Quebec City-Windsor Corridor
Encyclopedia
Quebec City – Windsor Corridor is the most densely-populated and heavily-industrialized region of Canada
. As its name suggests, it extends from Quebec City
in the east to Windsor, Ontario
in the west, spanning 1150 kilometres (714.6 mi). With more than 18 million people, it contained 51% of the country's population and three of Canada's four largest metropolitan areas according to the 2001 Census
. In its relative importance to the country's economic and political infrastructure, it has many similarities to the Northeast megalopolis
in the United States
. The name was first popularized by Via Rail
, which runs frequent passenger rail service in the Quebec City – Windsor Corridor on its route named "The Corridor".
, Quebec
in the northeast to Windsor
, Ontario
in the southwest, running north of the Saint Lawrence River
, Lake Ontario
and Lake Erie
.
Significant urban areas along the corridor include:
Other significant urban areas along the corridor include: Lévis
, Cornwall
, Brockville
, Kingston
, Belleville
, Mississauga, Niagara Falls
, Chatham-Kent, Sherbrooke, Laval
, Gatineau
, Peterborough
, Guelph
, Brantford
, Barrie
, and Sarnia
.
Cities located in neighbouring American regions (such as Western New York
and Southeast Michigan
) are not considered part of the corridor but have many significant cultural, economic, and political ties with urban areas on or near the border such as the Detroit-Windsor area.
For most of its length, the corridor runs through a narrow strip of farmland
with the Canadian Shield
to the north and the Appalachian Mountains
or the Great Lakes
to the south. A drive of only a few minutes north from many of the corridor's cities or towns will show an abrupt change from flat farmland and limestone
bedrock to the granite
hills of the shield. The highways often run right on the boundary of the shield, and it is possible to observe the frequent change from limestone to granite in rockcuts along the way. There are, however, several wider areas of flat farmland, including the southwestern Ontario peninsula between Lake Huron
and Lake Erie
, the eastern Ontario delta from Ottawa to the junction of the Ottawa
and St. Lawrence Rivers at Montreal
, and the Eastern Townships
southeast of Montreal. There is also a minor Great Lakes corridor of stratified limestone called the Niagara Escarpment
.
Because of the moderating influence of the Great Lakes and the frequent influx of warm, moist air from the Gulf of Mexico
, the corridor—particularly the western half—has a markedly warmer climate than the rest of central Canada
. The rich soil and the warm climate mean that the flora and fauna in the corridor are similar to those in the deciduous
forests of the eastern United States
as far south as Virginia
, rather than the evergreen
boreal forest
that covers most of central Canada up to the Arctic
. The forest in southwestern Ontario is often referred to as Carolinian forest
.
The majority of the Canadian population is situated along this corridor. For example, according to the 2006 Canadian Census
, more than 67% of Ontario's population live in its portion of the corridor. Similarly, nearly half of Quebec's population live in or close to Montreal and Quebec City. About half of Canada's total population live between Quebec City and Windsor.
, this area of New France
was named Canada and was a single administrative unit under the governor-general (with regional deputy governors in some cities). However only the eastern third of the corridor, from Quebec City to Montreal, was heavily settled. The major cross-country route used by voyageur
s in the fur trade
continued west from Montreal through the Canadian Shield along the Ottawa Valley
to Lake Nipissing
and Georgian Bay
, passing far to the north of what would later become the Ontario part of the corridor. The lack of good farmland made that route unsuitable for settlement, however, and the frequent portage
s made transportation in boats larger than canoes difficult.
, they naturally settled along the narrow strip north of the St. Lawrence River and lower Great Lakes, where good farm land was available and larger boats could be used for transportation, and these people formed the English-speaking
nucleus of what would later be Ontario (by contrast, many of the Ontario towns along the old fur-trading and logging
route to the north, through the Ottawa Valley and westward, still have small French-speaking populations
). Initially, Kingston was the principal city of the English half of the corridor, but eventually Toronto outgrew it.
During both the North America
n part of the Seven Years' War
between Great Britain
and France
and the War of 1812
between United Kingdom
and the United States, settlements along the corridor were at the centre of the conflicts. Ottawa was eventually chosen as Canada's capital by Queen Victoria precisely because it was further inland and thus less vulnerable to attack, though it is now also considered part of the corridor. The Rideau Canal
was constructed to provide a way to bypass the most vulnerable part of the corridor, from Cornwall to Kingston, where it lies directly on the U.S. border.
The construction of the Saint Lawrence Seaway
during the late 1950s made it possible for some ocean-going vessels to travel the full length of the corridor and beyond to the upper Great Lakes, but resulted in the destruction of several villages
in the Eastern Ontario
portion of the corridor.
The corridor is held together by a series of major transportation routes—water, road, rail, and air—all running close together and sometimes overlapping each other. These routes are anchored by Highway 401
, the busiest highway in North America
from Windsor leading into Quebec Autoroute 20
to Quebec City.
s to travel the entire length of the corridor.
