Ontario's Natural Resources - Water and Lakes

Water

Ontario's quarter million lakes and countless rivers and streams played a central role in the province's history and development. For Aboriginal peoples and the early European settlers, the lakes and rivers were a means of transportation and a source for food. Waterways determined the patterns of settlement as well as the patterns of industrialization.

In the early 20th century, Ontario Hydro began harnessing the awesome power of the Niagara Falls to provide reliable electricity to homes and businesses.

The Great Lakes

The Great Lakes are Lake Superior, Lake Michigan, Lake Huron, Lake Erie, and Lake Ontario. Combined, these lakes hold one-fifth of the world's fresh surface water. The combined shoreline of the Great Lakes is equal to about 45 per cent of the earth's circumference.

The five Great Lakes, four of which straddle the border between Canada and the United States (U.S.), are the world's biggest continuous body of fresh water. A Canada/U.S. commission jointly manages the Great Lakes. The Great Lakes Basin covers an area of 750,000 square kilometres; this basin includes eight U.S. states, most of southern Ontario and extends into northern Ontario.

More than 98 per cent of Ontario residents — 13 million people — live within the Great Lakes Basin. Most live near the shores, in eight of Canada’s 20 largest cities, which include Toronto, Hamilton, Windsor and Sarnia. The people of Ontario depend on the Great Lakes for their drinking water. Over 70 per cent, or three out of four residents, get their drinking water from the lakes.

The Great Lakes support more than half of Canada’s manufacturing output, a quarter of the country's agriculture and $300 billion annually in trade between Ontario and the U.S. The lakes sustain a $100 million commercial fishing industry and a $350 million recreational fishing industry and every year 1.5 million recreational boaters enjoy the Great Lakes.

Learn more about:

• The Great Lakes – Ministry of Natural Resources
• Water site – Environment Canada
• Our Great Lakes – Environment Canada.