Located on the east-central side of Canada, Ontario is the second largest and the most populous of the country’s provinces. The province is home to the country’s capital, Ottawa, as well as Toronto, the most populous city in Canada. Ontario’s American border is dotted with several rivers and lakes, including four of the five Great Lakes.

Ontario is a study in contrasts.

• The varied landscape includes the vast, rocky and mineral-rich Canadian Shield, which separates the fertile farmland in the south and the grassy lowlands of the north.
• There are over 250,000 lakes in Ontario -- they make up about one-third of the world's fresh water.
• In summer, temperatures can soar above 30°C (86°F), while in winter they can drop to below -40°C (-40°F).
• Ontario's industries range from cultivating crops, to mining minerals, to manufacturing automobiles, to designing software and leading-edge technology.
• Cultures from around the world thrive and are celebrated in Ontario with festivals such as Caribana (West Indian) and Oktoberfest (German).
• Travelers can enjoy the many experiences Ontario has to offer, from a wilderness expedition in the north, to a "shop till you drop into your theatre seat" city excursion.

Toronto, the capital of Ontario, is the center of Canada's financial services and banking industry. Suburban cities in the Greater Toronto Area such as Brampton, Mississauga and Vaughan are large product distribution centers, in addition to having automobile and other manufacturing industries. The information technology sector is also important, particularly in Markham, Waterloo and Ottawa.

With 2.5 million people living in Toronto proper, and about five million in the Greater Toronto Area, about half of the province's people live in the metropolitan area. There's a large and thriving multicultural population, and more than 100 languages can be heard on the streets of Toronto.

Toronto is Canada's Number One tourist destination, with 21 million visitors a year. Many Canadian companies have their head offices in Toronto. The country's premier stock exchange, the Toronto Stock Exchange, is here. After New York and London, Toronto has the largest English-language theatre centre in the world.