Timeline of Ontario history

Ontario came into being as a province of Canada in 1867. This article also covers the pre-1867 history of the territory Ontario now occupies.

For a complete list of the premiers of Ontario, see List of Ontario premiers.

Table of contents
1 1790 and earlier
2 Upper Canada, 1791 to 1840
3 The united Province of Canada, 1841 to 1866
4 Canadian Confederation, 1867, and after

1790 and earlier

At the same time large numbers of Iroquois loyal to Britain arrive from the United States and are settled on reserves west of Lake Ontario.

Kingston and Hamilton became important settlements as a result of the influx of Loyalists.

  • 1788–The British purchase 250,000 acres (1,000 km²) on which they begin the settlement of York, now Toronto

Upper Canada, 1791 to 1840

The population of Upper Canada is about 14,000 (Lower Canada's is about 165,000).
  • 1793–John Graves Simcoe is appointed as the first governor of Upper Canada. He encourages immigration from the United States, builds roads, and abolishes slavery, which was not an important economic institution in Upper Canada. Slavery is abolished in 1793 by the Act Against Slavery, with the intent that all slaves be released by 1810; this goal was probably reached ahead of time.
  • 1800–First European settlement on the site of present-day Ottawa
  • 1800–The Hudson's Bay Company moves its headquarters to Fort William following an agreement about Rupert's Land's boundary with the United States; Fort William is today part of Thunder Bay
  • 1803–Thomas Talbot retires to his land grant in Western Ontario and begins settling it. He eventually becomes responsible for settling 65,000 acres (260 km²). His insistence on the provision and maintenance of good roads, and on reserving land along main roads to productive uses rather than to clergy reserves leads to this region becoming the most prosperous in the province.
  • 1804–First European settlement on the site of present-day Waterloo
  • 1807–First settlement, Ebytown, on the site of present-day Kitchener
  • 1812–1814–The War of 1812 with the United States. Upper Canada is the chief target of the Americans, since it is weakly defended and populated largely by American immigrants. However, division in the United States over the war, the incompetence of American military commanders, and swift and decisive action by the British commander, Sir Isaac Brock, keep Upper Canada British.

One of the legacies of the war in Upper Canada is strong feelings of anti-Americanism which persist to this day and form an important component of Canadian nationalism.

The united Province of Canada, 1841 to 1866

  • 1841–Upper and Lower Canada are united by the Act of Union (1840) to form the Province of Canada, as recommended by Durham. Upper Canada becomes known as Canada West and Lower Canada as Canada East.
  • 1841–Sydenham dies in a riding accident and is replaced by Sir Charles Bagot. The movement for responsible government which had been growing under Sydenham is now so strong that Bagot realizes that to govern effectively he must admit French leaders to his executive council. Once admitted, Canada East Reformer Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine insists that Canada West Reformer Robert Baldwin also be admitted. Bagot admits Baldwin as well, creating a Reform bloc.
  • 1843–Bagot retires because of illness and is replaced by Sir Charles Metcalfe, who is determined to make no further concessions to the colonists. Metcalfe refuses a demand by Baldwin and Francis Hincks that the assembly approve official appointments. The ministry in the assembly resigns, and in the ensuing election a slim majority supporting Metcalfe is returned.
  • 1846–The Colonial Secretary, Lord Grey, rules that the British North American lieutenant governors must rule with the consent of the governed. Executive councils are to be selected from the majority in the assembly, and change when the confidence of the assembly changes. Britain is abandoning the mercantilist principles which have guided its imperial policy, and since colonial trade will no longer be restricted, local colonial politics need no longer be restricted.
  • 1848–Lord Elgin, who had replaced Metcalfe in 1847, asks Baldwin and Lafontaine to form a government following their success in elections for the assembly. This is the Province of Canada's first responsible government.
  • 1849–Elgin signs the Rebellion Losses Bill, which provided compensation for losses suffered during the Patriotes Rebellion, over the opposition of English conservatives (Tories) in Canada East, who were accustomed to having the governor support them. A Tory mob burns down the parliament building in Montreal but Elgin, supported by majorities in both Canada East and Canada West (which had already passed a similar bill), does not back down, and responsible government is established in fact.
  • 1849–The Canada East Tories then sponsor an Annexation Manifesto calling for the province of Canada to join the United States. They were motivated by the loss of trade threatened by the repeal of the British Corn Laws. However, the rest of the Canadian population opposes the manifesto, including the Tories of Canada West, who favour provincial union. Union with the United States ceases to be an important political issue.
  • 1851 - The population of Canada West is now numerically superior to that of Canada East. Politicians of Canada West begin to argue for representation by population.
  • 1854–An agreement for reciprocal lowering of trade barriers is reached between British North America and the United States. The British North American provinces can now send their natural products (principally grain, timber, and fish) to the United States without tariff, while American fishermen are allowed into British North American fisheries. Lake Michigan and the St. Lawrence River are opened to ships of all signatories.
  • 1854–A law secularizing the clergy reserves is passed; the Anglican and Presbyterian churches retain their endowments.
  • 1858–Canada has become increasingly sectional, with Canada West electing Clear Grit Liberals and Canada East electing Conservatives. A coalition government led by John A. Macdonald and Antoine-Aimé Dorion falls in two days. In the assembly Alexander Galt proposes a federal union of the British North American colonies as a solution to the problem.
  • 1859–The Clear Grit Liberals under George Brown propose specific arrangements for a federal union of the two Canadas.
  • 1864–A committee proposed by George Brown to inquire into solutions to the parliamentary deadlock between the Canadas recommends a federal union of the British North American colonies, a solution which is welcomed by all sides. A government of Liberals and Conservatives, the Great Coalition, is formed to pursue this goal. Representatives of the coalition attend the Charlottetown Conference called to discuss union of the maritime colonies and persuade the representatives to endorse the Canadian plan for a broader federal union. A conference in Quebec City draws up the Quebec Resolutions, a plan for this union.
  • 1866–The Westminster Conference endorses the Quebec Resolutions with minor changes.

