Central Canada
{{short description|Region of Eastern Canada}}
{{Distinguish|Canadian Prairies}}
{{Use Canadian English|date=October 2023}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2023}}
{{Infobox settlement
| name = Central Canada
| native_name = {{native name|fr|Canada central}}
| other_name =
| settlement_type =
| image_flag =
| image_shield =
| motto =
| nickname =
| etymology =
| subdivision_type =
| subdivision_name =
| subdivision_type1 = Composition
| subdivision_name1 = {{Unbulleted list|list_style=line-height: inherit;
}}
| subdivision_type2 = Largest city
| subdivision_name2 = Toronto
| subdivision_type3 = Largest metro
| subdivision_name3 = Greater Toronto Area
| image_map = Central provinces in Canada.svg
| map_caption = Map of Central Canada, defined politically
| pushpin_map =
| pushpin_relief =
| pushpin_map_caption =
| coordinates = {{coord|50|N|79|W|region:CA|display=inline,title}}
| coordinates_footnotes =
| established_title = Canadian Confederation
| established_date = 1 July 1867
| area_footnotes = (2021 - land, 2017 - fresh water)
| area_total_km2 = 2,552,291.51
| area_land_km2 = 2,191,011.51
| area_water_km2 = 361,280.00
| elevation_footnotes =
| elevation_m =
| elevation_ft =
| population_footnotes =
| population_total = 22,725,775
| population_density_km2 = 10.4
| population_demonym =
| timezone_link = Time in Canada
| timezone1_location = Western Ontario
| timezone1 = CST
| utc_offset1 = −06:00
| timezone1_DST = CDT
| utc_offset1_DST = −05:00
| timezone2_location = Eastern Ontario / most of Quebec
| timezone2 = EST
| utc_offset2 = −05:00
| timezone2_DST = EDT
| utc_offset2_DST = −04:00
| timezone3_location = Eastern Quebec
| timezone3 = AST
| utc_offset3 = −04:00
| timezone3_DST = ADT
| utc_offset3_DST = −03:00
| website =
| footnotes =
| official_name =
}}
Central Canada ({{langx|fr|Canada Central}}, sometimes the Central Provinces) is a Canadian region consisting of Ontario and Quebec, the largest and most populous provinces of the country.{{cite web|url=https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/corporate/publications-manuals/discover-canada/read-online/canadas-regions.html |title=Discover Canada - Canada’s Regions|publisher=Government of Canada, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada|date=1 July 2012|access-date=7 October 2023|url-status=live|archive-date=6 August 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230806161959/https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/corporate/publications-manuals/discover-canada/read-online/canadas-regions.html}} Geographically, they are not at the centre of Canada but instead overlap with Eastern 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. Before Confederation, the term "Canada" specifically referred to Central Canada. Today, the term "Central Canada" is less often used than the names of the individual provinces.
History
{{see|History of Canada}}
Before Confederation, the region known as Canada was what is now called Central Canada. Southern Ontario was once called Upper Canada and later Canada West and southern Quebec was called Lower Canada and later Canada East. Both were part of the United Province of Canada in 1841.Constitutional Act of 1791, Act of Union 1840, British North America Acts (1867)
Geography
{{Main|Geography of Canada|Geography of Ontario|Geography of Quebec|Centre of Canada}}
Ontario, Canada's fourth largest subdivision (after Nunavut, Quebec, and the Northwest Territories), had, at the 2021 Canadian census, a land area of {{cvt|892,411.76|km2}}{{cite web|url=https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810000101 |title=Population and dwelling counts: Canada, provinces and territories|date=September 2, 2022|access-date=October 7, 2023|publisher=Statistics Canada|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230411183058/https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810000101 |archive-date=April 11, 2023|url-status=live}} (10.15 percent of Canada and the fifth largest after Nunavut, Quebec, the Northwest Territories, and British Columbia) and as of 2017, there was {{cvt|177,390|km2}}{{cite web|url=https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/services/provincial-territorial-symbols-canada/ontario.html |title=Ontario's provincial symbols|publisher=Government of Canada, Department of Canadian Heritage|date=15 August 2017|access-date=7 October 2023|url-status=live|archive-date=2 June 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230602222545/https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/services/provincial-territorial-symbols-canada/ontario.html}} (21.55 percent of Canada and the second largest after Quebec) of freshwater, for a total area of {{cvt|1,069,801.76|km2}} (11.13 percent of Canada).
