Central Canada

Not to be confused with Canadian Prairies.

Central Canada
Region
Clockwise from the top: Parliament Hill, Ottawa; Parliament Building, Quebec City; Entrance to Exhibition Place; Corner of Bay & King, Toronto
Map of Central Canada, defined politically
Country	Canada
Provinces	Ontario Quebec
Historic polities	The Canadas      Upper Canada      Lower Canada Province of Canada
Area
• Total	2,265,154 km2 (874,581 sq mi)
Population  (2016)
• Total	21,612,855
• Density	9.5/km2 (25/sq mi)

Central Canada (sometimes the Central provinces) is a region consisting of Canada's two largest and most populous provinces: Ontario and Quebec. Geographically, they are not at the centre of the country but instead overlaps with Eastern Canada toward the east. Due to their high populations, Ontario and Quebec have traditionally held a significant amount of political power in Canada, leading to some amount of resentment from other regions of the country. Before Confederation, the term "Canada" specifically referred to Central Canada. Today, the term "Central Canada" is less often used than the names of the individual provinces.

Geography

The longitudinal centre of Canada passes just east of Winnipeg, Manitoba; the geographic centre of Canada is located near Baker Lake, Nunavut.

Before Confederation, the region known as Canada was what is now called Central Canada. Southern Ontario was once called Upper Canada and later Canada West, and southern Quebec Lower Canada and later Canada East. Both were made part of the United Province of Canada in 1841.

Population

Combined, the two provinces have approximately 23 million inhabitants which represents 62% of Canada's population. They are represented in the House of Commons of Canada by 199 Members of Parliament (Ontario: 121, Quebec: 78) out of a total of 338. The southern portions of the two provinces — particularly the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor — are the most urbanized and industrialized areas of Canada, containing the country's two largest cities, Toronto and Montreal, and the national capital, Ottawa.

Census Metropolitan Areas, 2016 Census

1. Toronto, ON: 5,928,040
2. Montréal, QC: 4,098,927
3. Ottawa, ON–Gatineau, QC: 1,323,783
4. Québec, QC: 800,296
5. Hamilton, ON: 747,545
6. Kitchener, ON: 523,894
7. London, ON: 494,069
8. St. Catharines–Niagara, ON: 406,074
9. Oshawa, ON: 379,848
10. Windsor, ON: 329,144
11. Sherbrooke, QC: 212,105
12. Barrie, ON: 197,059
13. Sudbury, ON: 164,689
14. Kingston, ON: 161,175
15. Saguenay, QC: 160,980
16. Trois-Rivières, QC: 156,042
17. Guelph, ON: 151,984
18. Peterborough, ON: 121,721
19. Brantford, ON: 134,203
20. Thunder Bay, ON: 121,621
21. Belleville, ON: 103,472

See also

• Great Lakes region
• List of regions of Canada