Canadian Confederation, 1867, and after

  • 1867–The parliament of the United Kingdom passes the British North America Act, by which the Province of Canada, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia join to form the country of Canada. Upper Canada becomes the province of Ontario, with its capital at Toronto. Canada remained self-governing locally, but the British continued to control its external affairs.
  • 1870–establishment of Port Arthur as the head of construction for the Dawson Road to the new western regions of Canada; Port Arthur is today part of Thunder Bay.
  • 1870–Orange Ontario largely supports the trying of Louis Riel for treason for executing Thomas Scott during the so-called Red River Rebellion, while Quebec supports Riel. Although Riel's government was recognized by Canada, its actions are destined to be described as a rebellion ever after. The split between Ontario and Quebec aggravates tensions between Quebec and English Canada and between English and French.
  • 1870s–The growth of industry in Ontario and Quebec leads to a movement for protective tariffs.
  • 1872–Granting of contracts by the federal government to build the Canadian Pacific Railway, to stimulate settlement of Western Canada, to bring Western agricultural and other products to Ontario and Quebec, and to link British Columbia to the rest of the country. The railway is part of Sir John A. Macdonald's National Policy.
  • 1872–1896–The provincial government of Oliver Mowat vigorously defends provincial rights and expands the scope of provincial power.
  • 1874–First issue of The Nation, founded by members of the Canada First movement to help in creating a Canadian nationality. Although the journal only lasted until 1876, other publications continued the effort after it stopped publishing.
  • 1879–The federal government of Sir John A. Macdonald, as part of its national Policy, institutes protective tariffs on manufactures and on farm products; the tariffs help Ontario industry but hurt farmers.
  • 1883–Important mineral deposits are found near Sudbury; this and similar discoveries, especially near Cobalt, triggered a mining boom in Northern Ontario. The region acquires a large French-speaking population as Quebeckers move there to work in the boom.
  • 1885–The split between Orange Ontario and Roman Catholic Quebec is aggravated further by Ontario's vigorous support for the hanging of Louis Riel, convicted of treason for his role in the North-West Rebellion that year.
  • 1889–Ontario is expanded west to Lake of the Woods and north of the Albany River by incorporation of sections of the North-West Territories granted to it by the federal government.
  • 1890–1896–Tension between English and French is further aggravated by the disagreement between Ontario and Quebec over the Manitoba Schools Question. Ontario objects to a federal remedial bill to restore French schools in Manitoba in part because of its support for provincial rights, and in part because of the influence of a Protestant Equal rights movement begun in response to pro-Roman Catholic policies instituted in Quebec.
  • 1896–The Imperial privy council rules that the federal government may exercise its reserve power only in time of war. This results in an increase in provincial power as areas of provincial responsibility are interpreted more broadly to accommodate new types of government initiative (social welfare, for example).
  • 1906–Establishment of the Hydro-Electric Power Commission of Ontario by the government of Sir James P. Whitney at the urging of Sir Adam Beck.
  • 1912–Ontario acquires its current territory by incorporation of further sections of the North-West territories
  • 1912–Regulation 17 bans teaching in French after the first year of school and the teaching of French after the fourth; this infuriates Quebeckers and further divides the country.
  • 1916–The city of Berlin, under pressure to demonstrate the loyalty of its citizens of German origin to the war effort changes its name to Kitchener, in honour of Lord Kitchener
  • 1916–1927–Ontario prohibits the domestic consumption of beer and spirits. Beer and spirits continue to be produced for export, however, largely for illegal sale in the United States. To make repeal acceptable, drinking in Ontario is encumbered by extensive regulations which lasted till the 1970s and made Ontario the laughingstock of Canada.
  • 1937–Premier Mitchell Hepburn organizes a provincial police force to suppress an CIO strike at General Motors in Oshawa after the federal government refuses to suppress it. Hepburn, who wants to keep the CIO out of Ontario, is unsuccessful.
  • 1951–In response to a civil rights movement which originated in opposition to racial discrimination in Dresden, Ontario, the government of Leslie Frost passes Canada’s first Fair Employment Practices Act, which forbids discrimination on the basis of race, creed, colour, nationality, ancestry or place of origin. However, the act is enforced administratively, with prosecution only a last resort.
  • 1951–The Frost government passes Ontario’s first equal pay legislation, the Female Employees Fair Remuneration Act.
  • 1954–The Frost government introduces Canada’s first Fair Accommodation Practices Act. Like the Fair Employment Practices Act it is enforced administratively, with prosecution only a last resort.
  • 1955–The first conviction under the Fair Accommodation Practices Act, of Kay's Cafe in Dresden, the site of the original complaint of racial discrimination in Dresden, is overturned on appeal.
  • 1956–First successful prosecution under the Fair Accommodation Practices Act, again of Kay's Cafe in Dresden
  • 1962–Passage of the Ontario Human Rights Code, which amalgamates and extends previous laws about civil rights.
  • 1966–The government of John Robarts introduces publicly funded medicine.
  • 1993–The government of Bob Rae introduces its so-called social contract which re-opens public-sector collective agreements with the intent of rolling back wages; his New Democratic Party's traditional labour support is greatly weakened.
  • 1998–The government of Mike Harris begins privatizing the Hydro-Electric Power Commission of Ontario.
  • 2000–Seven people die after contamination of Walkerton's water supply.
  • 2003–Serious outbreak of SARS in Toronto.
  • 2003–Ontario becomes the first province in Canada to legalize same-sex marriage.


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