the Grand River|Six Nations]] (1784), [[Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory|Tyendinaga]] (1793) and [[Akwesasne]] (1795). Six Nations and Tyendinaga were established by the British for those Indigenous groups who had fought on the side of the British, and were expelled from the new United States. Akwesasne was a pre-existing Mohawk community and its borders were formalized under the 1795 [[Jay Treaty]].

In 1788, while part of the province of Quebec, southern Ontario was divided into four [[District#Ontario|districts]]: [[Western District, Upper Canada|Hesse]], [[Eastern District, Upper Canada|Lunenburg]], [[Midland District, Upper Canada|Mecklenburg]], and [[Home District|Nassau]]. In 1792, the four districts were renamed: Hesse became the Western District, Lunenburg became the Eastern District, Mecklenburg became the Midland District, and Nassau became the Home District. Counties were created within the districts.

The population of Canada west of the St. Lawrence-Ottawa River confluence substantially increased during this period, a fact recognized by the [[Constitutional Act 1791|''Constitutional Act'' of 1791]], which split Quebec into [[the Canadas]]: [[Upper Canada]] southwest of the St. Lawrence-Ottawa River confluence, and [[Lower Canada]] east of it.

===Upper Canada (1791–1841)===
{{Main|Upper Canada}}
[[File:A new map of Upper and Lower Canada from the latest authorities - 1811.jpg|thumb|Map of [[Upper Canada]], 1811]]
[[John Graves Simcoe]] was appointed Upper Canada's first [[Lieutenant governor (Canada)|Lieutenant governor]] in 1793.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://home.cc.umanitoba.ca/~sprague/con91.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070829152801/http://home.cc.umanitoba.ca/~sprague/con91.htm|archive-date=August 29, 2007|title=The Constitutional Act of 1791|access-date=January 15, 2007}}</ref> A second wave of Americans, not all of them necessarily loyalists moved to Upper Canada after 1790 until the pre-war of 1812, many seeking available cheap land, and at the time, lower taxation.

By 1798, there were eight districts: Eastern, Home, [[Johnstown District, Upper Canada|Johnstown]], [[London District, Upper Canada|London]], Midland, [[Newcastle District|Newcastle]], [[Niagara District|Niagara]], and Western. By 1826, there were eleven districts: [[Bathurst District|Bathurst]], Eastern, [[Gore District, Upper Canada|Gore]], Home, Johnstown, London, Midland, Newcastle, Niagara, [[Ottawa District|Ottawa]], and Western. By 1838, there were twenty districts: Bathurst, Brock, Colbourne, [[Dalhousie District|Dalhousie]], Eastern, Gore, Home, Huron, Johnstown, London, Midland, Newcastle, Niagara, Ottawa, Prince Edward, [[Simcoe County|Simcoe]], Talbot, Victoria, [[Wellington District, Upper Canada|Wellington]], and Western.

American troops in the [[War of 1812]] invaded Upper Canada across the [[Niagara River]] and the [[Detroit River]], but were defeated and pushed back by the British, Canadian [[fencibles]] and militias, and [[First Nations in Canada|First Nations]] warriors. However, the Americans eventually gained control of Lake Erie and Lake Ontario. The 1813 [[Battle of York]] saw American troops defeat the garrison at the Upper Canada capital of [[York, Upper Canada|York]]. The Americans looted the town and burned the Upper Canada Parliament Buildings during their brief occupation. The British would [[Burning of Washington|burn]] the American capital of Washington, D.C. in 1814.
[[File:Push on, brave York volunteers(large).jpg|thumb|Depiction of the [[Battle of Queenston Heights]], during the [[War of 1812]]. [[Upper Canada]] was an active theatre of operation during the conflict.]]
After the War of 1812, relative stability allowed for increasing numbers of immigrants to arrive from Europe rather than from the United States. As was the case in the previous decades, this immigration shift was encouraged by the colonial leaders. Despite affordable and often free land, many arriving newcomers, mostly from Britain and Ireland, found frontier life with the harsh climate difficult, and some of those with the means eventually returned home or went south. However, population growth far exceeded emigration in the following decades. It was a mostly agrarian-based society, but canal projects and a new network of plank roads spurred greater trade within the colony and with the United States, thereby improving previously damaged relations over time.

