Central Canada Canada central (French) | |
|---|---|
 Map of Central Canada, defined politically | |
| Coordinates:50°N79°W / 50°N 79°W /50; -79 | |
| Composition | |
| Largest city | Toronto |
| Largest metro | Greater Toronto Area |
| Canadian Confederation | 1 July 1867 |
| Area | |
• Total | 2,552,291.51 km2 (985,445.26 sq mi) |
| • Land | 2,191,011.51 km2 (845,954.27 sq mi) |
| • Water | 361,280.00 km2 (139,490.99 sq mi) |
| Population (2021[1]) | |
• Total | 22,725,775 |
| • Density | 10.4/km2 (27/sq mi) |
| Time zones | |
| Western Ontario | UTC−06:00 (CST) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC−05:00 (CDT) |
| Eastern Ontario / most of Quebec | UTC−05:00 (EST) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC−04:00 (EDT) |
| Eastern Quebec | UTC−04:00 (AST) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC−03:00 (ADT) |
Central Canada (French:Canada Central, sometimes theCentral Provinces) is aCanadian region consisting ofOntario andQuebec, thelargest and most populous provinces of the country.[4] Geographically, they are not at the centre of Canada but instead overlap withEastern Canada toward the east. Because of their large populations, Ontario and Quebec have traditionally held a significant amount of political power in Canada, leading to some amount of resentment from other regions of the country. BeforeConfederation, the term "Canada" specifically referred to Central Canada. Today, the term "Central Canada" is less often used than the names of the individual provinces.
BeforeConfederation, the region known as Canada was what is now called Central Canada.Southern Ontario was once calledUpper Canada and laterCanada West and southern Quebec was calledLower Canada and laterCanada East. Both were part of theUnited Province of Canada in 1841.[5]
Ontario, Canada'sfourth largest subdivision (afterNunavut,Quebec, and theNorthwest Territories), had, at the2021 Canadian census, a land area of 892,411.76 km2 (344,562.11 sq mi)[1] (10.15 percent of Canada and the fifth largest after Nunavut, Quebec, the Northwest Territories, andBritish Columbia) and as of 2017, there was 177,390 km2 (68,490 sq mi)[2] (21.55 percent of Canada and the second largest after Quebec) of freshwater, for a total area of 1,069,801.76 km2 (413,052.77 sq mi) (11.13 percent of Canada).
Quebec, Canada's second largest subdivision and largest province, had, at the 2021 Canadian census, a land area of 1,298,599.75 km (806,912.47 mi)[1] (14.78 percent of Canada and the second largest after Nunavut), and as of 2017, there was 183,890 km2 (71,000 sq mi)[3] (22.34 percent and the largest in Canada) of freshwater, for a total area of 1,482,489.75 km2 (572,392.49 sq mi) (15.42 percent of Canada).
Together the two provinces have a land area of 2,191,011.51 km2 (845,954.27 sq mi) (24.93 percent), 361,280.00 km2 (139,490.99 sq mi) (43.89 percent) fresh water for a total area of 2,552,291.51 km2 (985,445.26 sq mi) (26.55 percent).[1][2][3]
Although the region is called Central Canada the actualcentre of Canada can be defined in multiple ways. The longitudinal centre of Canada is located just east ofWinnipeg,Manitoba, onHighway 1 East, part of theTrans-Canada Highway.[6] The latitudinal centre is at62 degrees, 24 minutes north, meaning thegeographic centre of Canada is located just south ofYathkyed Lake,Nunavut.[7]
The thinly populatedCanadian Shield, which dominates the northwestern and central portions of the province, comprises over half the land area of Ontario. Although this area mostly does not support agriculture, it is rich inminerals, partly covered by theCentral andMidwestern Canadian Shield forests, and studded with lakes and rivers.Northern Ontario is subdivided into two sub-regions:Northwestern Ontario andNortheastern Ontario.
The virtually unpopulatedHudson Bay Lowlands in the extreme north and northeast are mainly swampy and sparsely forested.
Southern Ontario is further sub-divided into four sub-regions:Central Ontario (although not actually the province's geographic centre),Eastern Ontario,Golden Horseshoe andSouthwestern Ontario (parts of which were formerly referred to as Western Ontario).
Despite the rarity of mountainous terrain in the province, there are large areas of uplands, particularly within the Canadian Shield, which traverses the province from northwest to southeast and also above theNiagara Escarpment, which crosses the south. The highest point isIshpatina Ridge at 693 metres (2,274 ft)above sea level inTemagami, Northeastern Ontario. In the south, elevations of over 500 m (1,640 ft) are surpassed near Collingwood, above the Blue Mountains in the Dundalk Highlands and in hilltops near theMadawaska River inRenfrew County.