(often known locally by names such as "Montreal Road," "Toronto Road," "Dundas Street," or "Kingston Road") following the routes of older stagecoach roads and the paths and trails that predated them. Highway 2 still forms the main street of many of the corridor's Ontario towns and cities (which were built around it), but large parts of the highway are now maintained by counties or municipalities rather than the province. From 1938 to 1968 the province of Ontario built Highway 401, a freeway that bypasses most of the town and city centres. Highway 401 is now the main transportation route of the corridor up to the Quebec border, where it becomes Autoroute 20 and continues east through the Quebec part of the corridor to Quebec City.
(CN) and the Canadian Pacific Railway
(CP) have extensive freight railway lines along the length of the Quebec City – Windsor Corridor.
Intercity
passenger railway service is provided by Via Rail
throughout the region, mostly using CN freight lines. Referred to in Via Rail's published timetables as simply the Corridor, the Quebec City – Windsor Corridor is the busiest portion of the Via system, accounting for the majority of Canada's intercity passenger trains and ridership. About 67% of Via Rail's total revenue is earned on the Quebec City – Windsor Corridor.
Other inter-city trains from outside the region originate and terminate at cities in the Corridor, such as Via's Canadian
, Montreal – Gaspé train and Ocean, and ONR
's Northlander
. Amtrak
offers an international inter-city passenger railway service along parts of the corridor between Toronto and New York City
and Montreal and New York City.
Prior to Via's formation in 1978, both CN and CP operated Corridor services. Proposals have been advanced to build a high-speed rail link in this corridor. On November 14, 2011, the governments of Ontario, Quebec and Canada have officially released the final report of a high-speed rail study for this corridor.
The major passenger airports along the corridor are Toronto Pearson International Airport
(ranked 20th globally for International passenger traffic and 18th for aircraft traffic), Montréal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport
(ranked 2nd in Canada for total passengers and aircraft traffic), Ottawa Macdonald-Cartier International Airport
, Québec/Jean Lesage International Airport
, Hamilton/John C. Munro International Airport
(ranked 2nd in Canada for cargo traffic) and the military airbases at CFB Trenton
and CFB Petawawa
. There are roughly 90 flights between Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto every work day, making it the busiest air route in Canada and 15th busiest air route in the world.
Other civilian corridor airports with scheduled airline service include Windsor Airport
, Sarnia (Chris Hadfield) Airport
, London International Airport
, Region of Waterloo International Airport
, Toronto City Centre Airport
, Kingston/Norman Rogers Airport
, Lake Simcoe Regional Airport and Gatineau-Ottawa Executive Airport. Montréal-Mirabel International Airport
is a large facility near Montreal that is mainly used for cargo flights but is also home to MEDEVAC
s and general aviation flights.
Inside the corridor, the busiest area of travel is the Toronto–Ottawa–Montreal triangle. Air Canada
serves the three cities with its Rapidair service, offering hourly flights, and its principal competitor WestJet
offers similar service. Porter Airlines
runs frequent commuter flights from Toronto City Centre Airport to Ottawa and Montreal, while Air Canada Jazz
offers commuter flights connecting many of the smaller airports to Toronto, Ottawa, and Montreal. Recently Bearskin Airlines
began running commuter flights between Ottawa and Kitchener. In addition to scheduled air service, some of the airports along the corridor also have frequent charter flights like Air Transat
and Sunwing
to popular tourist destinations.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. As its name suggests, it extends from Quebec City
Quebec City
Quebec , also Québec, Quebec City or Québec City is the capital of the Canadian province of Quebec and is located within the Capitale-Nationale region. It is the second most populous city in Quebec after Montreal, which is about to the southwest...
in the east to Windsor, Ontario
Windsor, Ontario
Windsor is the southernmost city in Canada and is located in Southwestern Ontario at the western end of the heavily populated Quebec City – Windsor Corridor. It is within Essex County, Ontario, although administratively separated from the county government. Separated by the Detroit River, Windsor...
in the west, spanning 1150 kilometres (714.6 mi). With more than 18 million people, it contained 51% of the country's population and three of Canada's four largest metropolitan areas according to the 2001 Census
Canada 2001 Census
The Canada 2001 Census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population. Census day was May 15, 2001. On that day, Statistics Canada attempted to count every person in Canada. The total population count of Canada was 30,007,094. This was a 4% increase over 1996 Census of 28,846,761. In...
. In its relative importance to the country's economic and political infrastructure, it has many similarities to the Northeast megalopolis
Northeast megalopolis
The Northeast megalopolis or Boston–Washington megalopolis is the heavily urbanized area of the United States stretching from the the northern suburbs of Boston, Massachusetts to the southern suburbs of Washington, D.C. On a map, the region appears almost as a perfectly straight line. As of 2000,...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The name was first popularized by Via Rail
VIA Rail
Via Rail Canada is an independent crown corporation offering intercity passenger rail services in Canada. It is headquartered near Montreal Central Station at 3 Place Ville-Marie in Montreal, Quebec....
