Indigenous People Ojibwa, Algonquin, Haudenosaunee, Wendat and Cree traditional territory. The first residents of present-day Ontario arrived during the last ice age, approximately 11,000 years ago.
What is the oldest community in Ontario?
1668 – Father Marquette founds Sault Ste. Marie, noteworthy as the oldest surviving permanent European settlement in both Ontario and neighbouring Michigan.
When did settlers come to Ontario?
The first English settlements were in 1782–1784, when 5,000 American loyalists entered what is now Ontario following the American Revolution.
How did Ontario originate?
Ontario acquired its name from the Iroquois word “kanadario”, which translates into “sparkling” water. The earliest recording of the name Ontario was in 1641 where it was used to describe a mass of land on the north shore of the easternmost part of the Great Lakes.
Was Ontario created by the French?
In the summer of 1604, a group of settlers which included Samuel de Champlain founded a French settlement in North America, on Sainte-Croix Island, Sainte-Croix River (Bay of Fundy). Champlain founded Quebec four years later and, in 1610, the first French explorers came to what is now Ontario.
What is the oldest civilization in Canada?
Debert (Atlantic Canada, 11,000 years ago) – Southern Atlantic Canada was just emerging from glacial ice about 11,000 years ago. The earliest human occupations in the region date from this period. The largest and best-known archaeological site is Debert, in central Nova Scotia.
What is Ontario’s old name?
Upper Canada
Initially called Upper Canada, Ontario became the name of the province when it and Quebec separated in 1867.
Which indigenous Nations first settled in Ontario?
Prior to contact with the European settlers, our Nations and Peoples – the Anishinaabek, Mushkegowuk, Onkwehonwe, and Lenape – have thrived since time immemorial in what is now known as the province of Ontario on Turtle Island (North America).
Who was on Canadian land first?
Traditionally, First Nations in Canada were peoples who lived south of the tree line, and mainly south of the Arctic Circle. There are 634 recognized First Nations governments or bands across Canada. Roughly half are located in the provinces of Ontario and British Columbia.
Who was first born in Canada?
Jonathan Guy, the son of Newfoundland settler Nicholas Guy, was the first child born to English parents in Canada, and one of the first born in any part of North America within a permanent settlement.
Did Vikings come to Ontario?
While it’s extremely unlikely that Vikings ever traversed through or settled in northern Ontario, a new exhibit at the Royal Ontario Museum will feature one of their artifacts with ties to northern Ontario.
Is Ontario British or French?
Ontario’s official language is English, although there exists a number of French-speaking communities across Ontario. French-language services are made available for communities with a sizeable French-speaking population; a service that is ensured under the French Language Services Act of 1989.
Is Ontario English or French?
In all, 20.0% of Canada’s population reported speaking a language other than English or French at home.
Official language minority communities.
| Jurisdiction | Community |
|---|---|
| Quebec | Anglo-Quebecers |
| Ontario | Franco-Ontarians / Ontarois |
| Manitoba | Franco-Manitobans |
Why do they speak French in Ontario?
Canada’s two colonizing peoples are the French and the British. They controlled land and built colonies alongside Indigenous peoples, who had been living there for millennia. They had two different languages and cultures. The French spoke French, practiced Catholicism, and had their own legal system (civil law).
What is Ontario’s first language?
English
Figure 4.1 Population by knowledge of official languages, Ontario, 2011
| Official language | Population (percentage) |
|---|---|
| English only | 86.3 |
| French only | 0.3 |
| English and French | 11.0 |
| Neither English nor French | 2.3 |
Why is Ontario French?
The French presence in Ontario officially dates back to 1615 with the arrival of Samuel de Champlain. The Francophone population grew steadily in the 19th and early 20th centuries, mostly in eastern and northeastern Ontario as a result of the forestry, mining and railway industries.
Who lived in Canada before the natives?
The coasts and islands of Arctic Canada were first occupied about 4,000 years ago by groups known as Palaeoeskimos. Their technology and way of life differed considerably from those of known American Indigenous groups and more closely resembled those of eastern Siberian peoples.
Who lived in Canada before the French?
The Five Nations of the Iroquois (Haudenosaunee) were centred from at least 1000 CE in northern New York, but their influence extended into what is now southern Ontario and the Montreal area of modern Quebec. They spoke varieties of Iroquoian languages.
Who lived in Canada before colonization?
An estimated 200,000 First Nations people (Indians) and Inuit were living in what is now Canada when Europeans began to settle there in the 16th century. For the next 200 years the Indigenous population declined, largely as a result of European territorial encroachment and the diseases that the settlers brought.
Why is Ontario called London?
London was named for the British capital of London by John Graves Simcoe, who also named the local river the Thames, in 1793. Simcoe had intended London to be the capital of Upper Canada.
What was Canada called before Canada?
In 1791, the area became two British colonies called Upper Canada and Lower Canada. These two colonies were collectively named the Canadas until their union as the British Province of Canada in 1841.