Central Canada
Provinces:
- Ontario
- Quebec
Over half of all Canadians live in southern Quebec and Ontario.
Central Canada is the industrial and manufacturing heartland of Canada
The Great Lakes:
- Lake Ontario
- Lake Erie
- Lake Huron
- Lake Michigan
- Lake Superior
The Great Lakes have been in use for thousands of years as trading routes, sources of food and water. Lake Superior is the largest freshwater lake in the world.
Connected to the Atlantic via the St. Lawrence Seaway.
The Canadian Shield
Composed of the land in northern Quebec and Ontario, the Shield is a rock formation millions of years old. It is chock full of minerals, metals and iron ore.
On the surface, the Shield is covered by forests, which support Canada's major pulp and paper mills.
Industries enabled by the Shield include forestry, energy, mining (asbestos, gold, copper, silver, iron ore). Abundant freshwater resources means that Quebec is Canada's largest producer of hydroelectricity.
Quebec
First people to live in Quebec were First Nations and Inuit. Settlers from France established communities along the St. Lawrence River in the early 1600's. More than 3/4 of the people of Quebec speak French today, while approximately a third are bilingual. Quebec has the greatest number of bilingual Canadians.
Commercial Activities
Mostly Montréal region. Industries include manufacturing, space and aeronautics, energy, pharmaceuticals.
Farming
Lowlands on or near the St. Lawrence. Vegetables, fruit & feed crops, plus dairy farms. Largest dairy farmer in Canada
Quebec. 7.7 million people call it home.
Ontario
Ontario boasts the largest population of any Canadian province: over 12 million people. They don't all live in Toronto, it just looks that way.
Most Ontario residents speak English, but the French-speaking population is the largest outside of Quebec.
First people were the Algonquin and Iroquois nations. Later settlers from Europe given big boost by the influx of United Empire Loyalists. Waves of immigrants have been steady on since.
Industry
Ontario's economy is Canada's largest. Most people work in service or manufacturing sectors, including 130,000 in making automobiles alone.
- steel
- machinery
- metal
- plastic
- chemical products
- food
Ontario mines produce:
- nickel
- gold
- silver
- platinum
- uranium
- zinc
- copper
Ontario's forests produce:
- pulp
- lumber
- newsprint
- paper
Home to Niagara Falls. Tourism is Ontario's third largest industry
Farming
Southern Ontario and the Niagaran Peninsula produces fruit, dairy, beef, poultry, vegetable and grain crops.
Population of Central Canada: 20.5 million
pp 20-22