, which runs frequent passenger rail service in the Quebec City – Windsor Corridor on its route named "The Corridor".
Geography
The corridor extends from Quebec CityQuebec City
Quebec , also Québec, Quebec City or Québec City is the capital of the Canadian province of Quebec and is located within the Capitale-Nationale region. It is the second most populous city in Quebec after Montreal, which is about to the southwest...
, Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
in the northeast to Windsor
Windsor, Ontario
Windsor is the southernmost city in Canada and is located in Southwestern Ontario at the western end of the heavily populated Quebec City – Windsor Corridor. It is within Essex County, Ontario, although administratively separated from the county government. Separated by the Detroit River, Windsor...
, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
in the southwest, running north of the Saint Lawrence River
Saint Lawrence River
The Saint Lawrence is a large river flowing approximately from southwest to northeast in the middle latitudes of North America, connecting the Great Lakes with the Atlantic Ocean. It is the primary drainage conveyor of the Great Lakes Basin...
, Lake Ontario
Lake Ontario
Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south by the American state of New York. Ontario, Canada's most populous province, was named for the lake. In the Wyandot language, ontarío means...
and Lake Erie
Lake Erie
Lake Erie is the fourth largest lake of the five Great Lakes in North America, and the tenth largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also has the shortest average water residence time. It is bounded on the north by the...
.
Significant urban areas along the corridor include:
- TorontoTorontoToronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
- MontrealMontrealMontreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
- OttawaOttawaOttawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...
- Quebec CityQuebec CityQuebec , also Québec, Quebec City or Québec City is the capital of the Canadian province of Quebec and is located within the Capitale-Nationale region. It is the second most populous city in Quebec after Montreal, which is about to the southwest...
- HamiltonHamilton, OntarioHamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Conceived by George Hamilton when he purchased the Durand farm shortly after the War of 1812, Hamilton has become the centre of a densely populated and industrialized region at the west end of Lake Ontario known as the Golden Horseshoe...
- LondonLondon, OntarioLondon is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada, situated along the Quebec City – Windsor Corridor. The city has a population of 352,395, and the metropolitan area has a population of 457,720, according to the 2006 Canadian census; the metro population in 2009 was estimated at 489,274. The city...
- Kitchener-WaterlooKitchener, OntarioThe City of Kitchener is a city in Southern Ontario, Canada. It was the Town of Berlin from 1854 until 1912 and the City of Berlin from 1912 until 1916. The city had a population of 204,668 in the Canada 2006 Census...
- St. Catharines
- OshawaOshawaOshawa is a city in Ontario, Canada, on the Lake Ontario shoreline. It lies in Southern Ontario approximately 60 kilometres east of downtown Toronto. It is commonly viewed as the eastern anchor of both the Greater Toronto Area and the Golden Horseshoe. It is now commonly referred to as the most...
- WindsorWindsor, OntarioWindsor is the southernmost city in Canada and is located in Southwestern Ontario at the western end of the heavily populated Quebec City – Windsor Corridor. It is within Essex County, Ontario, although administratively separated from the county government. Separated by the Detroit River, Windsor...
- Sherbrooke
- Trois-RivièresTrois-RivièresTrois-Rivières means three rivers in French and may refer to:in Canada*Trois-Rivières, the largest city in the Mauricie region of Quebec, Canada*Circuit Trois-Rivières, a racetrack in Trois-Rivières, Quebec...
Other significant urban areas along the corridor include: Lévis
Lévis, Quebec
Lévis is a city in eastern Quebec, Canada. It is located on the south shore of the St. Lawrence River, opposite Quebec City. A ferry links Old Quebec with Old Lévis, and two bridges, the Quebec Bridge and the Pierre Laporte Bridge, connect western Lévis with Quebec City. The Société de transport de...
, Cornwall
Cornwall, Ontario
Cornwall is a city in Eastern Ontario, Canada and the seat of the United Counties of Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry, Ontario. Cornwall is Ontario's easternmost city, located on the St...
, Brockville
Brockville, Ontario
Brockville is a city in Eastern Ontario, Canada, in the Thousand Islands region. Though it serves as the seat of the United Counties of Leeds and Grenville, Brockville is politically independent and is grouped with Leeds and Grenville for census purposes only.Known as the "City of the 1000...
, Kingston
Kingston, Ontario
Kingston, Ontario is a Canadian city located in Eastern Ontario where the St. Lawrence River flows out of Lake Ontario. Originally a First Nations settlement called "Katarowki," , growing European exploration in the 17th Century made it an important trading post...
, Belleville
Belleville, Ontario
Belleville is a city located at the mouth of the Moira River on the Bay of Quinte in Southern Ontario, Canada, in the Quebec City-Windsor Corridor. It is the seat of Hastings County, but is politically independent of it. and the centre of the Bay of Quinte Region...
