Ontario’s native people can be divided into two groups, separated by linguistics. There were the Algonkians and the Iroquois. The Iroquoian linguistic family inhabited the southern regions from around Lake Simcoe down through New York State. They included the Hurons, the Neutrals, the Mohawk, the Oneida, the Onondaga, the Cayuga and the Seneca. The Tuscaroras migrated north from North and South Carolina after 1722, completing the band which would become known as The Six Nations. The Algonkian family which included the Cree, the Ojibway and the Algonquin people existed in the more northern regions. Many of the Iroquois allied themselves with the French while the more southerly Iroquois would align themselves with the British. By 1648, the southern Iroquois were conducting raids on the Hurons, looting and murdering their more northernly cousins. This would create a great rift between the Indian tribes for many years to come.

The Europeans came to this new land to prosper from the fur trade. However the diseases that they brought with them would decimate many native tribes and villages. The natives had never been exposed to these diseases and their immune systems had no way of dealing with the onslaught of chicken pox, tuberculosis, diphtheria, typhoid, smallpox, measles, whooping cough and influenza. In the years between 1634 and 1640 it is estimated that over half of the Hurons, with an initial population of 30,000 were lost to disease.

Ontario was originally discovered by French explorers who traveled up the St. Lawrence River into Ontario looking for a northwest passage to China and India. The east was an important centre for trade at that time with many rare commodities such as silk, spices and gold. One can only imagine the disappointment these early explorers must have felt when they realized that they were in such a wild and uncivilized place. However their disappointment would have been short lived when they realized the enormous bounty of the fur trading industry. 

In 1534 Jacques Cartier, a French explorer had traveled as far west as the Gaspe Peninsula. In 1535 he was the first white man to ever sail up the St. Lawrence River. Champlain had already founded the city of Quebec when in 1610 he sent a young eighteen year old Etienne Brule west into the hinterland to make friends with the native people, The Hurons. He lived for many years among the native people and learned their language and customs. Champlain first ventured into Ontario in 1613, traveling up the Ottawa River as far as present day Pembroke and returning two years later and traveling all the way to Georgian Bay by the Mattawa River-Lake Nipissing-French River route, and then south on to Lake Simcoe, and his allies, The Hurons. The relationship between Champlain and the Hurons was strengthened even further when in 1616 he spent the winter with them. This alliance between the Huron people with the French against the Five Iroquois Nations people with the British would continue on for the next 150 years.

In 1626 two Jesuit missionaries set off from Quebec City and Montreal and made friends with the people of the Huron Nation. Their intent was to bring religion to the natives, whose customs and beliefs differed greatly from those held by the Roman Catholic Church. From 1634 to 1649 they traveled the backwoods of Ontario to preach and convert. In 1639 a permanent mission Sainte Marie Among the Hurons was set up consisting of a church, a cemetery, a hospital and several other buildings. From Montreal; to Georgian Bay it was the largest settlement of Europeans with nothing else comparing to it in size. From 1648 to 1649 the mission was besieged with raids from the rival Iroquois Nation and the Jesuits themselves burned the mission to the ground to keep it out of the hands of the Iroquois. Many of the missionaries, along with their Huron counterparts were captured and killed.

The first fort built in Ontario was Fort Frontenac, in 1673 on the site of present day Kingston. Built by the French it was the first in a chain of forts that was built to protect French fur trading interests in the New World from the British.

In 1670 Charles II of England granted a group of traders the right to trade in the areas that could be reached by Hudson’s Bay. Hundreds of years later, The Hudson Bay Company still exists and is the oldest mercantile company in Ontario.

The first French fort on the site of present day Toronto was built in 1720, but at that time it was little more than a single building housing a store. In 1750 a larger structure surrounded by a palisade was constructed at the mouth of the Humber River and in 1751 a genuine fort was built on the site of the Canadian National Exhibition 4.8 km east of the original fort and was called Fort Rouille.