Meanwhile, Ontario's numerous waterways aided travel and transportation into the interior and supplied [[Hydropower|water power]] for development. As the population increased, so did the industries and transportation networks, which in turn led to further development. By the end of the century, Ontario vied with Quebec as the nation's leader in terms of growth in population, industry, arts and communications.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.collectionscanada.ca/virtual-vault/026018-119.01-e.php?q1=People&PHPSESSID=709io6475tfesngi2m7226o454|title=ARCHIVED – People – Virtual Vault – Library and Archives Canada|website=Collectionscanada.ca|access-date=June 7, 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160321204831/http://collectionscanada.ca/virtual-vault/026018-119.01-e.php?phpsessid=709io6475tfesngi2m7226o454&q1=people|archive-date=March 21, 2016}}</ref>

Unrest in the colony began to chafe against the aristocratic [[Family Compact]] who governed while benefiting economically from the region's resources, and who did not allow elected bodies power. This resentment spurred republican ideals and sowed the seeds for early [[Canadian nationalism]]. Accordingly, rebellion in favour of [[responsible government]] rose in both regions; [[Louis-Joseph Papineau]] led the [[Lower Canada Rebellion]] and [[William Lyon Mackenzie]], first [[Toronto]] [[mayor]],<ref>{{cite web |title=Biography – MACKENZIE, WILLIAM LYON – Volume IX (1861–1870) |website=Dictionary of Canadian Biography |url=http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/mackenzie_william_lyon_9E.html |access-date=October 25, 2018 |archive-date=January 5, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210105130202/http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/mackenzie_william_lyon_9E.html |url-status=live }}</ref> led the [[Upper Canada Rebellion]]. In [[Upper Canada]], the rebellion was quickly a failure. [[William Lyon Mackenzie]] escaped to the [[United States]], where he declared the [[Republic of Canada]] on [[Navy Island]] on the [[Niagara River]].<ref>{{cite web |title=William Lyon Mackenzie |website=The Canadian Encyclopedia |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/mackenzie-william-lyon |access-date=October 25, 2018 |archive-date=January 5, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210105130307/https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/mackenzie-william-lyon |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Canada West (1841–1867)===
{{Main|Canada West}}
Although both rebellions were put down in short order, the British government sent [[John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham|Lord Durham]] to investigate the causes. He recommended self-government be granted and Lower and Upper Canada be re-joined in an attempt to assimilate the [[French Canadians]]. Accordingly, the two colonies were merged into the Province of Canada by the ''[[Act of Union 1840]]'', with the capital at [[Kingston, Ontario|Kingston]], and Upper Canada becoming known as [[Province of Canada|Canada West]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Canada West – historical region, Canada |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Canada-West |website=Encyclopedia Britannica |access-date=October 25, 2018 |archive-date=October 25, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181025225854/https://www.britannica.com/place/Canada-West |url-status=live }}</ref> Parliamentary [[Self-governance|self-government]] was granted in 1848. There were heavy waves of immigration in the 1840s, and the population of Canada West more than doubled by 1851 over the previous decade. As a result, for the first time, the English-speaking population of Canada West surpassed the French-speaking population of [[Canada East]], tilting the representative balance of power.
[[File:1855 Colton Map of Upper Canada or Ontario - Geographicus - Ontario2-colton-1855.jpg|thumb|left|Map of [[Canada West]] from 1855. Canada West formed the western portion of the [[Province of Canada]].]]
In 1849, the districts of southern Ontario were abolished by the [[Province of Canada]], and [[county]] governments took over certain municipal responsibilities. The Province of Canada also began creating ''districts'' in sparsely populated Northern Ontario with the establishment of [[Algoma District]] and [[Nipissing District]] in 1858.

An economic boom in the 1850s coincided with railway expansion across the province, further increasing the economic strength of Central Canada. With the repeal of the [[Corn Laws]] and a reciprocity agreement in place with the United States, various industries such as timber, mining, farming and alcohol distilling benefited tremendously.

A political stalemate between the [[Canadian French|French]]- and [[Canadian English|English]]-speaking legislators, as well as fear of aggression from the United States during and immediately after the [[American Civil War]], led the political elite to hold a series of conferences in the 1860s to effect a broader federal union of all [[British North America]]n colonies. The ''[[Constitution Act, 1867|British North America Act]]'' took effect on July 1, 1867, establishing the Dominion of Canada, initially with four provinces: Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec and Ontario. The Province of Canada was divided into Ontario and Quebec so that each linguistic group would have its own province. Both Quebec and Ontario were required by section 93 of the ''British North America Act'' to safeguard existing educational rights and privileges of the Protestant and Catholic minorities. Thus, separate Catholic schools and [[board of education|school boards]] were permitted in Ontario. However, neither province had a constitutional requirement to protect its French- or English-speaking minority. Toronto was formally established as Ontario's provincial capital.