, Mississauga, Niagara Falls
Niagara Falls, Ontario
Niagara Falls is a Canadian city on the Niagara River in the Golden Horseshoe region of Southern Ontario. The municipality was incorporated on June 12, 1903...
, Chatham-Kent, Sherbrooke, Laval
Laval, Quebec
Laval is a Canadian city and a region in southwestern Quebec. It is the largest suburb of Montreal, the third largest municipality in the province of Quebec, and the 14th largest city in Canada with a population of 368,709 in 2006...
, Gatineau
Gatineau
Gatineau is a city in western Quebec, Canada. It is the fourth largest city in the province. It is located on the northern banks of the Ottawa River, immediately across from Ottawa, Ontario, and together they form Canada's National Capital Region. Ottawa and Gatineau comprise a single Census...
, Peterborough
Peterborough, Ontario
Peterborough is a city on the Otonabee River in southern Ontario, Canada, 125 kilometres northeast of Toronto. The population of the City of Peterborough was 74,898 as of the 2006 census, while the census metropolitan area has a population of 121,428 as of a 2009 estimate. It presently ranks...
, Guelph
Guelph
Guelph is a city in Ontario, Canada.Guelph may also refer to:* Guelph , consisting of the City of Guelph, Ontario* Guelph , as the above* University of Guelph, in the same city...
, Brantford
Brantford, Ontario
Brantford is a city located on the Grand River in Southern Ontario, Canada. While geographically surrounded by the County of Brant, the city is politically independent...
, Barrie
Barrie
Barrie may refer to:* Barrie, city in Ontario, Canada* Barrie , Canadian federal electoral district* Barrie , provincial electoral district* Barrie—Simcoe—Bradford, former Canadian electoral district...
, and Sarnia
Sarnia, Ontario
Sarnia is a city in Southern Ontario, Canada . It is the largest city on Lake Huron and is located where the upper Great Lakes empty into the St. Clair River....
.
Western New York
Western New York is the westernmost region of the state of New York. It includes the cities of Buffalo, Rochester, Niagara Falls, the surrounding suburbs, as well as the outlying rural areas of the Great Lakes lowlands, the Genesee Valley, and the Southern Tier. Some historians, scholars and others...
and Southeast Michigan
Southeast Michigan
Southeast Michigan, also called Southeastern Michigan, is a region in the Lower Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan that is home to a majority of the state's businesses and industries as well as slightly over half of the state's population, most of whom are concentrated in Metro...
) are not considered part of the corridor but have many significant cultural, economic, and political ties with urban areas on or near the border such as the Detroit-Windsor area.
For most of its length, the corridor runs through a narrow strip of farmland
Arable land
In geography and agriculture, arable land is land that can be used for growing crops. It includes all land under temporary crops , temporary meadows for mowing or pasture, land under market and kitchen gardens and land temporarily fallow...
with the Canadian Shield
Canadian Shield
The Canadian Shield, also called the Laurentian Plateau, or Bouclier Canadien , is a vast geological shield covered by a thin layer of soil that forms the nucleus of the North American or Laurentia craton. It is an area mostly composed of igneous rock which relates to its long volcanic history...
to the north and the Appalachian Mountains
Appalachian Mountains
The Appalachian Mountains #Whether the stressed vowel is or ,#Whether the "ch" is pronounced as a fricative or an affricate , and#Whether the final vowel is the monophthong or the diphthong .), often called the Appalachians, are a system of mountains in eastern North America. The Appalachians...
or the Great Lakes
Great Lakes
The Great Lakes are a collection of freshwater lakes located in northeastern North America, on the Canada – United States border. Consisting of Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario, they form the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth by total surface, coming in second by volume...
to the south. A drive of only a few minutes north from many of the corridor's cities or towns will show an abrupt change from flat farmland and limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
bedrock to the granite
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
hills of the shield. The highways often run right on the boundary of the shield, and it is possible to observe the frequent change from limestone to granite in rockcuts along the way. There are, however, several wider areas of flat farmland, including the southwestern Ontario peninsula between Lake Huron
Lake Huron
Lake Huron is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. Hydrologically, it comprises the larger portion of Lake Michigan-Huron. It is bounded on the east by the Canadian province of Ontario and on the west by the state of Michigan in the United States...
and Lake Erie
Lake Erie
Lake Erie is the fourth largest lake of the five Great Lakes in North America, and the tenth largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also has the shortest average water residence time. It is bounded on the north by the...
, the eastern Ontario delta from Ottawa to the junction of the Ottawa
Ottawa River
The Ottawa River is a river in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. For most of its length, it now defines the border between these two provinces.-Geography:...
and St. Lawrence Rivers at Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, and the Eastern Townships
Eastern Townships
The Eastern Townships is a tourist region and a former administrative region in south-eastern Quebec, lying between the former seigneuries south of the Saint Lawrence River and the United States border. Its northern boundary roughly followed Logan's Line, the geologic boundary between the flat,...
southeast of Montreal. There is also a minor Great Lakes corridor of stratified limestone called the Niagara Escarpment
Niagara Escarpment
The Niagara Escarpment is a long escarpment, or cuesta, in the United States and Canada that runs westward from New York State, through Ontario, Michigan, Wisconsin and Illinois...
