Learn About Ontario: The Great Lakes

They hold one-fifth of all the surface fresh water in the world. They're also home to more species than almost anywhere else in Canada — including more than 150 species of fish. Forty million people in two Canadian provinces and eight U.S. states live in the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin. For centuries, Ontario's history, economy and way of life have been closely tied to the Great Lakes.

Ontario, Quebec and eight Great Lakes states share the waters of the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin. Read about how Ontario is protecting the waters of the Great Lakes.  And learn about how Ontario is protecting biodiversity in the Great Lakes and how ongoing research is helping us understand and restore the health of the lakes.

Home to 150 species of fish, the Great Lakes are one of the best areas in the world for freshwater fishing.  Interested in fishing the Great Lakes? Find out how to buy an Ontario fishing licence. And learn about restoring the Atlantic salmon to Lake Ontario.

Learn about the damage that invasive species can do and how you can help fight them.

Most Ontarians get their drinking water from the Great Lakes.  The lakes are sources of power, important shipping routes, and centres for tourism and recreation.

Find out how important the Great Lakes are to Ontario.

Making Waves is a grade 4 curriculum kit about protecting Ontario's aquatic habitat.

• At 17,500 kilometres, the total length of Great Lakes shorelines is equal to almost 44 per cent of the circumference of the Earth.
• The drainage basin of the Great Lakes covers about 775,000 square kilometres — an area the size of France.
• 40 million people living in Canada and the U.S. get their drinking water from the Great Lakes.
• One quarter of Canada's agricultural production is grown in the Great Lakes Basin.
• Less than 1 per cent of the waters of the Great Lakes are replaced each year by rain and snow, surface water runoff, and groundwater flowing into the lakes.
• At least 185 non-native species have been introduced to the Great Lakes. On average a new aquatic invasive species arrives every six to nine months.
• Lake Superior has the largest surface area of any freshwater lake in the world and is the largest, deepest and coldest of the Great Lakes.
• Manitoulin Island in Lake Huron is the largest freshwater island in the world, and one of more than 32,000 islands in the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River.
• Lake Erie, the shallowest of the Great Lakes, supports the largest walleye fishery in the world.