Regions of Ontario

[Docere]

This is Wikipedia's definition:

Central: Dufferin, Haliburton, Haliburton, Hastings, Kawartha Lakes, Muskoka, Northumberland, Parry Sound, Peterborough, Prince Edward, Simcoe

Eastern: Frontenac, Lanark, Leeds and Grenville, Lennox and Addington, Ottawa, Prescott and Russell, Renfrew, Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry

Golden Horseshoe: Durham, Halton, Hamilton, Niagara, Peel, Toronto, York

Northern: Algoma, Cochrane, Greater Sudbury, Kenora, Manitoulin, Nipissing, Rainy River, Thunder Bay, Timiskaming

Southwestern: Brantford/Brant, Bruce, Chatham-Kent, Elgin, Essex, Grey, Haldimand, Huron, Lambton, Middlesex, Norfolk, Oxford, Perth, Waterloo, Wellington

Of these, Hastings and Prince Edward strike me as definitely being Eastern Ontario.

There's also the postal code definition, with Eastern Ontario ("K") starting at Cobourg (Port Hope was part of Durham County and Cobourg in Northumberland when postal codes were established) and including Peterborough and Haliburton, and setting Muskoka and Parry Sound in Northern Ontario ("P"). Central Ontario is a large swath running east of Georgian Bay ("L", though "M" in Toronto) and from Georgian Bay west is southwestern Ontario ("N").

[TownGuy]

Cobourg is in a bit of a no man's land. Some say Central some say Eastern. It's also included in the Greater Golden Horseshoe. As you say it has an Eastern designation when it comes to postal code but at the same time it is in the 905 area code which is very GTA.

[vid]

Let's draw a line down Division Street and call Cobourg a border town.

[eternallyme]

There are several lines that can be used: postal codes, area codes, geophysical areas and government definitions. I personally prefer to first look at Toronto's sphere of influence. Once it weakens, you enter Southwestern, Eastern and Northeastern Ontario.

I would personally include the following areas in each region:

GGH: Brant, Dufferin, Durham, Haldimand, Halton, Hamilton, Kawartha Lakes, Norfolk, Northumberland, Peel, Peterborough, Simcoe, Toronto, Waterloo, Wellington, York

Eastern: Frontenac, Hastings, Lanark, Leeds-Grenville, Lennox and Addington, Ottawa, Prescott-Russell, Prince Edward, Renfrew, Stormont-Dundas-Glengarry

Northeastern: Algoma, Cochrane, Greater Sudbury, Haliburton, Manitoulin, Muskoka, Nipissing, Parry Sound, Sudbury Dist., Temiskaming

Northwestern: Kenora, Rainy River, Thunder Bay

Southwestern: Bruce, Chatham-Kent, Elgin, Essex, Grey, Huron, Lambton, Middlesex, Norfolk, Oxford, Perth

[Docere]

Here's the postal code prefixes by historic county:

K (Eastern Ontario): Addington, Carleton, Dundas, Frontenac, Glengarry, Grenville, Haliburton, Hastings, Lanark, Leeds, Lennox, Northumberland, Peterborough, Prescott, Prince Edward, Renfrew, Russell, Stormont, Victoria

L (Central Ontario): Dufferin, Durham, Halton, Lincoln, Ontario, Peel, Simcoe, Welland, Wentworth, York

M (Metropolitan Toronto)

N (Southwestern Ontario): Brant, Bruce, Elgin, Essex, Grey, Haldimand, Huron, Kent, Lambton, Middlesex, Norfolk, Oxford, Perth, Waterloo, Wellington

P (Northern Ontario districts): Algoma, Cochrane, Kenora, Manitoulin, Muskoka, Nipissing, Parry Sound, Rainy River, Sudbury, Thunder Bay, Timiskaming

[Docere]

Tourist regions of Ontario - a little less "dull" than Eastern, Central etc.

http://www.mtc.gov.on.ca/en/regions/regions.shtml

[Loco101]

Parry Sound and Muskoka are NOT part of Northern Ontario! (or Northeastern Ontario)

Northerners hate when Southerners group those two districts in with our area.

[Loco101]

I wish Ontario had regions like Quebec does. It is so much better for tourism, identity and for the way government services are delivered.

I live in Cochrane District which is a very boring and un-sexy name. All of the regions in the North should have indigenous names. Keep the Algoma, Nipissing and Manitoulin names for sure.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by Docere

Tourist regions of Ontario - a little less "dull" than Eastern, Central etc.

http://www.mtc.gov.on.ca/en/regions/regions.shtml

"Ottawa and Countryside"? LOL!

[Loco101]

I always like how Quebeckers and the media will identify a location by the region it's located in. (Laurentides, Gaspésie, Abitibi-Témiscamingue, etc.)

In Ontario it is so boring. Southwestern Ontario, Northeastern Ontario, Northwestern Ontario, Central Ontario, Eastern Ontario, GTA.....