.
Because of the moderating influence of the Great Lakes and the frequent influx of warm, moist air from the Gulf of Mexico
Gulf of Mexico
The Gulf of Mexico is a partially landlocked ocean basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States, on the southwest and south by Mexico, and on the southeast by Cuba. In...
, the corridor—particularly the western half—has a markedly warmer climate than the rest of central Canada
Central Canada
Central Canada is a region consisting of Canada's two largest and most populous provinces: Ontario and Quebec. Due to their high populations, Ontario and Quebec have traditionally held a significant amount of political power in Canada, leading to some amount of resentment from other regions of the...
. The rich soil and the warm climate mean that the flora and fauna in the corridor are similar to those in the deciduous
Deciduous
Deciduous means "falling off at maturity" or "tending to fall off", and is typically used in reference to trees or shrubs that lose their leaves seasonally, and to the shedding of other plant structures such as petals after flowering or fruit when ripe...
forests of the eastern United States
Eastern United States
The Eastern United States, the American East, or simply the East is traditionally defined as the states east of the Mississippi River. The first two tiers of states west of the Mississippi have traditionally been considered part of the West, but can be included in the East today; usually in...
as far south as Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
, rather than the evergreen
Evergreen
In botany, an evergreen plant is a plant that has leaves in all seasons. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which completely lose their foliage during the winter or dry season.There are many different kinds of evergreen plants, both trees and shrubs...
boreal forest
Boreal forest of Canada
Canada's boreal forest comprises about one third of the circumpolar boreal forest that rings the northern hemisphere, mostly north of the 50th parallel. Other countries with boreal forest include Russia, which contains the majority, and the Scandinavian and Nordic countries . The boreal region in...
that covers most of central Canada up to the Arctic
Arctic
The Arctic is a region located at the northern-most part of the Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean and parts of Canada, Russia, Greenland, the United States, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland. The Arctic region consists of a vast, ice-covered ocean, surrounded by treeless permafrost...
. The forest in southwestern Ontario is often referred to as Carolinian forest
Carolinian forest
The Carolinian forest is a life zone in eastern North America characterized primarily by a predominance of deciduous, or broad-leaf trees. The term "Carolinian forest" is used primarily in Canada...
.
The majority of the Canadian population is situated along this corridor. For example, according to the 2006 Canadian Census
Canada 2006 Census
The Canada 2006 Census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population. Census day was May 16, 2006. The next census following will be the 2011 Census. Canada's total population enumerated by the 2006 census was 31,612,897...
, more than 67% of Ontario's population live in its portion of the corridor. Similarly, nearly half of Quebec's population live in or close to Montreal and Quebec City. About half of Canada's total population live between Quebec City and Windsor.
Early history
During the French colonizationFrench colonial empires
The French colonial empire was the set of territories outside Europe that were under French rule primarily from the 17th century to the late 1960s. In the 19th and 20th centuries, the colonial empire of France was the second-largest in the world behind the British Empire. The French colonial empire...
, this area of New France
New France
New France was the area colonized by France in North America during a period beginning with the exploration of the Saint Lawrence River by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Spain and Great Britain in 1763...
was named Canada and was a single administrative unit under the governor-general (with regional deputy governors in some cities). However only the eastern third of the corridor, from Quebec City to Montreal, was heavily settled. The major cross-country route used by voyageur
Coureur des bois
A coureur des bois or coureur de bois was an independent entrepreneurial French-Canadian woodsman who traveled in New France and the interior of North America. They travelled in the woods to trade various things for fur....
s in the fur trade
Fur trade
The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of world market for in the early modern period furs of boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals have been the most valued...
continued west from Montreal through the Canadian Shield along the Ottawa Valley
Ottawa Valley
The Ottawa Valley is the valley along the boundary between Eastern Ontario and Western Quebec along the Ottawa River. The valley is the transition between the Saint Lawrence Lowlands and the Canadian Shield...
to Lake Nipissing
Lake Nipissing
Lake Nipissing is a lake in the Canadian province of Ontario. It has a surface area of , a mean elevation of above sea level, and is located between the Ottawa River and Georgian Bay. Excluding the Great Lakes, Lake Nipissing is the fifth-largest lake in Ontario. It is relatively shallow for a...
and Georgian Bay
Georgian Bay
Georgian Bay is a large bay of Lake Huron, located entirely within Ontario, Canada...
, passing far to the north of what would later become the Ontario part of the corridor. The lack of good farmland made that route unsuitable for settlement, however, and the frequent portage
Portage
Portage or portaging refers to the practice of carrying watercraft or cargo over land to avoid river obstacles, or between two bodies of water. A place where this carrying occurs is also called a portage; a person doing the carrying is called a porter.The English word portage is derived from the...
s made transportation in boats larger than canoes difficult.
