In total about 85% of Ontario’s land area is crown land. This is public land, owned by the federal government and administrated by the Ministry of Natural Resources. Most of this land is wilderness area, which is leased to private logging and mining firms.

As Canadian citizens, we have the right to use this land for recreational purposes, as long as we adhere to the Public Lands Act which can be summarized as follows.

1) the regular laws apply regardless of permit
2) no permanent damage or changes are allowed without a
permit
3) no profit may be made on Crown Land without permit
4) we can be there for as long as 3 weeks
5) it is for use by all members of the public, which means we
can not limit access to it and must share it!

The Public Lands Act in its entirety can be found here:
http://www.canlii.org/on/laws/sta/p-43/20060213/whole.html

Crown land maps are provided by the MNR and can be found
here:
http://crownlanduseatlas.mnr.gov.on.ca/ and http://www.mrnf.gouv.qc.ca/cartes/index.jsp

Also, be aware of campfires bans when camping on crown land.