===Canadian province (1867–present)===
[[File:Canada provinces evolution 2.gif|thumb|An animated map of the changes to the borders of Canada. The borders of Ontario were last changed in 1912.]]
The borders of Ontario, its new name in 1867, were provisionally expanded north and west. When the Province of Canada was formed, its borders were not entirely clear, and Ontario claimed eventually to reach all the way to the [[Rocky Mountains]] and [[Arctic Ocean]]. With Canada's acquisition of Rupert's Land, Ontario was interested in clearly defining its borders, especially since some of the new areas in which it was interested were rapidly growing. After the federal government asked Ontario to pay for construction in the new disputed area, the province asked for an elaboration on its limits, and its boundary was moved north to the [[51st parallel north]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Report on the Boundaries of the Province of Ontario |author=Mills, David |publisher=Hunter, Rose & Co. |location=Toronto |page=347 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BlYCAAAAMAAJ |year=1877 |access-date=September 14, 2009 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111107091048/http://books.google.com/books?id=BlYCAAAAMAAJ |archive-date=November 7, 2011 }}</ref>

[[File:Oliver Mowat.jpg|thumb|[[Oliver Mowat]], [[Premier of Ontario]] from 1872 to 1896]]
Once constituted as a province, Ontario proceeded to assert its economic and legislative power. In 1872, the lawyer [[Oliver Mowat]] became [[Premier of Ontario]] and remained as premier until 1896. He fought for provincial rights, weakening the power of the [[Government of Canada|federal government]] in provincial matters, usually through well-argued appeals to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. His battles with the federal government greatly [[Decentralization|decentralized]] Canada, giving the provinces far more power than [[John A. Macdonald]] had intended. He consolidated and expanded Ontario's educational and provincial institutions, created districts in Northern Ontario, and fought to ensure that those parts of Northwestern Ontario not historically part of Upper Canada (the vast areas north and west of the Lake Superior-Hudson Bay watershed, known as the [[District of Keewatin]]) would become part of Ontario, a victory embodied in the ''Canada (Ontario Boundary) Act, 1889''. He also presided over the emergence of the province into the economic powerhouse of Canada. Mowat was the creator of what is often called ''Empire Ontario''.

Beginning with Macdonald's [[National Policy]] (1879) and the construction of the [[Canadian Pacific Railway]] (1875–1885) through Northern Ontario and the [[Canadian Prairies]] to [[British Columbia]], Ontario manufacturing and industry flourished. However, population increases slowed after a large recession hit the province in 1893, thus slowing growth drastically but for only a few years. Many newly arrived immigrants and others moved west along the railway to the Prairie Provinces and British Columbia, sparsely settling Northern Ontario.

The northern and western boundaries of Ontario were in dispute after [[Canadian Confederation]]. Ontario's right to Northwestern Ontario was determined by the [[Judicial Committee of the Privy Council]] in 1884 and confirmed by the ''Canada (Ontario Boundary) Act, 1889'' of the [[Parliament of the United Kingdom]]. By 1899, there were seven northern districts: Algoma, Manitoulin, Muskoka, Nipissing, Parry Sound, Rainy River, and Thunder Bay. Four more northern districts were created between 1907 and 1912: Cochrane, Kenora, Sudbury and Timiskaming.<ref>{{cite web|title=Early Districts and Counties 1788–1899 |publisher=Archives of Ontario |date=September 5, 2006 |access-date=November 29, 2006 |url=https://www.archives.gov.on.ca/english/on-line-exhibits/maps/ontario-districts.aspx |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100130162533/http://www.archives.gov.on.ca/english/on-line-exhibits/maps/ontario-districts.aspx |archive-date=January 30, 2010}}</ref>

[[Mineral]] exploitation accelerated in the late 19th century, leading to the rise of important mining centres in the northeast, such as [[Greater Sudbury|Sudbury]], [[Cobalt, Ontario|Cobalt]] and [[Timmins]]. The province harnessed its water power to generate hydro-electric power and created the state-controlled Hydro-Electric Power Commission of Ontario, later [[Ontario Hydro]]. The availability of cheap electric power further facilitated the development of industry. The [[Ford Motor Company of Canada]] was established in 1904 and the [[McLaughlin Motor Car Company]] (later [[General Motors Canada]]) was founded in 1907. The motor vehicle industry became the most lucrative industry for the Ontario economy during the 20th century.