Quebec, Canada's second largest subdivision and largest province, had, at the 2021 Canadian census, a land area of {{cvt|1,298,599.75|km}} (14.78 percent of Canada and the second largest after Nunavut), and as of 2017, there was {{cvt|183,890|km2}}{{cite web|url=https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/services/provincial-territorial-symbols-canada/quebec.html |title=Quebec's provincial symbols|publisher=Government of Canada, Department of Canadian Heritage|date=15 August 2017|access-date=7 October 2023|url-status=live|archive-date=29 May 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230529202126/https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/services/provincial-territorial-symbols-canada/quebec.html}} (22.34 percent and the largest in Canada) of freshwater, for a total area of {{cvt|1,482,489.75|km2}} (15.42 percent of Canada).
Together the two provinces have a land area of {{cvt|2,191,011.51|km2}} (24.93 percent), {{cvt|361,280.00|km2}} (43.89 percent) fresh water for a total area of {{cvt|2,552,291.51|km2}} (26.55 percent).
Although the region is called Central Canada the actual centre of Canada can be defined in multiple ways. The longitudinal centre of Canada is located just east of Winnipeg, Manitoba, on Highway 1 East, part of the Trans-Canada Highway.{{cite web|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/manitoba-tache-centre-canada-park-1.4252409 |title=Meet in the middle: Centre of Canada park opens in RM of Taché, Man.|publisher=CBC News|date=17 August 2021|url-status=live|access-date=7 October 2023|archive-date=16 August 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220816000505/https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/manitoba-tache-centre-canada-park-1.4252409}} The latitudinal centre is at 62 degrees, 24 minutes north, meaning the geographic centre of Canada is located just south of Yathkyed Lake, Nunavut.{{cite web |title=The Atlas of Canada - Frequently Asked Questions About Canada |url=http://atlas.nrcan.gc.ca/site/english/learningresources/facts/faq.html/#q9 |date=16 February 2010|access-date=7 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130122002158/http://atlas.nrcan.gc.ca/site/english/learningresources/facts/faq.html/#q9 |archive-date=22 January 2013}}
=Physical geography=
==Ontario==
{{Excerpt|Ontario|Geography}}
==Quebec==
{{Excerpt|Quebec|Geography}}
Population
Ontario and Quebec are the two most populous provinces in Canada, accounting for 61.43 percent of Canada's population. As of the 2021 census conducted by Statistics Canada, there were 22,725,775 people in the two provinces, and represented an increase of 5.1 per cent over the 2016 census figure of 21,612,855 people. The land area was {{cvt|2,191,011.51|km2}} giving a population density of {{Pop density|22725775|2191011.51|km2|sqmi|prec=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.{{cite web|url=https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2021/dp-pd/prof/details/page.cfm?Lang=E&SearchText=Canada&DGUIDlist=2021A000224,2021A000235,2021A000011124&GENDERlist=1,2,3&STATISTIClist=1,4&HEADERlist=0 |title=Census Profile, 2021 Census of Population - Profile table - Quebec, Ontario, Canada|publisher=Statistics Canada|access-date=8 October 2023|date=1 February 2023|url-status=live|archive-date=8 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231008171432/https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2021/dp-pd/prof/details/page.cfm?Lang=E&SearchText=Canada&DGUIDlist=2021A000224,2021A000235,2021A000011124&GENDERlist=1,2,3&STATISTIClist=1,4&HEADERlist=0}}
| class="wikitable" | ||||||||||
| colspan=11 | Population of visible minority, Indigenous, and others (2021 Canadian census) | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| colspan="2" |
! colspan="2" |Ontario ! colspan="2" |Quebec ! colspan="3" |Central Canada ! colspan="2" |Canada | ||||||||||
| colspan="2" | Population group
! Population ! % of !Population !% of !Population !% of !% of !Population !% | ||||||||||
| colspan="2" | 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% | |
| rowspan="12" | 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% | |
| colspan="2" |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% | |
| rowspan="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% | |
| colspan="2" | Total Indigenous population | 406,585 | 2.9% | 205,010 | 2.5% | 611,595 | 2.7% | 1.7% | 1,807,250 | 5.0% | |
| colspan="2" | 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 the House of Commons of Canada by 200 Members of Parliament (Ontario: 122, Quebec: 78) out of a total of 343.{{cite web|url=https://www.elections.ca/content.aspx?section=res&dir=cir/red/arc/2012red/allo&document=index&lang=e|title=House of Commons Seat Allocation by Province 2012 to 2022|author=Elections Canada|date=12 August 2021|access-date=8 October 2023|archive-date=3 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220103142349/https://www.elections.ca/content.aspx?section=res&dir=cir/red/arc/2012red/allo&document=index&lang=e|url-status=live}} The southern portions of the two provinces — particularly the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor — are the most urbanized and industrialized areas of Canada, containing the country's two largest cities, Toronto and Montreal, the national capital, Ottawa, and the National Capital Region.
