MyOntario – A vision over time

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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.

Scarlett Janusas (President, Scarlett Janusas Archaeology Inc. )

Underwater archaeology

“Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than those you did. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from safe harbor. Catch the wind in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” – Mark Twain, American author

I’ve always had a passion ab

Manuel Stevens (retired Parks Canada planner)

Stepping back in time to Old Ontario

My Ontario is the Rideau Canal region between Smiths Falls and Kingston. Having spent many years as the planner for the Rideau Canal – and lately a cottage owner on the canal – I have had many occasions to travel these backgrounds over a period of nearly four d

Nathan Tidridge

Her Majesty's beautiful @MohawkChapel - the oldest Protestant church in #MyOntario. #ChapelRoyal

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

Sean Fraser

The Ravine

Straining against the colonial engineer’s grid, carved relentlessly through table land by an ancient creek, its buried waters find their way to the Don and on to the lake. On its banks are a kaleidoscope of wild flowers, blossoms, leaves and litter that turn with the seasons. The V-shap

Nadine Williams with LKDSB students (morning poetry session)

On May 2, the Lambton Kent District School Board, in partnership with the Ontario Heritage Trust and the Buxton National Historic Site and Museum, presented the first annual Black Heritage Symposium. Students and teachers explored Chatham-Kent’s rich Black heritage through interactive presentations

#MyOntario

Where will you adventure this summer?

From cozy campfires to scenic views, there’s lots to explore in Ontario’s great outdoors. Share your adventures with us!

Join the conversation on social media: Explore #MyOntario posts about camping, and connect with us on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

Dawson Bridger

The photo of my great great grandfather, Frederick Allen Weir, on the cover of the 1913 Rod and Gun magazine connects me to a family member I never met. This image was captured near Rondeau Provincial Park, where my family lived at the time. Frederick Weir, his son, and my grandfather, hunted the Ca

Gordon Pim

Remembering Ruby

Some of my fondest memories of childhood involve my grandmother. An immigrant from the UK (she came to Ontario in 1921 with her best friend Sadie and $45 in her pocket), Ruby was tiny in stature but enormous in character. I can remember her up at the cottage, cooking feasts on a w

Beth

“It was in Bobcaygeon, I saw the constellations, Reveal themselves, one star at time.” I heard these song lyrics recently and was transported back to a summer vacation with my father and my siblings when I was a young child. Bobcaygeon‎ was my first experience of cottage life. My childhood self reme

Shruthi Dhananjaya

Being raised in Toronto, I have fond memories of the city’s harbourfront. Throughout the years, I would visit the harbourfront each summer with my family and it is a tradition which I still continue. I find it to be a calming oasis right in the heart of the city centre. I enjoy walking on the boardw

Township of Oro-Medonte

The Oro African Methodist Episcopal Church in Oro-Medonte, Ontario is a National Historical Site and a monumental depiction of freedom and equality in North America. It stands in honour of the Black militiamen that served to defend Upper Canada during the War of 1812.
Research suggests that the chur

Holly Martelle (principal at Timmins Martelle Heritage Consultants Inc.)

Hopes for the future

My life as an archaeologist often consists of hour upon hour of painstaking analysis of small bits and pieces of everyday life. But last year, during an archaeological investigation in Toronto’s downtown, we made a remarkable discovery that not only got my archaeological heart

Lisa

My Ontario is my family, no matter where we are.

Steve Paikin (anchor, The Agenda with Steve Paikin on TVOntario)

Heaven on earth

A month before Ontario turns 150 years old, I’ll celebrate my 57th birthday. I’ve lived all but one of those years in the province of Ontario and all of them in big cities. But my favourite location in the province is somewhere I only spend a few weeks a year.

My first trip to Ma

Henie Frances

I met my husband at the end of March 1964. I was 17, a Grade 13 student, and doing a three-day public relations job at a convention in a downtown Toronto hotel, where he was in sales for the event. He invited me out and took me to the Dunlap Observatory where the planet Venus was being observed. It

Chibuikem Muomah

I travelled light years ahead(a visionary)
sometimes what I speak you might not understand, I lived many lives.
on my journey I met a fellow visionary who helped (Guided) me, I do not know him in person but we connected and spoken a language I call Gibberish(just like babel) and we both understood

R. Donald Maracle (Chief of the Mohawks of Bay of Quinte)

Christ Church, Her Majesty’s Chapel Royal of the Mohawk – Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory

During the American Revolution, the Mohawks were forced to flee their homeland in upper New York State. In 1784, after spending several years in Lachine, Quebec, a group of Mohawks arrived on the shores of the Ba

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

Andy Thomson

I spent my summers in an area in Northern Ontario that was a microcosm of the development of the Ontario wilderness. My connection to the area and the lake where my family had a camp was once a logging operation belonging to my grandfather, W. B. Plaunt of Sudbury. However, it wasn't until I retired

William "Liam" Wadsworth

Uncovering Our Forgotten Souls

For me, archaeology is not just a pathway to historical discovery. It may also be an instrument in the search for truth and, if necessary, justice for past and present peoples. This interest in uncovering unspoken stories brought me to the University of Toronto where

Shivani Anand

I am from my stacks of book and colourful paintings,
From the serene lake and the all buildings,
I am from the beautiful pictures hung in the hallway,
Friends and family is where I am from.

I am from ‘believe in yourself,’ and ‘follow your heart,’
‘Respect others and love all,’
I am from th

Desiree Laporte

Acceptance of EVERYONE.

- Desiree Laporte, Canuck It Up Festival Amherstburg, downtown Amherstburg, August 6, 2017

Nathan Tidridge

#Waterdown's #Souharissen Canoe Garden - planted with medicine gifted by Elder Carolyn King of @MNCFN. #MyOntario

Kathleen Wynne (Premier of Ontario)

Honouring our past, embracing our future

Ontario is Canada’s largest and most diverse province – home to ingenuity, inclusiveness and optimism.

Our province’s 150th birthday is a chance to reflect on our many achievements and look to the work that lies ahead with a renewed sense of purpose.

O

Nathan Tidridge

The Covenant Chain Wampum exchanged at the Treaty of Niagara (1764). #MyOntario

Niagara Historical Society & Museum

Niagara-on-the-Lake is one of the few towns in Ontario that has had black residents since the beginning of the province. However, it was in the years following the War of 1812 that Niagara saw an increase in black immigrants and runaway slaves. When the United States Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 was p

Karin Almuhtadi

Home ♥

- Karin Almuhtadi, Bay and Algoma Buskers Festival, Thunder Bay, July 30, 2017

Chief Francis Pegahmagabow, 1889-1952

Francis Pegahmagabow, an Ojibwe of the Caribou clan, was born in Shawanaga First Nation. He volunteered at the onset of the First World War and served overseas as a scout and sniper with the Canadian Expeditionary Force's 1st Battalion. He was one of 39 Canadian soldiers awarded the Military Medal a

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