High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! The Great Lakes region of North America, occasionally known as the Third Coast or the Fresh Coast (in reference to its fresh water), includes the eight U.S. states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin as well as the Canadian province of Ontario. The region geographically borders the Great Lakes and forms a distinctive historical, economic, and cultural region. The Great Lakes Commission, authorized by the eight American states and Ontario, confirmed by the Canadian and American federal governments recognizes a formal U.S. - Canadian International Great Lakes region