Central Canada (, sometimes the Central provinces) is a Canadian region consisting of Ontario and Quebec, the largest and most populous provinces of the country. Geographically, they are not at the centre of Canada but instead overlap with Eastern Canada toward the east. Because of their large 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.

History

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 was called Lower Canada and later Canada East. Both were part of the United Province of Canada in 1841.

Geography

Ontario, Canada's fourth largest subdivision (after Nunavut, Quebec, and the Northwest Territories), had, at the 2021 Canadian census, a land area of 892,411.76 km2 (10.15 per cent of Canada and the fifth largest after Nunavut, Quebec, the Northwest Territories, and British Columbia) and as of 2017, there was 177,390 km2 (21.55 per cent of Canada and the second largest after Quebec) of fresh water, for a total area of 1,069,801.76 km2 (11.13 per cent of Canada). Quebec, Canada's second largest subdivision and largest province, had, at the 2021 Canadian census, a land area of 1,298,599.75 km (14.78 per cent of Canada and the second largest after Nunavut), and as of 2017, there was 183,890 km2 (22.34 per cent and the largest in Canada) of fresh water, for a total area of 1,482,489.75 km2 (15.42 per cent of Canada). Together the two provinces have a land area of 2,191,011.51 km2 (24.93 per cent), 361,280.00 km2 (43.89 per cent) fresh water for a total area of 2,552,291.51 km2 (26.55 per cent). Although the region is called Central Canada the actual centre of Canada can be defined in multiple ways. The longitudinal centre of Canada is located just east of Winnipeg, Manitoba, on Highway 1 East, part of the Trans-Canada Highway. The latitudinal centre is at 62 degrees, 24 minutes north, meaning the geographic centre of Canada is located just south of Yathkyed Lake, Nunavut.

Physical geography

Ontario

Quebec

Population

Ontario and Quebec are the two most populous provinces in Canada, accounting for 61.43 per cent of Canada's population. As of the 2021 census conducted by Statistics Canada there were 22,725,775 people in the two provinces, and represented an increase of 5.1 per cent over the 2016 census figure of 21,612,855 people. The land area was 2,191,011.51 km2 giving a population density of. The median age of Ontario was 41.6, identical to Canada as a whole, and Quebec's population was slightly older at 43.2. 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, the national capital, Ottawa, and the National Capital Region. As of the 2021 census Statistics Canada lists 24 Census Metropolitan Areas (CMA) in Central Canada. They include Ottawa - Gatineau as well as Ottawa - Gatineau (Ontario part) and Ottawa - Gatineau (Quebec part). All CMAs in Quebec are located the southern part of the province. In Ontario, with the exception of Greater Sudbury / Grand Sudbury and Thunder Bay, which are in Northern Ontario, all CMAs are in Southern Ontario. The CMAs are listed here by population count:

Sources