TheCarolinian forest zone covers most of the southwestern region of the province. The temperate and fertile Great Lakes-Saint Lawrence Valley in the south is part of theEastern Great Lakes lowland forestsecoregion where the forest has now been largely replaced by agriculture, industrial and urban development. A well-known geographic feature isNiagara Falls, part of the Niagara Escarpment. TheSaint Lawrence Seaway allows navigation to and from theAtlantic Ocean as far inland asThunder Bay in Northwestern Ontario. Northern Ontario covers approximately 87% of the province's surface area; conversely, Southern Ontario contains 94% of the population.
Point Pelee is a peninsula of Lake Erie in southwestern Ontario (nearWindsor andDetroit, Michigan) that is the southernmost extent of Canada's mainland.Pelee Island andMiddle Island in Lake Erie extend slightly farther. All are south of42°N – slightly farther south than the northern border ofCalifornia.
Located in theeastern part of Canada, Quebec occupies a territory nearly three times the size ofFrance.[8] It holds an area of 1.5 million square kilometres (0.58 million square miles) and its borders are more than 12,000 km (7,500 mi) long.[9][10] Most of Quebec is very sparsely populated.[citation needed] The most populousphysiographic region is theGreat Lakes–St. Lawrence Lowlands. The combination of rich soils and the lowlands' relatively warm climate makes this valley the most prolific agricultural area of Quebec. The rural part of the landscape is divided into narrow rectangular tracts of land that extend from the river and date back to the seigneurial system.
Quebec'stopography is very different from one region to another due to the varying composition of the ground, the climate, and the proximity to water. More than 95% of Quebec's territory, including theLabrador Peninsula, lies within theCanadian Shield.[11] It is generally a quite flat and exposed mountainous terrain interspersed with higher points such as theLaurentian Mountains in southern Quebec, theOtish Mountains in central Quebec and theTorngat Mountains nearUngava Bay. While low and medium altitude peaks extend from western Quebec to the far north, high altitudes mountains emerge in theCapitale-Nationale region to the extreme east. Quebec's highest point at 1,652 metres (5,420 ft) is Mont d'Iberville, known in English asMount Caubvick.[12] In the Labrador Peninsula portion of the Shield, the far northern region ofNunavik includes the Ungava Peninsula and consists of flat Arctictundra inhabited mostly by the Inuit. Further south is theEastern Canadian Shield taiga ecoregion and theCentral Canadian Shield forests. TheAppalachian region has a narrow strip of ancient mountains along the southeastern border of Quebec.[13]
Quebec has one of the world's largest reserves offresh water,[14] occupying 12% of its surface[15] and representing 3% of the world'srenewable fresh water.[16] More than half a million lakes and 4,500 rivers[14] empty into theAtlantic Ocean, through theGulf of Saint Lawrence and theArctic Ocean, byJames,Hudson, and Ungava bays. The largest inland body of water is theCaniapiscau Reservoir;Lake Mistassini is the largest natural lake.[17] TheSaint Lawrence River has some of the world's largest sustaining inland Atlantic ports. Since 1959, theSaint Lawrence Seaway has provided a navigable link between the Atlantic Ocean and the Great Lakes.