Revolutionary War
When the English-speaking United Empire Loyalists arrived in Canada after the American RevolutionAmerican Revolution
The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...
, they naturally settled along the narrow strip north of the St. Lawrence River and lower Great Lakes, where good farm land was available and larger boats could be used for transportation, and these people formed the English-speaking
English Canada
English Canada is a term used to describe one of the following:# English-speaking Canadians, as opposed to French-speaking Canadians. It is employed when comparing English- and French-language literature, media, or art...
nucleus of what would later be Ontario (by contrast, many of the Ontario towns along the old fur-trading and logging
Logging
Logging is the cutting, skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or logs onto trucks.In forestry, the term logging is sometimes used in a narrow sense concerning the logistics of moving wood from the stump to somewhere outside the forest, usually a sawmill or a lumber yard...
route to the north, through the Ottawa Valley and westward, still have small French-speaking populations
French Canada
French Canada, also known as "Lower Canada", is a term to distinguish the French Canadian population of Canada from English Canada.-Definition:...
). Initially, Kingston was the principal city of the English half of the corridor, but eventually Toronto outgrew it.
During both the North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
n part of the Seven Years' War
Seven Years' War
The Seven Years' War was a global military war between 1756 and 1763, involving most of the great powers of the time and affecting Europe, North America, Central America, the West African coast, India, and the Philippines...
between Great Britain
Kingdom of Great Britain
The former Kingdom of Great Britain, sometimes described as the 'United Kingdom of Great Britain', That the Two Kingdoms of Scotland and England, shall upon the 1st May next ensuing the date hereof, and forever after, be United into One Kingdom by the Name of GREAT BRITAIN. was a sovereign...
and France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and the War of 1812
War of 1812
The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...
between United Kingdom
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom during the period when what is now the Republic of Ireland formed a part of it....
and the United States, settlements along the corridor were at the centre of the conflicts. Ottawa was eventually chosen as Canada's capital by Queen Victoria precisely because it was further inland and thus less vulnerable to attack, though it is now also considered part of the corridor. The Rideau Canal
Rideau Canal
The Rideau Canal , also known as the Rideau Waterway, connects the city of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada on the Ottawa River to the city of Kingston, Ontario on Lake Ontario. The canal was opened in 1832 as a precaution in case of war with the United States and is still in use today, with most of its...
was constructed to provide a way to bypass the most vulnerable part of the corridor, from Cornwall to Kingston, where it lies directly on the U.S. border.
The construction of the Saint Lawrence Seaway
Saint Lawrence Seaway
The Saint Lawrence Seaway , , is the common name for a system of locks, canals and channels that permits ocean-going vessels to travel from the Atlantic Ocean to the North American Great Lakes, as far as Lake Superior. Legally it extends from Montreal to Lake Erie, including the Welland Canal...
during the late 1950s made it possible for some ocean-going vessels to travel the full length of the corridor and beyond to the upper Great Lakes, but resulted in the destruction of several villages
The Lost Villages
The Lost Villages are ten communities in the Canadian province of Ontario, in the former townships of Cornwall and Osnabruck near Cornwall, which were permanently submerged by the creation of the Saint Lawrence Seaway in 1958....
in the Eastern Ontario
Eastern Ontario
Eastern Ontario is a subregion of Southern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario which lies in a wedge-shaped area between the Ottawa River and St. Lawrence River...
portion of the corridor.
Transportation
Highway 401 (Ontario)
King's Highway 401, also known by its official name as the Macdonald–Cartier Freeway and colloquially as the four-oh-one, is a 400-Series Highway in the Canadian province of Ontario stretching from Windsor to the Quebec border...
, the busiest highway in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
from Windsor leading into Quebec Autoroute 20
Quebec Autoroute 20
Autoroute 20 is a major Quebec Autoroute, following the Saint Lawrence River through one of the more densely-populated parts of Canada, and is part of the Trans-Canada Highway. At , it is the longest Autoroute in Quebec...
to Quebec City.
Waterways
The oldest transportation route is the St. Lawrence River and Great Lakes, where the series of channels and locks that make up the St. Lawrence Seaway allow ocean-going vessels and lake freighterLake freighter
Lake freighters, or Lakers, are bulk carrier vessels that ply the Great Lakes. The best known was the , the most recent and largest major vessel to be wrecked on the Lakes. These vessels are traditionally called boats, although classified as ships. In the mid-20th century, 300 lakers worked the...
s to travel the entire length of the corridor.
Roadways
The Ontario portion of the corridor was originally joined by Highway 2Highway 2 (Ontario)
King's Highway 2, usually referred to simply as Highway 2 is a provincially maintained highway in Ontario. Once the primary east–west route across the southern end of the province, Highway 2 became mostly redundant in the 1960s following the completion of Highway 401, which more or less...