Even those "new" tourist region names are pretty dull.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by Loco101

I always like how Quebeckers and the media will identify a location by the region it's located in. (Laurentides, Gaspésie, Abitibi-Témiscamingue, etc.)

In Ontario it is so boring. Southwestern Ontario, Northeastern Ontario, Northwestern Ontario, Central Ontario, Eastern Ontario, GTA.....

Even those "new" tourist region names are pretty dull.

The regional names in Quebec also have their associations with the people: Beaucerons, Gaspésiens, Madelinots (to which personality and cultural traits are often associated).

You also have colourful names like "Bleuets" (blueberries) for people from the Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean region, or "Jarrets Noirs" (literally Black Hock - like the back of the knee) for people from the Beauce.

And portmanteau names like Abitaouais - for the many people originally from the Abitibi who now live in the Outaouais.

[Jamaican-Phoenix]

Originally Posted by Loco101

I always like how Quebeckers and the media will identify a location by the region it's located in. (Laurentides, Gaspésie, Abitibi-Témiscamingue, etc.)

In Ontario it is so boring. Southwestern Ontario, Northeastern Ontario, Northwestern Ontario, Central Ontario, Eastern Ontario, GTA.....

Even those "new" tourist region names are pretty dull.

Yeah, that's pretty messed up. It can be so much more creative. Instead of those places we could have:

1. North Erie

2. Niagara

3, 5, and 6 (Hamilton/GTA): The Golden Horseshoe

4: The Midlands

7: Huronia

8: Kawartha/Kawartha Lakes

9: Kingston/Thousand Islands

10: The Ottawa Valley

11 and 12: Cottage Country

I would ignore the 13's and instead have the various areas of:

- Nipissing Region

- Sudbury-Manitoulin Islands

- Greater Sault Ste. Marie

- Northern Great Lakes (Thunder Bay, Lake Nipigon area, and the various small towns on the coast of Lake Superior east of TB)

- Kenora-Rainy River Region

- Hudson Bay Lowlands

[F. Lionel]

Originally Posted by Jamaican-Phoenix

- Kenora-Rainy River Region

They already market themselves as Ontario's Sunset Country for tourism purposes. This marketing starts just to the west of Thunder Bay.

[Acajack]

Sorry for being negative but stuff like Sunset Country just seems so banal to me. Meaningless. Could be anywhere.

[1overcosc]

Originally Posted by Loco101

I always like how Quebeckers and the media will identify a location by the region it's located in. (Laurentides, Gaspésie, Abitibi-Témiscamingue, etc.)

In Ontario it is so boring. Southwestern Ontario, Northeastern Ontario, Northwestern Ontario, Central Ontario, Eastern Ontario, GTA.....

Even those "new" tourist region names are pretty dull.

There are some vague regional concepts like that in Ontario... "cottage country", for example.. but for the most part, we don't have those.

[Loco101]

For Northern Ontario regions below 51 degrees North latitude I would have:

Lake of the Woods
Quetico
Nipigon
North of Superior (or maybe Pukaskwa)
Algoma
Nipissing
Rainbow
Manitoulin
Abitibi-Temiskaming

[ssiguy]

Went to the SouthWest tourism site.................couldn't even find any reference to London.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by Loco101

For Northern Ontario regions below 51 degrees North latitude I would have:


Abitibi-Temiskaming

You'd use the same name as the region across the border in Quebec?

Kind of like how there are two Congos in Africa? Or Macedonia (former Yugoslavia) and Macedonia (Greece)?

[Beedok]

Once the HSR is built then London will be clearly GGHS.

[Loco101]

Originally Posted by Acajack

You'd use the same name as the region across the border in Quebec?

Kind of like how there are two Congos in Africa? Or Macedonia (former Yugoslavia) and Macedonia (Greece)?

The Abitibi and Temiskaming names belong just as much to Ontario as they do to Quebec. The original inhabitants were know as the "Abitibis" (often spelled a bit differently) and they lived in the area surrounding Lake Abitibi and spreading out quite far. They spoke an Algonquin language.

Lake Abitibi is a border lake although 90% of it is in Ontario. The Abitibi River is entirely in Ontario and runs through Iroquois Fall where the Abitibi Power and Paper Company began which eventually became Abitibi-Consolidated then Abitibi-Bowater and now Resolute.

The Abitibi name is commonly used in mining in both provinces to identify the region.

And for Temiskaming (Témiscamingue), Lake Temiskaming (lac Témiscamingue) has the border running right through it. There is the City of Temiskaming Shores and the area has always been known as Temiskaming but sometimes the spelling changed.

Both sides of the Ontario-Quebec border in the area have much in common. (Mining, forestry, agriculture) and were developed together. The first roads and rail to the Quebec portion to places like Rouyn were only through Ontario. There are many mining and forestry companies that operate on both sides and many smaller specialty companies that do the same.