English

Ontario's Golden Horseshoe

Proper noun

Golden Horseshoe

1. (Canada) Nickname for the U-shaped area of the Canadian province of Ontario which extends along the northwestern, western, and southwestern shoreline of Lake Ontario from metropolitan Toronto to the Niagara River, comprising one of Canada's most populated and economically productive regions.
   • 1960, "‘An Ongoing Process’," Time, 22 Feb.:

     The big success story in Canada this year is the tale of the 120-mile rim of rolling land that hugs the western shore of Lake Ontario from Oshawa to Niagara Falls. One out of every seven Canadians now lives there. . . . They proudly call the area "the Golden Horseshoe."

   • 2007, "Editorial: Immigration targets go beyond numbers," Toronto Star, 18 May (retrieved 8 Sep. 2008):

     Half of those new immigrants came to Ontario. . . . Once here, most of them settled in the Golden Horseshoe area, now home to 8.1 million people, or one-quarter of all Canadians.