Most people are aware of all the basic facts about Ontario, such as how it’s the most populous and southernmost province in Canada.
But these well-known tidbits will only take you so far if you’re trying to impress your friends with obscure knowledge.
If you’re really trying to clean house at your next trivia night, these Ontario facts will give you a clear edge over the competition:
There are over 250,000 lakes in Ontario
Canada is home to more lakes than all other countries in the world combined, and a quick glance at an Ontario map reveals a landscape dotted with them, ranging from some of the largest freshwater bodies on the planet to the overwhelming number of small lakes in the province’s rugged wilderness.
Ontario rivers span over 100,000 kilometres
If you laid out every river in Ontario end-to-end, you would have a waterway stretching over 100,000 kilometres, or enough distance to span the entire globe 2.5 times.
Ontario holds around 20 per cent of the world’s fresh water supply
Based on the facts above, it shouldn’t come as a huge surprise that Ontario is home to more fresh water than most countries, accounting for roughly one-fifth of the global supply.
Ontario is home to the deepest base-metal mine
Kidd Creek Mine in Timmins is home to the world’s deepest base metal mine below sea level. The mine’s shaft bottoms out at a staggering depth of 9,889 feet (3,014 meters) below the surface.
For context, that is almost 5.5 times as deep as the CN Tower is tall, or 3.6 times the depth as the height of the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai.
The furthest north you can drive on an Ontario highway
Pickle Lake is the northernmost point on Ontario’s provincially-maintained highway system. The small township of just a few hundred residents sits at the terminus of Highway 599, and is home to an airstrip that serves as an important supply point for Northern Ontario communities inaccessible by road during summer months.
Ontario used to have a border dispute with Manitoba
Ontario and Manitoba each claimed the Kenora area during a period in the 1870s and 1880s. Amid the confusion, both governments established their own parallel administrations to govern the disputed land, before the federal government eventually stepped in and awarded the region to Ontario in 1889.
Parts of Ontario are closer to Edmonton and Calgary than Toronto
Ontario’s vast size is something we talked about in detail in a similar roundup of geographic facts. But here’s one more we just had to throw in: Ontario’s western boundary is closer to Edmonton (1,325 km) and Calgary (1,340 km) than it is to Toronto (1,375 km).
Much of Ontario was once part of Quebec
How’s your French? Most Ontario residents live in what was once part of Quebec in the late 18th century.
The Quebec Act (1774) included what is now southern and central Ontario south of the Arctic watershed (along with Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin and parts of Minnesota) into the Province of Quebec.
The province was divided into Upper Canada (current southern Ontario) and Lower Canada (current southern Quebec) in 1791 following the American Revolution, before the two colonies were merged in 1840.
Ontario became a province of the new Dominion of Canada with the British North America Act (1867), and its borders would expand another four times before finally reaching the current form in 1912.
So, next time Ontario comes up as a trivia topic, consider yourself prepared!
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