One hundred and fify years of conflict between the French and English culminated in The Seven Years War from 1756 to 1763 and the British conquest of Canada. In the year 1754 the French-First peoples were expelling British colonists from the Ohio Valley. By 1755 Britain and France were sending thousands of troops and militia to North America to fortify their positions. The following year, tensions spread to Europe and both France and Britain officially declared war. The Seven Years' War was the first global conflict ever. Fighting began in North America and spread around the world. Fighting ended in 1763 when France and Britain signed the Treaty of Paris making Britain victorious and the world’s leading colonial power.

While France had looked upon the New World as merely hunting and fishing grounds the British cleared land for agriculture and established populated and thriving communities. In 1758 the British marched on Fort Frontenac with Fort Niagara falling to the British the following year. In 1759 Quebec, the heart of New France, fell to the British under Gen. Wolfe at The Battle of the Plains of Abraham. Canada was now under British rule, however it wasn’t until many years later that Ontario would see an influx of settlers from Britian. Ontario remained largely made up of french fur traders, trappers, settlers and aboriginal people. The year 1775 was the beginning of the American Revolution, which saw many Americans, still wishing to remain loyal to the British Crown, making the perilous journey to Canada. These people were called United Empire Loyalists. One such person was John Butler, who led a group of Loyalists to Canada at the beginning of the revolution. The governor of Canada, Sir Guy Carleton stationed Butler at Fort Niagara. It was his task to keep the Six Nation Iroquois amicable towards Britain. In 1778 Butler recruited a group of Loyalists who would become known as Butler’s Rangers. The Rangers were relentless in their harassment of the American colonists in the Niagara Region. By 1784, many more Loyalists had made the trek from the United States and took up residence close to the Rangers barracks. This small settlement would be first known as Newark, and eventually Niagara-on-the-Lake. Due mainly to the efforts of John Butler and the Butler Rangers they were able to gain the loyalty of the Six Nations People, who in turn helped secure the position of the British Crown in Upper Canada.

At the end of the war the Americans laid claim to all the lands belonging to the Six Nations. Joseph Brant, a Mohawk leader who was educated by the English, appealed to Britain, and they did not hesitate to repay this most revered leader. In 1784, Governor Haldimand, the new governor of the British colony of Quebec purchased land along both sides of the Grand River, from Lake Erie in the south all the way to the rivers source, apx 290 km to the north and offered it to Brant, and his following of about 5,000 Mohawks. After the signing of the Treaty of Versailles in 1783, and the birth of the United States, an enormous influx of British loyalists came to southern Ontario to join a small group that had already taken up settlement. Britain saw the benefits that so many English settlers would make to this fledgling new nation. These settlers were mainly farmers, tradesmen, and ex-soldiers, and were fiercely loyal to the Crown. In 1783 George III announced that all Loyalists should be given land. They were also given provisions for the first year when families would not have been able to live off their crops.

The Loyalists, although loyal to the Crown accepted and liked the American style of politics of representative government. The Loyalists also held land under the British system known as free and common socage. This meant that they owned the land free and clear. The French settlers in Quebec still used the French Seigneurial system of land ownership which paid rent to a landowner or seigneur. In 1791 the British parliament passed the Canada Act splitting the colony into Upper Canada ( Ontario) and Lower Canada ( Quebec). This now meant there were two distinct colonies side by side with two very different methods of governing.

The first lieutenant-governor of Upper Canada, Lieutenant Colonel John Graves Simcoe, did what he could to strengthen the colony of Upper Canada. He realized it was imperative to open up this new frontier with good transportation routes that would bring in much sought after settlers. The first challenge to this British colony was on June 8, 1812 when America declared war on Great Britain, and ultimately Canada. Upper Canada was still sparsely populated at that time and it’s future looked particularly bleak. However the colony held out and on Dec 24, 1814, the Treaty of Ghent was signed putting an end to the conflict.