As of the 2021 census Statistics Canada lists 24 Census Metropolitan Areas (CMA) in Central Canada. They include Ottawa - Gatineau as well as Ottawa - Gatineau (Ontario part) and Ottawa - Gatineau (Quebec part).{{cite web|url=https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2021/dp-pd/prof/search-recherche/lst/results-resultats.cfm?Lang=E&GEOCODE=35 |title=Census Profile, 2021 Census of Population - Select from a list of geographies, Ontario - Census metropolitan area / Census agglomeration|access-date=8 October 2023|date=3 August 2023|url-status=live|archive-date=1 July 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230701040249/https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2021/dp-pd/prof/search-recherche/lst/results-resultats.cfm?Lang=E&GEOCODE=35}}{{cite web|url=https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2021/dp-pd/prof/search-recherche/lst/results-resultats.cfm?Lang=E&GEOCODE=24 |title=Census Profile, 2021 Census of Population - Select from a list of geographies, Quebec - Census metropolitan area / Census agglomeration|access-date=8 October 2023|date=3 August 2023|url-status=live|archive-date=31 August 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230831154650/https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2021/dp-pd/prof/search-recherche/lst/results-resultats.cfm?Lang=E&GEOCODE=24}} All CMAs in Quebec are located in the southern part of the province. In Ontario, except Greater Sudbury / Grand Sudbury and Thunder Bay, which are in Northern Ontario, all CMAs are in Southern Ontario. The CMAs are listed here by population count:
{{cite web|url=https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2021/dp-pd/prof/details/page.cfm?Lang=E&SearchText=Belleville%20-%20Quinte%20West&DGUIDlist=2021S0503522&GENDERlist=1,2,3&STATISTIClist=1,4&HEADERlist=0 |title=Census Profile, 2021 Census of Population - Profile table - Belleville - Quinte West, Ontario - [Census metropolitan area]|url-status=live|access-date=9 October 2023|date=1 February 2023|archive-date=9 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231009145518/https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2021/dp-pd/prof/details/page.cfm?Lang=E&SearchText=Belleville%20-%20Quinte%20West&DGUIDlist=2021S0503522&GENDERlist=1,2,3&STATISTIClist=1,4&HEADERlist=0}}|-
|Drummondville || Quebec || align=right|101,610 || align=right|{{cvt|1094.36|km2|disp=br()|sortable=on}} || align=right|{{cvt|92.8|/km2|disp=br()|1|sortable=on}} || {{Location map|Quebec South |caption = |width = 200 |relief = 1 |coordinates = {{coord|45|53||N|72|29||W|region:CA-QC_type:city|name=Drummondville|notes={{Cite cgndb|EPUWF|Drummondville}}}}}} || {{cite web|url=https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2021/dp-pd/prof/details/page.cfm?Lang=E&SearchText=Drummondville&DGUIDlist=2021S0503447&GENDERlist=1,2,3&STATISTIClist=1,4&HEADERlist=0 |title=Census Profile, 2021 Census of Population - Profile table - Drummondville, Quebec - [Census metropolitan area]|url-status=live|access-date=8 October 2023|date=1 February 2023|archive-date=9 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231009010211/https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2021/dp-pd/prof/details/page.cfm?Lang=E&SearchText=Drummondville&DGUIDlist=2021S0503447&GENDERlist=1,2,3&STATISTIClist=1,4&HEADERlist=0}}
|}
See also
{{Portal|Geography|Canada}}
References
{{reflist}}
=Sources=
- {{cite book|last=Babin|first=Andrée|title=L'interatlas: Ressources du Québec et du Canada|publisher=Centre éducatif et culturel|year=1986|isbn=978-2-7617-0317-8}}
- {{cite book |last=Ministry of Environment of Quebec |url=http://www.mddep.gouv.qc.ca/eau/politique/politique-integral.pdf |title=Water. Life. Future. National Policy on water |publisher=Government of Quebec |year=2002 |isbn=978-2-550-40074-5}}
External links
{{wiktionary|Central Canada}}
{{Canada topics}}
{{Regions of the world}}