In July 1912, the [[Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario|Conservative]] government of [[James Whitney (politician)|James Whitney]] issued [[Regulation 17]] which severely limited the availability of French-language schooling to the province's French-speaking minority. French Canadians reacted with outrage, journalist [[Henri Bourassa]] denouncing the "Prussians of Ontario". The regulation was eventually repealed in 1927.
[[File:Raid at elk lake.jpg|thumb|left|Law enforcement confiscate stores of alcohol in [[James, Ontario|Elk Lake]] in an effort to enforce [[prohibition]]. The prohibition measures were introduced in 1916 and were not repealed until 1927.]]
Influenced by events in the United States, the government of [[William Howard Hearst|William Hearst]] introduced [[Prohibition in Canada|prohibition]] of alcoholic drinks in 1916 with the passing of the ''[[Ontario Temperance Act]]''. However, residents could distil and retain their own personal supply, and liquor producers could continue distillation and export for sale, allowing this already sizeable industry to strengthen further. Ontario became a hotbed for the illegal smuggling of liquor and the biggest supplier into the United States, which was under complete [[Prohibition in the United States|prohibition]]. Prohibition in Ontario came to an end in 1927 with the establishment of the [[Liquor Control Board of Ontario]] under the government of [[Howard Ferguson]]. The sale and consumption of liquor, wine, and beer are still controlled by some of the most extreme laws in North America to ensure strict community standards and revenue generation from the alcohol retail monopoly are upheld.

The post-[[World War II]] period was one of exceptional prosperity and growth. Ontario has been the recipients of most immigration to Canada, largely immigrants from war-torn Europe in the 1950s and 1960s and following changes in federal [[immigration law]], a massive influx of non-Europeans since the 1970s. From a largely [[ethnic group|ethnically]] British province, Ontario has rapidly become culturally very diverse.

The nationalist movement in Quebec, particularly after the election of the ''[[Parti Québécois]]'' in 1976, contributed to driving many businesses and English-speaking people out of Quebec to Ontario, and as a result, Toronto surpassed [[Montreal]] as the largest city and economic centre of Canada.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Mayda|first=Chris|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BzK0dFXtS9oC&q=1976+Toronto+surpassed+Montreal+as+the+largest+city+and+economic+centre+of+Canada&pg=PA109|title=A Regional Geography of the United States and Canada: Toward a Sustainable Future|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|year=2013|isbn=9780742556904|location=Lanham, Md.|page=109|access-date=October 19, 2020|archive-date=August 17, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210817055041/https://books.google.com/books?id=BzK0dFXtS9oC&q=1976+Toronto+surpassed+Montreal+as+the+largest+city+and+economic+centre+of+Canada&pg=PA109|url-status=live}}</ref> Depressed economic conditions in the [[Atlantic Canada|Maritime Provinces]] have also resulted in de-population of those provinces in the 20th century, with heavy migration into Ontario.<ref>Neill, R. (2005). Atlantica: partial recovery and partial decline: the context of Maritime emigration, 1870–1970. in Atlantic Canada Economics Association Conference 2005 Working Papers Series (Vol. 2005). Retrieved from http://economics.acadiau.ca/id-2005.html {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211019095625/https://economics.acadiau.ca/id-2005.html |date=October 19, 2021 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|title=View of Confederation's Casualties: The "Maritimer" as a Problem in 1960s Toronto {{!}} Acadiensis|url=https://journals.lib.unb.ca/index.php/acadiensis/article/view/15385/16525|access-date=January 28, 2021|journal=Acadiensis|date=January 2010|last1=Marquis|first1=Greg|archive-date=February 1, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210201130850/https://journals.lib.unb.ca/index.php/acadiensis/article/view/15385/16525|url-status=live}}</ref>

Ontario's official language is English, although there exists a number of [[List of francophone communities in Ontario|French-speaking communities across Ontario]].<ref name=aboot>{{cite web|title=About Ontario|url=https://www.ontario.ca/page/about-ontario|date=February 28, 2016|publisher=Queen's Printer for Ontario|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305060711/https://www.ontario.ca/page/about-ontario|archive-date=March 5, 2016}}</ref> French-language services are made available for communities with a sizeable French-speaking population; a service that is ensured under the ''[[French Language Services Act]]'' of 1989.