People and Culture - Population Densities

With a population of more than 13 million, Ontario is home to about one in three Canadians. More than 85 per cent live in urban centres, largely in cities on the shores of the Great Lakes.

The largest concentration of people and cities is in the "Golden Horseshoe" along the western end of Lake Ontario including the Greater Toronto Area, Hamilton, St. Catharines and Niagara Falls. The “Greater Golden Hoseshoe” describes the metropolitan area outside the core region and one of the fastest growing areas in North America. The wider region spreads inland in all directions away from the Lake Ontario shoreline, southwest to Brantford, west to the Kitchener-Waterloo area, north to Barrie, and northeast to Peterborough. Over eight million people live in the "Greater Golden Horseshoe".

In southwestern Ontario, significant populations live in London, Kincardine and Windsor.

In eastern Ontario, Ottawa and Kingston are the predominant cities.

In northern Ontario, smaller municipalities have evolved at strategic points along the original railway lines that opened up the wilderness to mining and logging. The cities that have evolved include Hearst, Moosonee, Kenora, Sudbury, North Bay, Sault Ste. Marie, Thunder Bay and Timmins.

Detailed information about these urban centres can be accessed from the Cities and Towns page.