What is Central Ontario?

[Docere]

Is it the "L" postal codes? Between east and west? Between north and south? Cottage country?

[Blitz]

From my understanding it's Barrie, Peterborough, and Cottage Country.

[ScreamingViking]

"I'll take 'Canadian Geography' for $200"

It really depends... different organizations include different parts. Even within the Ontario government it may differ between ministries -- sometimes Hamilton & Niagara are included in "central", sometimes "west" or "southwest", and I believe the same may apply to Waterloo Region and Wellington County. Some may consider the Golden Horseshoe or Greater Golden Horseshoe as "central"

E.g., the Ontario government's labour enforcement regions:

https://www.ontario.ca/document/occu...ns-and-offices

vs. MTO's (sorry for the crappy map detail... these were all I found in a quick search):

https://www.raqs.merx.com/public/con...yRegionMap.jsf


https://library.mcmaster.ca/maps/dcrb.htm

[DoubleK]

Originally Posted by Blitz

From my understanding it's Barrie, Peterborough, and Cottage Country.

I thought North started at Barrie?

[Blitz]

Northern Ontario coincides with the Canadian Shield landscape more or less. Barrie is definitely Southern Ontario.

[Dengler Avenue]

Originally Posted by Blitz

Northern Ontario coincides with the Canadian Shield landscape more or less. Barrie is definitely Southern Ontario.

Hmm… I’d say Barrie’s in Central Ontario, even though it’s part of Greater Golden Horseshoe.

For me, Central Ontario is the geographical area patrolled by O.P.P. Central Region (minus Caledon), so this includes Dufferin (including Orangeville), Simcoe (including Bradford and Barrie), Peterborough (including the namesake city), Northumberland (including Cobourg) Counties, City of Kawartha Lakes (including Lindsay and Op which are patrolled by City of Kawartha Lakes Police), and the District Municipality of Muskoka.

[Blitz]

Agreed, and Central Ontario is a subregion of Southern Ontario.

[Dengler Avenue]

Originally Posted by Blitz

Agreed, and Central Ontario is a subregion of Southern Ontario.

That’s technically right.
When I hear Southern Ontario, I probably just think SWO + possibly SCO (the counties along South Huron Shore, minus Lambton).

[xzmattzx]

Originally Posted by ScreamingViking

E.g., the Ontario government's labour enforcement regions:

https://www.ontario.ca/document/occu...ns-and-offices

So according to this, part of eastern Ontario is west of part of western Ontario.

[Dengler Avenue]

Originally Posted by xzmattzx

So according to this, part of eastern Ontario is west of part of western Ontario.

Which part of Eastern Ontario? Admittedly the labels for Western and Eastern Ontario in that map are nearly indistinguishable though.

[Djeffery]

Originally Posted by Dengler Avenue

Which part of Eastern Ontario? Admittedly the labels for Western and Eastern Ontario in that map are nearly indistinguishable though.

Western portion of Muskoka is west of eastern portion of Niagara.

[Dengler Avenue]

Originally Posted by Djeffery

Western portion of Muskoka is west of eastern portion of Niagara.

Good catch. For that, blame Lake Ontario.

[Blitz]

Usually Niagara region is not considered part of Southwestern Ontario though. Some agencies might consider it to be but the real hardcore SW Ont is the 519 area code.

[Innsertnamehere]

central Ontario to me is the GTHA.

So counties wise it would be Durham, Toronto, York, Simcoe, Peel, Halton, and Hamilton.

Niagara is an odd one as it's not really Southwestern Ontario in the traditional sense but it's not really the GTA either.

I like to think of Muskoka and Haliburton as northern Ontario, though a lot of people (especially people from further north from my experience) really disagree with that for some reason.

Whether to include Waterloo/Guelph in central Ontario is kind of interesting, but I find their characters to be solidly more southwestern, even if they are sort of mixed in to the GTA.

[Djeffery]

I recall when I was a kid that on CKCO Channel 13 in Kitchener, they had ads for the Central Ontario Exhibition, which I'm assuming was their summer/fall fair.

[ScreamingViking]

Originally Posted by xzmattzx

So according to this, part of eastern Ontario is west of part of western Ontario.

Yeah, the "official" regions used by government and others often have oddities. MTO's West Region may be west of most of Southern Ontario, but it's not west of about ~3/4 of the entire province.

I think of the GTHA as "central" too. And I'd include Niagara just because its busiest connection to the rest of the province is via the QEW.

Where to begin "north" is also something to debate. Does it begin at the French River? Or should it include more of the Canadian Shield, and hence include the districts of Parry Sound & Nipissing, and at least part of Renfrew County, and probably Muskoka and Haliburton too?

[Dengler Avenue]

The thing is, it's mostly Canadian Shield north of Highway 7, starting from Peterborough (hence the highlands), so that will put a lot of the eastern counties in the northern category.
I've thought for a while that Haliburton shouldn't have been a county at all because it barely has any arable land like all the other ones.

[ScreamingViking]

Originally Posted by Dengler Avenue

The thing is, it's mostly Canadian Shield north of Highway 7, starting from Peterborough (hence the highlands), so that will put a lot of the eastern counties in the northern category.

I just meant that some counties/districts feel more like those farther north, so maybe they should be considered part of that region of Ontario.

There's more than one way to skin a squirrel here... dividing Ontario by administrative divisions is one approach, or using physical geography could be another. Neither will be perfect though.

Originally Posted by Dengler Avenue

I've thought for a while that Haliburton shouldn't have been a county at all because it barely has any arable land like all the other ones.

I don't understand your reasoning re: "arable land" and designation as a county. A more formal municipal organization is warranted for areas that have more residents or properties and infrastructure to manage, which is the case in Haliburton IMO.

[Dengler Avenue]

There's more than one way to skin a squirrel here... dividing Ontario by administrative divisions is one approach, or using physical geography could be another. Neither will be perfect though.

Indeed, whichever way we slice it, we can’t please everyone.

I don't understand your reasoning re: "arable land" and designation as a county. A more formal municipal organization is warranted for areas that have more residents or properties and infrastructure to manage, which is the case in Haliburton IMO.

Admittedly, the only time that I’ve passed by Halliburton County was when I was on the 28. I went camping near Dwight(?) in 2014 but even today I still don’t know where I went. My friends who went with me simply said that it wasn’t at Algonquin but somewhere near.
That said, I don’t know how populated Halliburton County is, but at first sight, it doesn’t feel like your traditional counties (just because it’s mostly rocky), if that makes sense.

[Docere]

Are Northumberland, Peterborough and the Kawarthas "eastern" or "central"?