Ontario, California

Ontario, California is a city in San Bernardino County. At 50 square miles, Ontario is San Bernardino County’s largest city by area and the county’s fourth largest in population with around 185,000 residents. Ontario is about 35 miles east of downtown Los Angeles and about 23 miles west of downtown San Bernardino. Ontario is situated in the Pomona Valley at an elevation of 925 feet above sea level. The San Gabriel Mountains rise to an elevation of about 10,000 feet a short distance to the north of Ontario.

The cost of doing business is lower in Ontario than in the coastal areas of Los Angeles and Orange Counties. This is one of the many factors that has boosted job growth in the city.

The top employers in Ontario include UPS, Target, the Safariland Group, Securitas, Sam’s Club, and the largest and most important of all to the city’s economy, the Ontario International Airport.

Ontario International Airport is one of the most important drivers of the area’s economy. The presence of an international airport not only enables residents and visitors to easily travel to and from the area, but the airport also acts as an efficient mover of goods. A multitude of direct and indirect jobs and business and services deriving from airport-related activities boost the area’s economy. The airport hosts a 251,000 square foot Fed Ex processing Center. Fed Ex, along with Amazon, UPS, and other companies processed more than 900,000 tons of incoming and outgoing cargo through Ontario International Airport in 2020. In 2016, the City of Ontario and San Bernardino County accepted ownership of Ontario International Airport from Los Angeles World Airports, operator of Los Angeles International Airport. Ontario International Airport served more than 5 million passengers in 2019. Ontario International Airport is the 15th busiest airport in the United States in terms of cargo. The utility of Ontario International Airport is boosted by nearby land-based transportation systems. There are seven freeways in the vicinity: Interstate 10, Interstate 15, Interstate 215, State Route 60, State Route 210, State Route 71, and State Route 91. There are also two major railways in the vicinity: Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway and Union Pacific Railway. These land-based transportation systems connect to the Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach, which are located about 40 miles from the City of Ontario. Ontario International Airport creates a multiplier effect so that for every job supported by the airport there are approximately three more off-site jobs. Ontario International Airport has two terminals.

A foreign-trade zone is a designated area within the United States in which qualifying businesses are considered to be outside of the United States for custom’s purposes. Ontario is within a foreign-trade zone.

Ontario has around 110 million square feet of industrial, manufacturing and distribution space.

Ontario Convention Center has 225,000 square feet of meeting and exhibits space. The convention center is bordered by several hotels.

Ontario Mills is a very large retail shopping destination with over 200 stores. Situated on 52 acres, Safari Business Center contains 16 industrial buildings with 92 tenant spaces. Safari Business Center is ideally suited for e-commerce companies, which are an increasingly important part of the local economy.

Ontario was founded in 1882 by brothers George and William B. Chaffey and named after the original home of the Chaffey brothers in Ontario, Canada. The Chaffey brothers established three principles for the “Colony” of Ontario that included a shared water company concept, a grand thoroughfare, and an agricultural college for general education. The concept of a grand thoroughfare was realized in the seven mile long, two-hundred foot wide Euclid Avenue. The gradual incline of the colony, from the Southern Pacific railway tracks on the south to the alluvial fan at the mouth of San Antonio Canyon on the north, was ideal for the development of gravity-driven irrigation. Ontario was incorporated as a city in 1891.

In 1903, an Act of Congress of the United States declared Ontario to be a “Model Irrigation Colony” for its innovation, principals, and establishment of a new standard for urban living and balance with agricultural needs. The Model Colony stood as a prominent example of a successful irrigation project for many years. The colony featured an electric railway, electric lights, and one of the first long distance telephone lines. Ontario was originally an agricultural community with large tracts of citrus groves as well as walnuts, peaches, olives, and grapes.

The Ontario Museum of History & Art is housed in the former and second City Hall of Ontario, dating from 1937.

Cucamonga-Guasti Regional Park, located in Ontario, offers 150 acres of outdoor recreation, including two lakes and a swimming complex.

The John Galvin Park includes a baseball stadium, the Jay Littleton Ball Park, which has a wooden grandstand completed in 1937. The Ontario Orioles, a professional Class C minor league baseball team, played one season at the baseball stadium, which was then known as Ontario Baseball Park, in 1947.

Prado Regional Park is located in the nearby Chino Valley Basin behind the Prado Dam, which was built to prevent future floods along the Santa Ana River. The park covers approximately 2,000 acres and includes rolling hills, grasslands, and riparian habitats.

As you drive through the city you may notice banners attached to some of the streetlight standards. The Ontario Military Banner Program was established to honor and recognize active-duty individuals who serve in the military that reside in, or have immediate family living in, the City of Ontario. The objective is for each street banner to remain posted for two years after installation and to then be retired and given to the service member or family.

The attorneys at Kokozian Law Firm, APC practice employment law and represent workers throughout San Bernardino, Riverside, Orange, and Los Angeles Counties. We represent workers concerning Discrimination claims based on Age, Sex, and other protected characteristics. We also represent workers concerning

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