The cultural history of what is now Ontario stretches back more than 10,000 years. Many Nations and many peoples have called this place home. MyOntario – A vision over time marks this long history by opening a conversation among Ontarians about our experiences, identities, values and aspirations.
We are asking people from across the province to share their stories – the places, memories, photos, artifacts, artworks and traditions that inspire you, that motivate you and help define who you are. Be the province's storytellers, record keepers, historians and visionaries!
Let's build a deeper understanding, showcase our diversity and create a lasting record that reflects the breadth, depth and complexity of our great province as we look to the future.
Philip Pritchard (Vice President, resource centre and Curator, Hockey Hall of Fame and Keeper of the Stanley Cup)
Ontario and the Stanley Cup
Hockey is Canada’s national sport, and there is nothing more synonymous with hockey than the Stanley Cup. The tradition, the aura and the respect it has from its fans, players, coaches and management is second to none.
Having the privilege to travel with the Stanley C
Deepa Mehta (director, producer and screenwriter)
Ontario’s rich diversity
When I think of Ontario, I think of inclusion, diversity and the resulting richness it brings to our province. In a world that is becoming alarmingly xenophobic and nativist, we are in my opinion a haven for the ‘other’.
Watch us in the film Sam and Me set in Toronto, a
Joseph Desloges (Professor, Departments of Earth Sciences and Geography, Woodsworth College, University of Toronto)
Celebrating the Chinguacousy Badlands
The Chinguacousy (“land of the young pines”) Badlands have been visited by hundreds of thousands of Ontarians. This rapidly eroding clay-shale bedrock at the foot of the Niagara Escarpment is a unique natural heritage feature in the province. As a designated A
Kathy Stinson (author of books for young people)
When I first started going to the cottage that has been in my husband’s family for more than 100 years, I loved the sense of continuity I felt there, as five generations enjoyed the traditions that Grandfather Gordon established in the early 1900s. And the place. The gorgeous combinations of water,
Jean-Luc Pilon (Curator of Central Archaeology at the Canadian Museum of History)
The gift of time travel
In the summer of 1982, I was carrying out archaeological research near the shores of Hudson Bay on the Severn River. One of the sites we were investigating had been used a number of times. The earliest evidence suggested that people camped at the Ouabouche site before Europ
Cameron Ylimaki
Pride & Happiness.
- Cameron Ylimaki, Bay and Algoma Buskers Festival, Thunder Bay, July 29, 2017
The Armenian Boys' Farm Home
On July 1, 1923, a group of 50 Armenian boys arrived at this farm site from an orphanage in Corfu, Greece. The 'Georgetown Boys,' as they came to be known, arrived in Canada between 1923 and 1927 - 109 boys in all. The orphans were survivors of the Armenian Genocide (1915-1923). Their plight touched
Desiree Laporte
Acceptance of EVERYONE.
- Desiree Laporte, Canuck It Up Festival Amherstburg, downtown Amherstburg, August 6, 2017
#MyOntario
What's your favourite fall fair memory?
Was it going for a spin on the merry-go-round? Bringing home a ribbon? Enjoying harvest-time treats? Share your favourite fall fair moments with us!
Join the conversation on social media: Explore #MyOntario posts about fall fairs in Ontario and connect wit
Keirsten & Kasha
Fulford Place was the estate of a millionaire by the name of George Fulford I at the end of the 19th century. This estate was passed on to his son George Fulford II, who at the time of his passing, bequeathed it to the Ontario Heritage Trust. The three reasons why they decided to take the property u
Atom Egoyan (film director, writer and producer)
R.C. Harris Water Filtration Plant
Whenever I have visitors to Toronto, I take them to the Harris Filtration Plant. This beautiful complex is one of the few remaining examples of industrial art deco design that has survived to this day, and its location on Lake Ontario makes it truly unique. It ha
Erin S.
When I was a kid growing up in LaSalle in the 1980s, we took the ferry over to Boblo Island several times during the summer months. Located in the Detroit River across from Amherstburg, part of Boblo Island operated as an amusement park from the turn of the 20th century until its closure in 1993.
Arlene Chan (historian and author)
Gateway to Ontario
Toronto’s Chinatown East has a beautiful gateway – a Chinese architectural tradition first introduced in British Columbia in the 1880s.
As a writer and Chinatown historian, I find inspiration in the many gateways that grace Chinatowns in Toronto, Ottawa and across Canada. They
Miptoon (Anthony Chegahno)
Anthony Chegahno, whose Anishinaabe name is Miptoon, is an elder, a resident of Neyaashiiningmiing and a former band councillor for the Chippewas of Nawash unceded First Nation.
Amanda J. Ferry
All the different cultures that are welcome here.
- Amanda J. Ferry, Emancipation Day, Uncle Tom's Cabin Historic Site, August 5, 2017
The Ontario Human Rights Code
The Ontario Human Rights Code came into effect on June 15, 1962 and established equal rights and freedom from discrimination as primary elements of provincial law. The first legislation of its kind in Canada, the Code was designed to affirm and uphold the “inherent dignity and the equal and inaliena
John Steckley
My Brodie History
In 1835 a nine year old Scottish lad named Alexander Brodie came to southern Ontario by ships and boats from Peterhead in northeastern Scotland. He and his family spent their first year on Lot Street (now Queen Street) in Toronto then called York. He described seeing cows being
Paul Dempsey
Last summer my daughter moved out of the province and we loaded up her car and began the journey through Northern Ontario. I have lived all my life in Ontario and it has always been my home. Growing up in Southern Ontario my family took many camping and cottage trips throughout the province visiting
Excerpt taken from an interview with Louis Lesage, PhD (biologist and Director of the Bureau Nionwentsïo, at Notre-Dame-de-Lorette Church at Wendake, Quebec)
Why is it important to preserve the Wendat language?
Culture has many aspects. One aspect is the language. When you lose your language, you lose a part of your culture. The language helps you to describe your environment, to clearly express what you think, to make some colour in your way of life
R. Dennis Moore (Archivist, Multicultural History Society of Ontario)
This badge belonged to Bohdan Panchuk, one of the most influential Canadians involved in the effort to resettle thousands of Ukrainians who were displaced by the Second World War.
By the end of the conflict, countless refugees had been forcibly displaced from their homes and faced uncertain future
R. Dennis Moore (Archivist, Multicultural History Society of Ontario)
This is the temporary passport of Arthur Schönberg, an Estonian naval engineer who risked the high seas to secure a new life in Canada. Although I have never met Mr. Schönberg, his story has been preserved on audiotape by the Multicultural History Society of Ontario.
Arthur Schönberg had a lot of
MyOntario is ...
We are bringing MyOntario – A vision over time to communities across the province to find out what Ontario means to you!
In 2017, our MyOntario roadshow and interactive kiosks are coming to community events, museums and more. It’s a unique chance to join a provincewide conversation about our expe
Sue Senecal
Two rivers that meet in downtown Paris! Wonderful sense of peace and adventure when you hear the train whistle blow ...
- Sue Senecal, McMichael Canadian Art Collection, July 23, 2017
Gabriela Iglecias
Chez moi, avec ma communauté!
- Gabriela Iglecias - National Aboriginal Day at Fort York National Historic Site - June 21, 2017
Chloe Cooley and the 1793 Act to Limit Slavery in Upper Canada
On March 14, 1793 Chloe Cooley, an enslaved Black woman in Queenston, was bound, thrown in a boat and sold across the river to a new owner in the United States. Her screams and violent resistance were brought to the attention of Lieutenant Governor John Graves Simcoe by Peter Martin, a free Black an
