Why do ontario and quebec make up canadas heartland?

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JuanB

Ontario is 1/3 of Canada's population, Quebec is 1/4 of the population. And it has always been that way. So that represents half the country. Also most of the politics and history from colonials to creating a nation is from there. Then throw all that into the middle between the Atlantic Provinces and the Western Provinces.

But being from the west, I never heard of them as the heartland, nor think of it that way. Must be an Ontario thing.

PuckDat

When Canada was originally settles it consisted of Ontario and Quebec. In those days Quebec was Lower Canada and Ontario was Upper Canada. Over half of Canada's total population live there. It's the heart and soul of what is Canada.

Danelady

Look at the map. But we don't think of them as "heartland", that's an American concept.

Al R

i'm not sure i understand the question, but i guess cuz lots of the people are there (ontario has the largest population of all the province and territories), and they are the two biggest provinces, and because they are two out of the first four provinces to join confederation in 1867 (other two are new brunswick, and nova scotia)

i dunno maybe that will answer your question

??????

More people live here = more money generated for the country and taxes.

SteveN

When Canada was first settled by the white man (French and English arrived in the 1600s), they were looking for what was referred to as "the northwest passage", a route to get them from France to China so they would not have to go all the way around Africa, a long dangerous route.

They sailed their boats up the St. Laurence river as far as they could go before rapids prevented them from sailing further. They named the town where they stopped "Lachine", which is actually the French name for China.

The French eventually settled in two areas where they built fortifications (Montreal and Quebec City) and the English settled further inland, near the present cities of Kingston, Niagara and Toronto. The French controlled area was known as Lower Canada (Quebec) while the British had Upper Canada (Ontario).

I give you the brief history lesson to show you that Quebec and Ontario were the two main areas dating back to the 1700s where trade, commerce, and non-native civilizations first became apparent.

There were eastern cities along the coastline (Halifax for example), but most were fishing villages and sea ports that were isolated from the main area of the country. Out west, the prairies and British Columbia did not become part of Canada until much later (1871) when the railroad went west and made it more inviting and easier to get your goods to the eastern cities in order to be profitable (supply and demand).

Although Ontario and Quebec are a bit further east geographically, it is referred to as the "heart" of Canada because it is where Canada started from and it is where more than half our population is.

This is different from USA. "America's Heartland" is usually used to refer mostly to the central part of USA, where you have hard-working farmers and tradesmen that are considered the heart and soul of the country.

Marie

If by "heartland" you are referring to their being called Central Canada, I've also been curious. I always think of QuÃ©bec and most of Ontario as being more east.

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