With the ending of war, Canada was left to sort out how it would govern itself in the future. Up until this point there was a system of elected and appointed officials. Over time the interests of the appointed representatives conflicted with the elected representatives. This group of privileged elite would become known as the Family Compact and many felt they were out of touch with the vast majority of average Canadians. These appointed officials also had the ability to override elected representatives further fueling the flames of discontent. A small group of men began to work towards reforming the present system of government. They wanted to see more representation by the people and they found sympathy for this form of governing with their American neighbours. One such Reformer was William Lyon Mackenzie, who felt that the only solution was through force. Raids and skirmishes on towns and villages along the American border resulted and the British government feared that American sentiment could jeopardize the future of Upper and Lower Canada. With the influx of thousands of immigrants during the 1850’s and 1860’s it was realized that a central unified form of government was needed. On July 1, 1867, The British North American Act was passed and the Dominion of Canada was established and Upper Canada became known as The Province of Ontario.

By the turn of the nineteenth century, Ontario’s great natural resource potential had yet to be recognized. The province remained mainly untouched and unexplored. Vast primeval forests covered most of the province. The demand for wood around this time was enormous. Wood was used for heating homes, building ships, houses, furniture and an array of other uses. During the Napoleonic Wars, Britain was cut off from its source of wood from the Baltic Sea region and was desperately looking for new sources to fill this void. Up until this time it had been too costly to transport the lumber over an ocean but suddenly that all changed. Shiploads of squared timbers of white and red pine sailed for England, returning with new settlers and those looking to make a fresh start in this new land. These newcomers worked tirelessly in the lumber trade, cutting timbers from spring until fall and then sending them down river to their destinations. Some, like John Egan from Ottawa, or John Rudolphous Booth made a fortune on the lumber trade. Booth built an industrial empire consisting not only of his lumber trade but also a railroad, a pulp and paper mill and a fleet of river barges. By the end of the nineteeth century Ontario was deriving 28 percent of its revenue from the lumber trade. Canals were also being built to handle this boom in the lumber trade. The Welland Canal was built between 1824 and 1829 by William Hamilton Merritt as a way for vessels to bypass the mighty Niagara Falls, while transporting goods to market. The Rideau Canal, built between 1826 and 1832, linked Ottawa to Kingston. The rise of steamboat travel was flourishing by the 1800’s with John Molson launching the first on inland waters in 1809. In 1816 the first steamer the Frontenac sailed on Lake Ontario. The railroad had recently been developed in England and they proved to be a great advantage over steamships for commercial purposes. They could handle very heavy, bulky loads with ease. By 1839 a sixteen km railroad, drawn by horses was completed around Niagara Falls. In 1850 Canada had 110 km of track in 1860 it had 3200 km. Railroads could service areas that couldn’t be reached by water and could open up new areas of the province to settlement. Much of the growth of the industrial regions of southern Ontario was due to the availability of hydroelectric power from the Niagara River.

Ontario is a province of lakes and trees. Forests cover 74 percent of Ontario. Approximately 6 percent of Ontario’s area is inland water. There are at least 250,000 lakes within the province’s borders, most of them located within the Canadian Shield. The Canadian Shield makes up approximately half the land area of Ontario. Ontario’s highest point is in the Canadian Shield near Lake Timiskaming: Ishpatina Ridge (693 m/2,274 ft). Ontario has the largest and most diversified economy of any Canadian province. It is a major manufacturing and agricultural center and has one of the highest incomes per capita of any province. Ontario’s economic success is based on advantages such as its plentiful natural resources, cheap power, a skilled and well-educated workforce, and convenient transportation links to markets elsewhere in Canada, the United States, and overseas.

