Growing up in Ontario in the 1990s, the local Orange Lodge was just another local service club. They ran a burger booth at the local fair and donated money to community causes.
However, I'm aware that earlier in their history they were a powerful political force and engaged in anti-catholic violence.
How did they get from one to the other?
The Orange Order has been present in Canada since at least the War of 1812 but was informal until 1830. Orange Lodges were most common in Ontario and New Brunswick.
Orange Lodges in Canada have generally had less of a sectarian/ethnic component than in Ireland and focused on the social and fraternal element early on. English, Scottish, German settlers participated in early Orange Order activities but membership was most common among Anglicans and Methodists One argument is that people were drawn in by the ritual aspects of the Order as it offered an element of sophistication and entertainment to early colonial life. However, Protestantism was required and they still held on to an anti-Catholic, pro-Monarchy, and often anti-immigrant stance. During the Irish Potato famine Orangemen led a few violent riots against incoming Irish Catholic refugees in New Brunswick.
Ontario opposition to the Red River Resistance was also based in Orangism and negative reaction to the execution of Thomas Scott (an Orangeman) who was arrested for attacking Fort Garry.
Orangism was also deeply embedded in Ontario cultural and political life, especially in Toronto where they were involved with municipal politics and services such as police, fire and telecommunications. Toronto was also known as "The Belfast of Canada" in the late 1800s and early 1900s. This deeply Protestant and Orange character of the city contributed to the Christie Pits riots. The Orange Order also pushed a very anti-immigration and anti-Catholic idea of Canads both in Ontario as well as other provinces. For comparison, the Canadian KKK had catered to a very similar demographic in the 20s. Nathan Phillips elected in 1954 was the first mayor of Toronto that wasnt an Orangeman in the 20th century. There were also yearly Orange Day parades.
Arguments for their decline in the 60s and 70s generally revolve around increasing secularization and greater tolerance for white ethnic minorities (Eastern and Southern Europeans).
If you are interested I suggest books by Harewood Senior, Scott See (for New Brunswick) and William Smyth (for Ontario). They have their flaws (Smyth does not address women's involvement in the Ladies Orange Benevolent Association at all) but they give a pretty good overvew.