(often known locally by names such as "Montreal Road," "Toronto Road," "Dundas Street," or "Kingston Road") following the routes of older stagecoach roads and the paths and trails that predated them. Highway 2 still forms the main street of many of the corridor's Ontario towns and cities (which were built around it), but large parts of the highway are now maintained by counties or municipalities rather than the province. From 1938 to 1968 the province of Ontario built Highway 401, a freeway that bypasses most of the town and city centres. Highway 401 is now the main transportation route of the corridor up to the Quebec border, where it becomes Autoroute 20 and continues east through the Quebec part of the corridor to Quebec City.
Rail
Both the Canadian National RailwayCanadian National Railway
The Canadian National Railway Company is a Canadian Class I railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec. CN's slogan is "North America's Railroad"....
(CN) and the Canadian Pacific Railway
Canadian Pacific Railway
The Canadian Pacific Railway , formerly also known as CP Rail between 1968 and 1996, is a historic Canadian Class I railway founded in 1881 and now operated by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited, which began operations as legal owner in a corporate restructuring in 2001...
(CP) have extensive freight railway lines along the length of the Quebec City – Windsor Corridor.
Intercity
Inter-city rail
Inter-city rail services are express passenger train services that cover longer distances than commuter or regional trains.There is no precise definition of inter-city rail. Its meaning may vary from country to country...
passenger railway service is provided by Via Rail
VIA Rail
Via Rail Canada is an independent crown corporation offering intercity passenger rail services in Canada. It is headquartered near Montreal Central Station at 3 Place Ville-Marie in Montreal, Quebec....
throughout the region, mostly using CN freight lines. Referred to in Via Rail's published timetables as simply the Corridor, the Quebec City – Windsor Corridor is the busiest portion of the Via system, accounting for the majority of Canada's intercity passenger trains and ridership. About 67% of Via Rail's total revenue is earned on the Quebec City – Windsor Corridor.
Other inter-city trains from outside the region originate and terminate at cities in the Corridor, such as Via's Canadian
The Canadian
The Canadian is a Canadian transcontinental passenger train originally operated by the Canadian Pacific Railway between 1955 and 1978. It is currently operated as an Inter-city rail service by Via Rail Canada with service between Union Station in Toronto, Ontario and Pacific Central Station in...
, Montreal – Gaspé train and Ocean, and ONR
Ontario Northland Railway
The Ontario Northland Railway is a Canadian railway operated by the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission, a provincial Crown agency of the government of Ontario....
's Northlander
Northlander
The Northlander is a Canadian passenger train operated by the Ontario Northland Railway in Ontario.It operates 6 days per week year-round in both directions and connects Cochrane with Toronto...
. Amtrak
Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak , is a government-owned corporation that was organized on May 1, 1971, to provide intercity passenger train service in the United States. "Amtrak" is a portmanteau of the words "America" and "track". It is headquartered at Union...
offers an international inter-city passenger railway service along parts of the corridor between Toronto and New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and Montreal and New York City.
Prior to Via's formation in 1978, both CN and CP operated Corridor services. Proposals have been advanced to build a high-speed rail link in this corridor. On November 14, 2011, the governments of Ontario, Quebec and Canada have officially released the final report of a high-speed rail study for this corridor.
Airports
Toronto Pearson International Airport
Toronto Pearson International Airport is an international airport serving Toronto, Ontario, Canada; its metropolitan area; and the Golden Horseshoe, an urban agglomeration that is home to 8.1 million people – approximately 25% of Canada's population...
(ranked 20th globally for International passenger traffic and 18th for aircraft traffic), Montréal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport
Montréal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport
Montréal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport or Montréal-Trudeau, formerly known as Montréal-Dorval International Airport, is located on the Island of Montreal, from Montreal's downtown core. The airport terminals are located entirely in Dorval, while the Air Canada headquarters complex...
(ranked 2nd in Canada for total passengers and aircraft traffic), Ottawa Macdonald-Cartier International Airport
Ottawa Macdonald-Cartier International Airport
Ottawa/Macdonald-Cartier International Airport or Macdonald-Cartier International Airport , in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada is named after Sirs John A. Macdonald and George-Étienne Cartier...
, Québec/Jean Lesage International Airport
Québec/Jean Lesage International Airport
Québec City Jean Lesage International Airport, also known as Jean Lesage International Airport was established in 1939, a year after the closure of the Aérodrome Saint-Louis. It is located west southwest of Quebec City, Quebec, Canada...
, Hamilton/John C. Munro International Airport
Hamilton/John C. Munro International Airport
John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport or Hamilton International, , is an international airport in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. It is named for John C...
(ranked 2nd in Canada for cargo traffic) and the military airbases at CFB Trenton
CFB Trenton
Canadian Forces Base Trenton , is a Canadian Forces base located northeast of Trenton, Ontario. It is operated as an air force base by the Royal Canadian Air Force and is the hub for air transport operations in Canada and abroad...
and CFB Petawawa
CFB Petawawa
Canadian Forces Base Petawawa, commonly referred to as CFB Petawawa, or simply "Pet", is a Canadian Forces Base located in Petawawa, Ontario. It is operated as an army base by Canadian Forces Land Force Command.-Base facts:...
