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.
Litsa Tsouluhas
I love Toronto because it celebrates diversity. This is unique, not only to Canada but to the world.
Ontario means the Great Lakes.
Ontario is making an effort to redress a colonizing past.
- Litsa Tsouluhas - National Aboriginal Day at Fort York National Historic Site - June 22, 2017
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
Kevin Mannara (Basilian scholastic, seminarian, Our Lady of Assumption Catholic Parish)
What was and what will be
The term symbolkirchen can roughly be translated as a “symbol bearing church.” Such churches point to living realities beyond ourselves and hold the potential to serve as bridges, transcending the present vision to bring together what was and what may yet be. Assumption C
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
Olivia Wallace
Emancipation Day. FREE AT LAST!
- Olivia Wallace, Emancipation Day celebration at Uncle Tom’s Cabin Historic Site, Dresden, August 5, 2017
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
Janet Haughton
Naturally beautiful!
- Janet Haughton, Canuck It Up Festival Amherstburg, downtown Amherstburg, August 6, 2017
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.
Pauline Moss
Fresh fruit, small towns, variety, farm fields, sunsets, lakes, camping, family
- Pauline Moss, Emancipation Day celebration at Uncle Tom’s Cabin Historic Site, Dresden, August 5, 2017
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
Jen Brennan
Many people are not aware that the Unitarian Universalism faith has been around in Canada since the late 1800s. The congregation in Ottawa began on Elgin Street in 1898.
To better serve the community, an award-winning building was erected on Cleary Avenue (Algonquin Avenue at the time) on five acr
#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
Ontario Science Centre
Ontario Science Centre weaving its way into history
The Ontario Science Centre is the proud owner of a 19th-Century Jacquard Loom, which uses perforated cards laced together to control the movements of the machine. The presence or absence of the holes on those punch cards essentially tells the loo
Andrew Riddle (Partner at ASI)
For millennia, the Grand River served as a highway for the First Nations people of Southern Ontario, connecting broad expanses of the Golden Horseshoe inland to Lake Erie. The banks of the Grand River have sometimes been characterized as one long archaeological site, and that proved to be true for a
David P. Silcox (author, educator, cultural administrator and arts advocate)
MY ONTARIO IS:
RosalieAbella, RobertAitken, AndréAlexis, LouApplebaum, MargaretAtwood, IainBaxter&, StanBevington, BillBissett, JeanBoggs, DaveBroadfoot, EdBurtynsky, JackBush, JackCostello, DavidCrombie, KikiDelaney, LouiseDennys, MichaeldePencier, RamsayDerry, RupertDuchesne, BuddFeheley, Ma
Charlie Fairbank (great-grandson of Oil Springs pioneer John Henry Fairbank)
An enduring landscape
Each morning, I open the door of our farmhouse and step into an enduring landscape of beauty, shaped by horse and man. Sheep dot the fields, deer often bound away and birds flap overhead. The swinging wooden jerker line sings a symphonic rhythm as it delivers power to the pum
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
Janice Finkle, Adam Leslie and Ian Leslie
Amazing Provincial Parks! We have camped over the years at both canoe-in and drive-in Parks. Our family connects and explores together.
- Janice Finkle, Adam Leslie and Ian Leslie at Kingston Penitentiary Museum - Doors Open Kingston, June 17, 2017
#MyOntario
What's your Canadian Thanksgiving tradition?
From fall recipes to family traditions – tell us how you celebrate Thanksgiving!
Join the conversation on social media: Explore #MyOntario posts about Thanksgiving and connect with us on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.
Steven Beckly (artist and former Doris McCarthy Artist-in-Residence program resident)
Steven Beckly is a visual artist specializing in photography.
#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.
Alisha Mohamed-Marchant
As a child, I imagined myself as an archaeologist exploring tombs and temples. As an adult, I find myself as an archaeologist exploring libraries and archives. Sure, it may not be the glamorous archaeology seen on television but for me it's a continuous narrative slowly revealing how the landscape a
Jim Szilva (author and son of Ted Szilva, creator of the Big Nickel)
A nickel and a prayer
In 1963, a firefighter named Ted Szilva entered a contest organized by the Canadian Centennial Committee in Sudbury. The committee asked residents of the city to come up with a unique way to celebrate and recognize Canada’s 100th birthday in Sudbury. Sudbury was a mining town
Larry Wayne Richards (former Trust Board member, Professor Emeritus and former Dean, John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design, University of Toronto)
Ontario trains
My first views of Ontario were from a passenger train 45 years ago. In 1972, I crossed the border at Detroit and took a train from Windsor to Toronto. From my window, I experienced the southwestern Ontario landscape – rolling green farmland and orderly towns – unfolding like frames