Thepublic lands of Quebec cover approximately 92% of its territory, including almost all of the bodies of water.Protected areas can be classified into about twenty different legal designations (ex. exceptional forest ecosystem, protected marine environment,national park,biodiversity reserve, wildlife reserve,zone d'exploitation contrôlée (ZEC), etc.).[18] More than 2,500 sites in Quebec today are protected areas.[19] As of 2013, protected areas comprise 9.14% of Quebec's territory.[20]
The ecological classification of Quebec territory established by theMinistry of Forests, Wildlife and Parks 2021, is presented in 9 levels, it includes the diversity of terrestrialecosystems throughout Quebec while taking into account both the characteristics of thevegetation (physiognomy, structure and composition) and the physical environment (relief,geology,geomorphology,hydrography).[13]Ontario and Quebec are the two most populous provinces in Canada, accounting for 61.43 percent of Canada's population.[1] As of the2021 census conducted byStatistics Canada, there were 22,725,775 people in the two provinces, and represented an increase of 5.1 per cent over the2016 census figure of 21,612,855 people.[1] The land area was 2,191,011.51 km2 (845,954.27 sq mi) giving a population density of10.4/km2 (26.9/sq mi).[1]
The median age of Ontario was 41.6, identical to Canada as a whole, and Quebec's population was slightly older at 43.2.[21]
| Population of visible minority, Indigenous, and others (2021 Canadian census[21]) | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ontario | Quebec | Central Canada | Canada | |||||||
| Population group | Population | % of province | Population | % of province | Population | % of Central Canada | % of Canada | Population | % | |
| Non-visible minority or Indigenous | 8,807,805 | 62.8% | 6,762,735 | 81.4% | 15,570,541 | 61.4% | 42.9% | 25,364,140 | 69.8% | |
| Visible minority group | South Asian | 1,515,295 | 10.8% | 127,990 | 1.5% | 1,643,285 | 7.4% | 4.5% | 2,571,400 | 7.1% |
| Chinese | 820,245 | 5.8% | 115,240 | 1.4% | 935,485 | 4.2% | 2.6% | 1,715,770 | 4.7% | |
| Black | 768,740 | 5.5% | 422,405 | 5.1% | 1,191,145 | 5.3% | 3.3% | 1,574,870 | 4.3% | |
| Filipino | 363,650 | 2.6% | 44,885 | 0.5% | 408,535 | 1.8% | 1.1% | 957,355 | 2.6% | |
| Arab | 284,215 | 2.0% | 280,075 | 3.4% | 564,290 | 2.5% | 1.6% | 694,015 | 1.9% | |
| Latin American | 249,190 | 1.8% | 172,925 | 2.1% | 422,115 | 1.9% | 1.2% | 580,235 | 1.6% | |
| Southeast Asian | 167,845 | 1.2% | 70,455 | 0.8% | 238,300 | 1.1% | 0.7% | 390,340 | 1.1% | |
| West Asian | 212,185 | 1.5% | 43,985 | 0.5% | 256,170 | 1.1% | 0.7% | 360,495 | 1.0% | |
| Korean | 99,425 | 0.7% | 10,360 | 0.1% | 109,785 | 0.5% | 0.3% | 218,140 | 0.6% | |
| Japanese | 31,420 | 0.2% | 5,305 | 0.1% | 36,725 | 0.2% | 0.1% | 98,890 | 0.3% | |
| Visible minority, n.i.e. | 124,120 | 0.9% | 12,150 | 0.1% | 136,270 | 0.6% | 0.4% | 331,805 | 0.9% | |
| Multiple visible minority | 181,025 | 1.3% | 34,960 | 0.4% | 215,985 | 1.0% | 0.6% | 172,885 | 0.5% | |
| Total visible minority population | 4,817,360 | 34.3% | 1,340,735 | 16.1% | 6,158,095 | 27.6% | 17.0% | 9,639,205 | 26.5% | |
| Indigenous peoples | ||||||||||
| First Nations (North American Indian) | 251,030 | 1.8% | 116,550 | 1.4% | 367,580 | 1.6% | 1.0% | 1,048,405 | 2.9% | |
| Métis | 134,615 | 1.0% | 61,010 | 0.7% | 195,625 | 0.9% | 0.5% | 624,220 | 1.7% | |
| Inuk (Inuit) | 4,310 | 0.0% | 15,800 | 0.2% | 20,110 | 0.1% | 0.1% | 70,540 | 0.2% | |
| Multiple Indigenous responses | 7,115 | 0.1% | 3,135 | 0.1% | 10,250 | 0.0% | 0.0% | 28,855 | 0.1% | |
| Indigenous responses n.i.e. | 9,515 | 0.1% | 8,515 | 0.0% | 18,030 | 0.1% | 0.0% | 35,225 | 0.1% | |
| Total Indigenous population | 406,585 | 2.9% | 205,010 | 2.5% | 611,595 | 2.7% | 1.7% | 1,807,250 | 5.0% | |
| Total population | 14,031,750 | 100.00% | 8,308,480 | 100.00% | 22,340,230 | 100.00% | 61.5% | 36328480 | 100.00% | |
They are represented in theHouse of Commons of Canada by 200 Members of Parliament (Ontario: 122, Quebec: 78) out of a total of 343.[22] The southern portions of the two provinces — particularly theQuebec City–Windsor Corridor — are the most urbanized and industrialized areas of Canada, containing the country's two largest cities,Toronto andMontreal, the national capital,Ottawa, and theNational Capital Region.
