Hamilton 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. On January 1, 2001, the new city of Hamilton was formed from the amalgamation of Hamilton and its five neighbouring municipalities: Ancaster, Dundas, Flamborough, Glanbrook, and Stoney Creek. Residents of the old city are known as Hamiltonians.  Since 1981, the metropolitan area has been listed as the ninth largest in Canada and the third largest in Ontario.

Hamilton has built on its historical and social background with attractions including the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum, the HMCS Haida National Historic Site (Canada’s most famous warship and the last remaining Tribal Class in the world), Dundurn Castle (the residence of a Prime Minister of Upper Canada), the Royal Botanical Gardens, the Canadian Football Hall of Fame, the African Lion Safari Park, the Cathedral of Christ the King, and the Workers’ Arts and Heritage Centre.

Founded in 1914, the Art Gallery of Hamilton is Ontario’s third largest public art gallery. The gallery has over 9,000 works in its permanent collection that focus on three areas: 19th century European, Historical Canadian and Contemporary Canadian.

The McMaster Museum of Art (MMA), founded at McMaster University in 1967, houses and exhibits the University’s art collection of more than 7,000 objects, including historical, modern and contemporary art, the Levy Collection of Impressionist and Post Impressionist paintings, and a collection of over 300 German Expressionist prints.

Hamilton has quite an active theatre scene, with the professional company Theatre Aquarius, plus long-time amateur companies, the Players’ Guild of Hamilton and Hamilton Theatre Inc.. Many smaller theatre companies have also opened in the past decade, bringing a variety of theatre to the area.

The Canadian Football Hall of Fame can be found downtown right beside Hamilton City Hall and across town to the east, the Canadian Football League’s Hamilton Tiger-Cats began playing at the new Tim Hortons Field in 2014, which was built as part of the 2015 Pan American Games.

Possibly because of its diverse environment, numerous TV and film productions have been filmed in Hamilton, regulated by the Hamilton Film and Television Office.  A growing arts and culture community garnered media attention in 2006 when the Globe and Mail published an article called “Go West, Young Artist” about Hamilton’s growing art scene. The article highlighted local art galleries, recording studios and independent film production.