Toronto , Ontario is the third-largest theater center in the English-speaking world after New York and London, and has many important performance houses. Many of Canada’s most significant cultural events take place in Ontario. The annual Stratford Festival, in Stratford Ontario is perhaps the best known theatrical festival in Ontario. Running from May through November the festival features the works of William Shakespeare as well as contemporary drama, concerts and musicals. The Shaw Festival, in lovely Niagara-on-the-Lake, runs from April through November and features the works of Irish-born playwright George Bernard Shaw, as well as various other plays by various artists. Some other theatre groups in Ontario are The 4 th Line Theatre in Milbrook, Ontario, The Red Barn Theatre in Jackson’s Point and the Showboat festival Theatre in Port Colborne, Ontario.

• 4th Line Theatre, Millbrook
• Drayton Entertainment - Drayton
• Drayton Entertainment - Grand Bend
• Drayton Entertainment - St. Jacobs
• Drayton Entertainment - Penetanguishene
• Globus Theatre, Bobcaygeon
• Lighthouse Festival Theatre
• Port Hope Festival Theatre, Port Hope
• Red Barn Theatre, Jackson's Point
• Shaw Festival, Niagara-on-the-Lake
• Showboat Festival Theatre, Port Colborne
• Stratford Festival of Canada, Stratford
• The Lord of the Rings, Toronto
• Theatre Collingwood, Collingwood
• Thousand Islands Playhouse, Gananoque
  

The province of Ontario has the largest tourist industry within Canada, with the majority of its visitors coming from the United States. Ontario’s most noteworthy and scenic recreational attraction is water. The province contains some 250,000 lakes intermingled with thousands of streams and rivers. Four of the Great Lakes – Lake Superior, Lake Huron, Lake Erie and Lake Ontario and their extensive shorelines provide endless recreational opportunities. Lake Simcoe, the Kawartha Lakes, the Muskoka Lakes and the Haliburton Lakes regions have always been important tourist destinations. The biggest water attraction is by far Niagara Falls, where the waters of the Niagara River plunge 57 metres at the Horsehoe Falls, on the Canadian side of the river.

Ontario has six national parks. Point Pelee National Park is located along 20 kms (12 miles) of Lake Erie shoreline and is a prominent bird migration area. St. Lawrence Islands National Park, is Canada’s smallest national park and consists of apx 20 islands and some mainland within the Thirty Thousand Islands region. Bruce Peninsula National Park is located in eastern Ontario on the shores of Lake Huron. The park is noted for its beautiful scenery and Lake Huron sunsets as well as over 300 bird species and over 40 species of orchids. Georgian Bay Islands National Park, located on an inlet on Georgian Bay within Lake Huron is in close proximity to Fathom Five National Marine Park, Canada’s first national marine park. Pukaskwa National Park is Ontario’s largest national park and most untouched and unspoiled. Located along the shores of Lake Superior the park is deep within a boreal forest and is a perfect example of Ontario’s undisturbed northern wilderness. Ontario also has 272 provincial parks which are divided into six categories – recreation, historic, wilderness, natural environment, waterway, and nature reserves. The largest, oldest, and best-known provincial park is Algonquin Park.

- Canadian National Exhibition or CNE is the largest annual fair in North America is held at the end of August.

- Royal Agricultural Winter Fair is held in Toronto’s Exhibition Park, in November

- The Royal Canadian Henley, an international summer rowing regatta at Port Dalhousie.

- Caribana, a Caribbean costume and music festival held every August in Toronto.

- Highland Games at Fergus, with traditional Scottish games

- Six Nations Native Pageant at Brantford

- Black Creek Pioneer Village in Toronto which depicts the development of a 19th-century Canadian farming community

- Southwold Earthworks National Historic Site, which commemorates a 16th-century aboriginal village, near St. Thomas

- Martyr’s Shrine near Midland, a church erected in honor of martyred 17th-century missionaries.

- Sainte-Marie among the Hurons, a recreated village that was originally a French Jesuit mission,

- Casa Loma, a European-style castle that houses a museum, in Toronto.