Grade by Grade
B. People and Environments · Living and Working in Ontario

Ontario on the Map

B3 B3.7 B2.3About 35 minutes
Learning goals
  • I can find Ontario on a map of Canada.
  • I can name the places that border Ontario on each side.
  • I can name Ontario's capital city and the capital of Canada.
  • I can use a map's title, legend and compass rose to read a map of Ontario.

Words to know

province
One of the ten large parts of Canada that has its own government. Ontario is a province.
border
A line on a map where one place ends and another place begins.
capital city
The city where the government meets. Toronto is the capital of Ontario.
compass rose
A symbol on a map that shows the directions north, south, east and west.
legend
A box on a map that tells what each symbol or colour means.
Great Lakes
Five huge freshwater lakes in the middle of North America. Four of them touch Ontario.

Remember from Grade 2

In Grade 2 you travelled around the world on a globe. You learned that Canada is on the continent of North America, and you used north, south, east and west.

Now we zoom back in, closer to home. This unit is all about Ontario: its land, its towns and cities, and the work people do here.

Where is Ontario?

Canada is made of ten provinces and three territories. Ontario is one of the provinces.

  • Ontario is in the middle part of Canada. People often call it central Canada.
  • Ontario is very big. Only one province, Quebec, is bigger.
  • More people live in Ontario than in any other province.
Hudson BayManitobaONTARIOQuebecGreat LakesUnited StatesN
A simple diagram (not a real map) of Ontario's neighbours. Manitoba is west, Quebec is east, Hudson Bay is north, and the Great Lakes and the United States are south.

Ontario's neighbours

Let's go around Ontario using the four directions:

  • West: the province of Manitoba.
  • East: the province of Quebec.
  • North: salt water! Hudson Bay and James Bay.
  • South: the Great Lakes and rivers. Across the water is the country of the United States.
Waves roll onto a long sandy beach on one of the Great Lakes under a blue sky.
The Great Lakes form much of Ontario's southern border. They are so big that you cannot see the other side! AI-generated image
Great LakeDoes it touch Ontario?
Lake SuperiorYes. It is the biggest of the Great Lakes.
Lake HuronYes
Lake ErieYes
Lake OntarioYes. It has the same name as our province.
Lake MichiganNo. It is all in the United States.
Four of the five Great Lakes touch Ontario.

A memory trick for the Great Lakes

Remember the word HOMES: Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, Superior. Only Michigan does not touch Ontario.

Two important capital cities

  • Toronto is the capital of Ontario. Ontario's government meets there, at Queen's Park. Toronto is also the biggest city in Canada.
  • Ottawa is the capital of Canada. Canada's government meets there, on Parliament Hill. Ottawa is in Ontario too!

On many maps, a capital city is shown with a star symbol instead of a dot.

Parts of a map (a quick check)

Good maps have these parts:

  1. A title: tells what the map is about, like Cities of Ontario.
  2. A legend (or key): tells what the symbols and colours mean.
  3. A compass rose: shows north, south, east and west. On most maps, north is at the top.
  4. A scale: helps you work out real distances. You will learn more about this in the next lesson.
Some Cities of OntarioNSWEcapitalcityLegend0100 km1. title2. legend3. compassrose4. scale
A practice map (not a real map) with all four parts labelled. Find the title, the legend, the compass rose and the scale.
Worked example

Let's read a map of Ontario together

A map is called Some Cities of Ontario. Its legend says: ★ = capital city, ● = city. You see a ★ beside Lake Ontario and a ● far to the north-west, beside Lake Superior. What can you tell?

  1. Read the title first: this map shows cities in Ontario.
  2. Check the legend: a ★ means a capital city, and a ● means a city.
  3. The ★ beside Lake Ontario must be Toronto, the capital of Ontario.
  4. The ● beside Lake Superior is a city in north-western Ontario. On a real map it is Thunder Bay.
  5. Use the compass rose: Thunder Bay is north-west of Toronto.

