Destination: Ontario Meeting & Event Planning City Guide
Destination Articles
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Always Cool
By Lisa Kopochinski
April 23, 2013
Actor Bruce Wills said it best in Die Hard: With a Vengeance: “I had no idea this much fun!” More Americans and international meeting overing this, too, as they increasingly book events in the United Anorthern locales. With a population of 23.1 million, eastern cludes Ontario, Quebec, Newfoundland, New Brunswick, Nova Edward Island, is home to 70 percent of Canadian residents.
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Canadian Metropolis Made for Meetings
By Maxine Cass
March 05, 2013
Toronto’s so jam-packed with new luxury hotels and experiences that attendees—or delegates, as Canadians say—typically have a full schedule of stimulating activities on their meeting program.
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Canadian Connections
By Josef Aukee
November 20, 2012
It's a tough choice for those who relish the Francophile culture of Montreal at he diverse cosmopolitan flavor of Toronto. Both land on the top 10 loffcities with the largest populations in North America (No. 5 and 9, Ibased on the 2011 census). Both offer first-rate convention centers, major meetings hotels, efficient transit systems, sports events, exhilarating arts institutions and intriguing central urban landscapes with individual character by he waterways.
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Border Drama
By Josef Aukee
May 31, 2012
Straddling the Canada-U.S. border, the Niagara Falls region is made up of two cities sharing what is arguably the most spectacular waterfall show in North America (or anywhere). The area also features vineyard trails, fashionable Niagara-on-the-Lake and nearby postindustrial Buffalo, N.Y. The falls were first described in print by European immigrant Father Louis Hennepin and as word of them spread, a trickle of tourists became a flood, and the completion of the Erie Canal in the U.S. made getting there much simpler. Although it has garnered much fame as a choice honeymoon retreat for generations, it is also the source of immense hydroelectric power for the region. As a center for industry and border-crossing entrepreneurs, it also attracts sizable regional meetings.
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A Colorful Cultural Quilt
By Steve Winston
May 30, 2012
Eastern Canada is technically just half of one country, but it contains enough cultures, traditions, lifestyles and geographic features to comprise multiple countries. Meeting planners are finding that there’s also an advanced meeting infrastructure, superb hotels and restaurants, and diverse recreational opportunities.
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Europe, Closer
By Talia Salem
March 25, 2011
A trip to the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec is like a jaunt to Western Europe.
Learn about Ontario for Event Venues, Services & Meeting Destinations
Destination Description
The province of Ontario has a British feel at every turn, from its historic forts to its street names. The region was first discovered by British-backed Italian explorer Giovanni Caboto (known in English as John Cabot), and England opened up fur-trading outposts here in the 1670s before it took control of the region. The strong influences of British rule can still be seen in the province’s castles, Toronto’s St. Lawrence Market, Victorian architecture and several forts from the War of 1812. The region will soon be commemorating that war as its 200th anniversary draws near.
One thing visitors might not realize about Ontario is that it is incredibly diverse. Toronto, the provincial capital of Ontario and Canada’s largest city, is clean, safe, walkable and public-transit friendly. It is the country’s commercial center and home to Bay Street, Canada’s Wall Street. Ottawa, Canada’s second largest city and the country’s capital, offers a very different urban experience. The ByWard Market, for example, established by Lt. Colonial John By, opened in 1826 and is one of Canada’s oldest and largest public markets, with museums, shops, galleries and restaurants.
Beyond its cities, Ontario includes world-class attractions and vast tracts of wilderness. Niagara Falls is a sight like no other and there are those who say its Canadian side bests its New York side by far. The roar of pounding water draws nearly 14 million visitors annually. The area has many noteworthy, falls-related attractions, including Journey Behind the Falls, where visitors are treated to unique views of the crashing water at the basin. Ontario borders all of the Great Lakes, and lakeside communities including Sault Ste. Marie and Thunder Bay offer vastly different cultures and experiences. In the far north, Ontario reaches all the way to Hudson Bay and polar bears, and encompasses wilderness areas of forests, rivers and lakes beloved by campers and canoeists.
One wintertime activity worth experiencing lies in the heart of Ottawa. The Rideau Canal, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, freezes each winter and transforms into the world’s largest skating rink at 4.8 miles.