. There are roughly 90 flights between Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto every work day, making it the busiest air route in Canada and 15th busiest air route in the world.
Other civilian corridor airports with scheduled airline service include Windsor Airport
Windsor Airport
Windsor Airport, , is located in the southeast portion of the city of Windsor, Ontario, Canada. The airport serves a mixture of scheduled airline flights and general aviation, and is a popular point of entry into Canada for private and business aircraft...
, Sarnia (Chris Hadfield) Airport
Sarnia (Chris Hadfield) Airport
Sarnia Airport, , is located east northeast of Sarnia, Ontario, Canada.The airport is classified as an airport of entry by NAV CANADA and is staffed by the Canada Border Services Agency...
, London International Airport
London International Airport
London International Airport or London Airport is located northeast of the city of London, Ontario, Canada.In 2009, the airport handled 501,835 passengers, and, in 2010, was the 9th busiest in Canada in terms of aircraft movements, with 141,001. Air Canada, Air Canada Express, United Express ,...
, Region of Waterloo International Airport
Region of Waterloo International Airport
Region of Waterloo International Airport or Kitchener/Waterloo Airport is situated near Breslau, in Woolwich Township, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada....
, Toronto City Centre Airport
Toronto City Centre Airport
Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport , commonly known as the Toronto Island Airport is an airport located on the Toronto Islands in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is named after Air Marshal Billy Bishop, a Canadian First World War flying ace...
, Kingston/Norman Rogers Airport
Kingston/Norman Rogers Airport
Kingston Airport or Kingston/Norman Rogers Airport, , is an airport located west of the core of Kingston, Ontario, Canada.The airport is named after former MP Norman McLeod Rogers , Minister of Labour and then National Defence in Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King's cabinet...
, Lake Simcoe Regional Airport and Gatineau-Ottawa Executive Airport. Montréal-Mirabel International Airport
Montréal-Mirabel International Airport
Montréal-Mirabel International Airport, originally called Montréal International Airport and widely known simply as Mirabel is an airport located in Mirabel, Quebec, Canada, northwest of Montreal and was opened October 4, 1975...
is a large facility near Montreal that is mainly used for cargo flights but is also home to MEDEVAC
MEDEVAC
Medical evacuation, often termed Medevac or Medivac, is the timely and efficient movement and en route care provided by medical personnel to the wounded being evacuated from the battlefield or to injured patients being evacuated from the scene of an accident to receiving medical facilities using...
s and general aviation flights.
Inside the corridor, the busiest area of travel is the Toronto–Ottawa–Montreal triangle. Air Canada
Air Canada
Air Canada is the flag carrier and largest airline of Canada. The airline, founded in 1936, provides scheduled and charter air transport for passengers and cargo to 178 destinations worldwide. It is the world's tenth largest passenger airline by number of destinations, and the airline is a...
serves the three cities with its Rapidair service, offering hourly flights, and its principal competitor WestJet
WestJet
WestJet Airlines Ltd. is a Canadian low-cost carrier that provides scheduled and charter air service to 71 destinations in Canada, the United States, Mexico and the Caribbean. Founded in 1996, WestJet is currently the second largest Canadian air carrier, behind Air Canada, operating an average of...
offers similar service. Porter Airlines
Porter Airlines
Porter Airlines is a regional airline headquartered at Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport on the Toronto Islands in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Porter operates regularly scheduled flights between Toronto and locations in Canada and the United States using Canadian-built Bombardier Dash-8 Q 400...
runs frequent commuter flights from Toronto City Centre Airport to Ottawa and Montreal, while Air Canada Jazz
Air Canada Jazz
Jazz Aviation LP is a Canadian regional airline based at Halifax Stanfield International Airport in Enfield and Halifax Regional Municipality, Nova Scotia, and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Chorus Aviation....
offers commuter flights connecting many of the smaller airports to Toronto, Ottawa, and Montreal. Recently Bearskin Airlines
Bearskin Airlines
Bearskin Lake Air Services Ltd., trading as Bearskin Airlines, is a regional airline based in Sioux Lookout, Ontario, Canada. It operates services in northern Ontario and Manitoba...
began running commuter flights between Ottawa and Kitchener. In addition to scheduled air service, some of the airports along the corridor also have frequent charter flights like Air Transat
Air Transat
Air Transat is an airline based in Saint-Laurent, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, operating scheduled and charter flights, serving 60 destinations in 25 countries. The airline is owned and operated by Transat A.T. Inc. During the summer season its main destinations are Europe and in the winter season the...
and Sunwing
Sunwing Airlines
Sunwing Airlines Inc. is an airline headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, offering scheduled and chartered services to Canada, the United States, Mexico, the Caribbean, Europe, Central America, South America as well as domestic services during the summer season.It is a subsidiary of Sunwing...
to popular tourist destinations.