The ★ is Toronto (capital of Ontario). The ● beside Lake Superior is a city such as Thunder Bay, which is north-west of Toronto.

Worked example

Let's find directions

Ottawa is on the eastern side of Ontario, near Quebec. Windsor is in the far south-west of Ontario. If you drive from Windsor to Ottawa, which way do you mostly go?

  1. Find Windsor: far south-west.
  2. Find Ottawa: east, near the Quebec border.
  3. Going from the west side toward the east side means you travel east. Ottawa is also a bit north of Windsor.

You go mostly east (and a little north). We can say north-east.

Just for fun

Fun fact: Lake Superior holds so much water that it could fill all the other Great Lakes, with enough left over for three more Lake Eries!

Hands-on activity

Make an Ontario neighbour map

You need: paper, a pencil, crayons or markers, and a map of Canada (a paper map, an atlas, or an online map with a grown-up).

  1. Find Ontario on the map of Canada. Trace or draw its shape in the middle of your paper. It does not have to be perfect.
  2. Label Manitoba on the west side and Quebec on the east side.
  3. Colour Hudson Bay and James Bay at the top, and the Great Lakes at the bottom, in the same colour you use for water.
  4. Draw a ★ for Toronto and another ★ for Ottawa.
  5. Add a title, a legend and a compass rose with N, S, E and W.
  6. Put a dot where your community is. Tell a grown-up: "My community is in the ___ part of Ontario."

What to look for: water drawn at the top and bottom, Manitoba on the left (west), Quebec on the right (east), two stars, a title, a legend and a compass rose.

Your turn

1

Is Ontario a province, a territory or a country?

2

Which province is west of Ontario?

3

Which province is east of Ontario?

4

What two bodies of salt water are north of Ontario?

5

Name the four Great Lakes that touch Ontario.

6

What is the capital city of Ontario?

7

What part of a map tells you what the symbols mean?

More practice: warm-up

1

What country is south of Ontario?

2

On most maps, which direction is at the top?

3

What is the capital city of Canada?

4

Which Great Lake does not touch Ontario?

5

What does a map's title tell you?

More practice: on your own

1

Why do people call Ontario part of central Canada?

2

Thunder Bay is beside Lake Superior. Toronto is beside Lake Ontario. Which city is farther north?

3

A map has a ★ and a ● in its legend. What might each one mean?

4

Kim says, "Ottawa is in Quebec." Is she right? Explain.

5

Name two kinds of water that are part of Ontario's borders.

Challenge

1

Ontario touches salt water in the north. Is the water in the Great Lakes salt water or fresh water? Why does that matter to people?

2

Your friend lives in Sudbury. You live in Toronto. Sudbury is north of Toronto. If you look at a map with north at the top, where would Sudbury be compared to Toronto?

3

Why is it helpful for a map to have both a legend and a compass rose? Give one reason for each.

Check your understanding

Quiz

1.

Which province is east of Ontario?

2.

What is the capital city of Ontario?

3.

How many of the five Great Lakes touch Ontario?

4.

What is north of Ontario?

5.

Which part of a map shows north, south, east and west?

6.

Which sentence is true?

For parents and teachers

Big idea: Ontario is a large province in central Canada with Manitoba to the west, Quebec to the east, Hudson Bay and James Bay to the north, and the Great Lakes and the United States to the south. Toronto is the provincial capital and Ottawa is the national capital.

How to help at home:

  • Look at a real map of Canada together (paper atlas, a placemat map or an online map). Find your own community and two places you have visited or have family.
  • Play "Which way?": pick two Ontario places and ask your child which direction you would travel.
  • Point out maps in daily life: weather maps on the news, park trail maps, transit maps. Ask, "Where is the legend? Where is north?"

Common difficulties:

  • Mixing up Toronto and Ottawa. Toronto is Ontario's capital; Ottawa is Canada's capital. Both are in Ontario.
  • Thinking north means "up" in the sky. North is a direction on the ground, toward the North Pole. On most maps it is drawn at the top.
  • Mixing up province and country. Ontario is one province in the country of Canada.