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Building and operating large institutions for people we describe today as having developmental disabilities spanned 133 years in Ontario, from the opening of the first asylum in 1876 to the closing of the final three facilities in 2009. Institutions were strongly supported by economic and cultural trends, and accompanying philosophical rationales, in Europe and North America, and it seemed natural for Canada to follow these trends. Institutions were intended to promote health, safety, training, and other aspects of growth and well-being, and many successes were noted. As time went on, however, overcrowding, underfunding, lack of demonstrated success, and philosophical, economic, and social changes resulted in a long decline of institutions. The philosophy of normalization, which claimed people with disabilities had the right to live in communities, became popular in the 1970s in Ontario, and resulted in the dramatic growth of community services and housing options. Community living gradually replaced the long tradition of institutional living in Ontario. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]