As of the 2021 censusStatistics Canada lists 24Census Metropolitan Areas (CMA) in Central Canada. They includeOttawa - Gatineau as well as Ottawa - Gatineau (Ontario part) and Ottawa - Gatineau (Quebec part).[23][24] All CMAs in Quebec are located in the southern part of the province. In Ontario, exceptGreater Sudbury / Grand Sudbury andThunder Bay, which are inNorthern Ontario, all CMAs are inSouthern Ontario. The CMAs are listed here by population count:
| Census Metropolitan Areas | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Province | Population | Land area | Density | Location | References | ||
| Toronto | Ontario | 6,202,225 | 5,902.75 km2 (2,279.06 sq mi) | 1,050.7/km2 (2,721.3/sq mi) |   | [26] | ||
| Montreal | Quebec | 4,291,732 | 4,670.1 km2 (1,803.1 sq mi) | 919.0/km2 (2,380.2/sq mi) |  | [28] | ||
| Ottawa - Gatineau | Ontario | 1,488,307 | 8,046.99 km2 (3,106.96 sq mi) | 185.0/km2 (479.1/sq mi) | | [30] | ||
| Ottawa - Gatineau (Ontario part) | Ontario | 1,135,014 | 4,665.16 km2 (1,801.23 sq mi) | 243.3/km2 (630.1/sq mi) | | [32] | ||
| Quebec City | Quebec | 839,311 | 3,499.46 km2 (1,351.15 sq mi) | 239.8/km2 (621.1/sq mi) | | [34] | ||
| Hamilton | Ontario | 785,184 | 1,373.15 km2 (530.18 sq mi) | 571.8/km2 (1,481.0/sq mi) | | [36] | ||
| Kitchener - Cambridge – Waterloo | Ontario | 575,847 | 1,092.33 km2 (421.75 sq mi) | 527.2/km2 (1,365.4/sq mi) | | [38] | ||
| London | Ontario | 543,551 | 2,661.48 km2 (1,027.60 sq mi) | 204.2/km2 (528.9/sq mi) | | [40] | ||
| St. Catharines - Niagara | Ontario | 433,604 | 1,397.09 km2 (539.42 sq mi) | 310.4/km2 (803.9/sq mi) | | [42] | ||
| Windsor | Ontario | 422,630 | 1,803.17 km2 (696.21 sq mi) | 234.4/km2 (607.1/sq mi) | | [44] | ||
| Oshawa | Ontario | 415,311 | 903.25 km2 (348.75 sq mi) | 459.8/km2 (1,190.9/sq mi) | | [46] | ||
| Ottawa – Gatineau (Quebec part) | Quebec | 353,293 | 3,381.83 km2 (1,305.73 sq mi) | 104.5/km2 (270.7/sq mi) | | [48] | ||
| Sherbrooke | Quebec | 227,398 | 1,458.1 km2 (563.0 sq mi) | 156.0/km2 (404.0/sq mi) | | [50] | ||
| Barrie | Ontario | 212,856 | 897.26 km2 (346.43 sq mi) | 237.2/km2 (614.3/sq mi) | | [52] | ||
| Kingston | Ontario | 172,546 | 1,919.17 km2 (741.00 sq mi) | 89.9/km2 (232.8/sq mi) | | [54] | ||
| Greater Sudbury / Grand Sudbury | Ontario | 170,605 | 4,187.4 km2 (1,616.8 sq mi) | 40.7/km2 (105.4/sq mi) |  | [56] | ||
| Guelph | Ontario | 165,588 | 595.08 km2 (229.76 sq mi) | 278.3/km2 (720.8/sq mi) | | [58] | ||
| Saguenay | Quebec | 161,567 | 3,133.53 km2 (1,209.86 sq mi) | 51.6/km2 (133.6/sq mi) | | [60] | ||
| Trois-Rivières | Quebec | 161,489 | 1,038.64 km2 (401.02 sq mi) | 155.5/km2 (402.7/sq mi) | | [62] | ||
| Brantford | Ontario | 144,162 | 1,074.0 km2 (414.7 sq mi) | 134.2/km2 (347.6/sq mi) | | [64] | ||
| Peterborough | Ontario | 128,624 | 1,508.44 km2 (582.41 sq mi) | 85.3/km2 (220.9/sq mi) | | [66] | ||
| Thunder Bay | Ontario | 123,258 | 2,550.79 km2 (984.87 sq mi) | 48.3/km2 (125.1/sq mi) | | [68] | ||
| Belleville -Quinte West | Ontario | 111,184 | 1,337.5 km2 (516.4 sq mi) | 83.1/km2 (215.2/sq mi) | | [69] | ||
| Drummondville | Quebec | 101,610 | 1,094.36 km2 (422.53 sq mi) | 92.8/km2 (240.4/sq mi) | | [71] | ||
Quebec is divided into 17 administrative regions which bring together 104 regional county municipalities (MRC) and several independent municipalities.
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{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)The ecological classification of Quebec territory consists of mapping and description of ecological units at various levels of perception between the continental scale and that of the landscape
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
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