Central Canada facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Central Canada Centre du Canada  (French)
Map of Central Canada, defined politically
Composition	Ontario Quebec
Largest city	Toronto
Largest metro	Greater Toronto Area
Canadian Confederation	1 July 1867
Area  (2021 - land, 2017 - fresh water)
• 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)
• 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: Centre du Canada) is a large region in Canada. It includes two of Canada's biggest and most populated provinces: Ontario and Quebec.

Even though it's called "Central Canada," this area is actually more towards the east side of the country. Because so many people live here, Ontario and Quebec have a lot of say in Canadian politics. Before Canada became a country, the name "Canada" actually referred only to this central area. Today, people usually just say "Ontario" or "Quebec" instead of "Central Canada."

History of Central Canada

Before Canada became a country in 1867, the area we now call Central Canada was simply known as "Canada." The southern part of Ontario was once called Upper Canada. Later, it was renamed Canada West. Similarly, southern Quebec was known as Lower Canada, and then later as Canada East. In 1841, both of these areas became part of the United Province of Canada.

Geography of Central Canada

Central Canada is made up of Ontario and Quebec. These two provinces cover a huge amount of land and water.

Ontario's Size

Ontario is Canada's fourth largest area overall. It has a land area of about 892,411.76 km² (344,562.11 sq mi). This is about 10% of all the land in Canada. Ontario also has a lot of fresh water, about 177,390 km² (68,490 sq mi). This makes it the province with the second most fresh water in Canada. When you add land and water, Ontario covers a total of 1,069,801.76 km² (413,052.77 sq mi).

Quebec's Size

Quebec is Canada's second largest area and its biggest province. It has a land area of about 1,298,599.75 km² (501,392.17 sq mi). This is nearly 15% of Canada's total land. Quebec also has the most fresh water of any province, with about 183,890 km² (71,000 sq mi). In total, Quebec covers about 1,482,489.75 km² (572,392.49 sq mi).

Combined Area

Together, Ontario and Quebec have a land area of over 2,191,011.51 km² (845,954.27 sq mi). They also hold a massive amount of fresh water, about 361,280.00 km² (139,490.99 sq mi). This combined area makes up more than a quarter of Canada's total size.

Where is the Centre?

Even though the region is called "Central Canada," the actual geographic centre of Canada is not here. The middle point of Canada from east to west is near Winnipeg, Manitoba. The middle point from north to south is in Nunavut, near Yathkyed Lake.

Ontario's Landscape

This section is transcluded from Ontario #Geography

Quebec's Landscape

This section is transcluded from Quebec #Geography

Population of Central Canada

Ontario and Quebec are home to most Canadians. About 61% of Canada's population lives in these two provinces. In 2021, over 22.7 million people lived here. This was an increase of about 5% from 2016. The average age in Ontario is 41.6 years, which is the same as the rest of Canada. In Quebec, the average age is slightly older at 43.2 years.

Diverse Communities

Central Canada is a very diverse place. Many different groups of people live here.

Population of visible minority, Indigenous, and others (2021 Canadian census)
		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%

Major Cities and Urban Areas

The southern parts of Ontario and Quebec are very urbanized. This area is known as the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor. It is where most of the people live and where many industries are located. This corridor includes Canada's two largest cities: Toronto and Montreal. It also includes the capital city of Canada, Ottawa, and the surrounding National Capital Region.

In 2021, Statistics Canada listed 24 large urban areas, called Census Metropolitan Areas (CMAs), in Central Canada. Most of these are in Southern Ontario and Southern Quebec. Only a few, like Greater Sudbury and Thunder Bay, are in Northern Ontario.

Here are some of the largest CMAs in Central Canada by population:

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)
Montreal	Quebec	4,291,732	4,670.1 km2 (1,803.1 sq mi)	919.0/km2 (2,380.2/sq mi)
Ottawa - Gatineau	Ontario	1,488,307	8,046.99 km2 (3,106.96 sq mi)	185.0/km2 (479.1/sq mi)
Ottawa - Gatineau (Ontario part)	Ontario	1,135,014	4,665.16 km2 (1,801.23 sq mi)	243.3/km2 (630.1/sq mi)
Quebec City	Quebec	839,311	3,499.46 km2 (1,351.15 sq mi)	239.8/km2 (621.1/sq mi)
Hamilton	Ontario	785,184	1,373.15 km2 (530.18 sq mi)	571.8/km2 (1,481.0/sq mi)
Kitchener - Cambridge – Waterloo	Ontario	575,847	1,092.33 km2 (421.75 sq mi)	527.2/km2 (1,365.4/sq mi)
London	Ontario	543,551	2,661.48 km2 (1,027.60 sq mi)	204.2/km2 (528.9/sq mi)
St. Catharines - Niagara	Ontario	433,604	1,397.09 km2 (539.42 sq mi)	310.4/km2 (803.9/sq mi)
Windsor	Ontario	422,630	1,803.17 km2 (696.21 sq mi)	234.4/km2 (607.1/sq mi)
Oshawa	Ontario	415,311	903.25 km2 (348.75 sq mi)	459.8/km2 (1,190.9/sq mi)
Ottawa – Gatineau (Quebec part)	Quebec	353,293	3,381.83 km2 (1,305.73 sq mi)	104.5/km2 (270.7/sq mi)
Sherbrooke	Quebec	227,398	1,458.1 km2 (563.0 sq mi)	156.0/km2 (404.0/sq mi)
Barrie	Ontario	212,856	897.26 km2 (346.43 sq mi)	237.2/km2 (614.3/sq mi)
Kingston	Ontario	172,546	1,919.17 km2 (741.00 sq mi)	89.9/km2 (232.8/sq mi)
Greater Sudbury / Grand Sudbury	Ontario	170,605	4,187.4 km2 (1,616.8 sq mi)	40.7/km2 (105.4/sq mi)
Guelph	Ontario	165,588	595.08 km2 (229.76 sq mi)	278.3/km2 (720.8/sq mi)
Saguenay	Quebec	161,567	3,133.53 km2 (1,209.86 sq mi)	51.6/km2 (133.6/sq mi)
Trois-Rivières	Quebec	161,489	1,038.64 km2 (401.02 sq mi)	155.5/km2 (402.7/sq mi)
Brantford	Ontario	144,162	1,074.0 km2 (414.7 sq mi)	134.2/km2 (347.6/sq mi)
Peterborough	Ontario	128,624	1,508.44 km2 (582.41 sq mi)	85.3/km2 (220.9/sq mi)
Thunder Bay	Ontario	123,258	2,550.79 km2 (984.87 sq mi)	48.3/km2 (125.1/sq mi)
Belleville - Quinte West	Ontario	111,184	1,337.5 km2 (516.4 sq mi)	83.1/km2 (215.2/sq mi)
Drummondville	Quebec	101,610	1,094.36 km2 (422.53 sq mi)	92.8/km2 (240.4/sq mi)