I'm here on a temporary work permit for 1 year.

I could not insure a car unless I had an Ontario license, which I now have.

You couldn't insure the car with a company based in Ontario. What you might have been able to do is to insure with a company in your home country for use in Ontario. US companies have a standard policy document for that case as there are many Americans in Ontario for extended periods who are not quite resident; students, military personnel, diplomats and so on.