Editing Ontario, Oregon (section)

==Economy==
[[File:HospitalRoadOntario.jpg|thumb|upright|Southwest 4th Avenue overlooking Holy Rosary Medical Center]]
The Heinz Frozen Food Company (formerly [[Ore-Ida]]), a subsidiary of [[H. J. Heinz Company]], processes locally grown potatoes, and annually produces over {{convert|600000000|lb|kg}} of 75&nbsp;different potato products, while employing approximately 1,000.<ref>{{cite web |title=Worksource |series=Workforce Partners |department=Oregon Department of Community Colleges and Workforce Development |publisher=State of Oregon |url=http://www.odccwd.state.or.us/workforcepartners/display_one.cfm?ID=202}}</ref> [[Tater tots]] were first created and manufactured here in 1953 (commercial distribution began in 1956).<ref name="cnnmoney">{{cite news |last=Lukas |first=Paul |date=1 November 2003 |title=Mr.&nbsp;Potato Head – a dirt-poor farmer turned spud scraps into gold |department=[[CNN Money]] |website=[[CNN]] |url=https://money.cnn.com/magazines/fsb/fsb_archive/2003/11/01/358297/index.htm | access-date = May 1, 2012}}</ref>

St. Alphonsus Medical Center is a 49-bed, acute-care hospital, serving Ontario and the surrounding communities in Eastern Oregon and southwestern Idaho; it is part of the hospital system of [[Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center]] in [[Boise, Idaho]].<ref>{{cite web |title=About us – history |series=Ontario |website=Saint Alphonsus |url=http://www.saintalphonsus.org/ontario/AboutUs-history.html}}</ref>

About {{convert|5|mi|0|spell=in}} northwest of central Ontario is the [[Snake River Correctional Institution]], a 3,000-bed medium security facility. Opened in 1991 and expanded in 1998, the prison has approximately 900 employees.

===Cannabis legalization===
Since 2019, [[Cannabis (drug)|cannabis]] dispensaries have been an important part of Ontario's economy and a notable example of the [[border effect]].<ref>{{cite magazine |first=Tony |last=Lange |date=9 February 2021 |title=The border-town effect: Dispensaries boom on state line |magazine=Cannabis Business Times |url=https://www.cannabisbusinesstimes.com/article/dispensaries-boom-ontario-oregon-bordertown-effect-idaho/ |url-status=live |access-date=2021-05-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210219175659/https://www.cannabisbusinesstimes.com/article/dispensaries-boom-ontario-oregon-bordertown-effect-idaho/ |archive-date=2021-02-19 |quote=A city of 11,000, Ontario grosses $91.7&nbsp;million in 2020 to take over ‘Highest County’ title in Oregon after local voters overturn ban on cannabis sales.}}</ref>

In November&nbsp;2018, voters overturned a ban on recreational marijuana dispensaries in the town, several years after [[Cannabis in Oregon|Oregon legalized recreational marijuana use]]. As Ontario borders [[Idaho]] (where marijuana remains illegal for all purposes), local news outlets reported that by November&nbsp;2019 the city's dispensaries were generating a significant amount of revenue from Idaho residents driving across the state line.<ref>{{cite news |first1=Gretchen  |last1=Parsons |first2=Katie |last2=Terhune |date=10 November 2019 |title='This is the marijuana capital of Idaho': Pot sales bring cash infusion to Ontario [Oregon] |website=[[KTVB]]&nbsp;7 |url=https://www.ktvb.com/article/news/local/this-is-the-marijuana-capital-of-idaho-pot-sales-bring-boomtown-status-to-ontario/277-3d84d233-63fe-452d-8038-22de046c8b34 |url-status=live |access-date=2021-05-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210129085915/https://www.ktvb.com/article/news/local/this-is-the-marijuana-capital-of-idaho-pot-sales-bring-boomtown-status-to-ontario/277-3d84d233-63fe-452d-8038-22de046c8b34 |archive-date=2021-01-29}}</ref> Total cannabis sales from Ontario dispensaries topped $100&nbsp;million in December&nbsp;2020.<ref>{{cite news |first=Lynsey |last=Amundson |title=Pot sales boom in Ontario, top $100&nbsp;million – fueled in part by Idaho customers |date=2020-12-23 |agency=Idaho News&nbsp;6 |website=BoiseDev.com |url=https://boisedev.com/news/2020/12/23/ontario-oregon-marijuana/ |url-status=live |access-date=2021-05-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210210033605/https://boisedev.com/news/2020/12/23/ontario-oregon-marijuana/ |archive-date=2021-02-10}}</ref> The additional revenue from cannabis sales reversed a years-long trend of cutting the annual city budget and stoked advocacy for creation of a [[Greater Idaho]], as many in that part of the state did not vote to legalize recreational marijuana or for the [[2020 Oregon Ballot Measure 110|decriminalization of harder drugs]] along with the more liberal parts of the state, as well as those in Idaho who feel the border purchases of marijuana have increased drug abuse and hurt their way of life there.{{citation needed|date=January 2025}}