Canada

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Appalachian Region and Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Lowlands

Eastern Canada consists of the Appalachian Region and the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Lowlands. The Appalachian Region embraces Newfoundland Island, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and the Gaspé Peninsula of Québec. This region is an extension of the Appalachian mountain system (continuations of the Green Mountains of Vermont and the White Mountains of New Hampshire) and of the Atlantic Coastal Plain.

The Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Lowlands are a generally level plain that includes southern Québec and Ontario. This region has the largest expanse of good farmland in eastern and central Canada. The Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Lowlands also contain the so-called manufacturing heartland of Canada, along the corridor from Windsor, Ontario, to Québec City. Ontario and Québec provinces together account for 76 percent of Canada’s employment in manufacturing and two-thirds of the nation’s manufacturing shipments.

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Canadian Shield

The Canadian Shield is the largest region, extending from Labrador to Great Bear Lake, from the Arctic Ocean to the Thousand Islands in the St. Lawrence River, and into the United States west of Lake Superior and in northern New York. This region of ancient granite rock is sparsely covered with soil and deeply eroded by glacial action. It includes all of Labrador (the easternmost part of the mainland), most of Québec, northern Ontario, Manitoba, Nunavut Territory, and part of the Northwest Territories, with Hudson Bay in the center.

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Great Plains

Bordering the Canadian Shield on the west are the Great Plains, an extension of the Great Plains of the United States. About 1,300 km (about 800 mi) wide at the U.S. border, the region narrows to about one-quarter of that size west of Great Bear Lake and widens again to about 500 km (about 300 mi) at the mouth of the Mackenzie River on the Arctic Ocean coast. Within the Great Plains are the northeastern corner of British Columbia province, most of Alberta, the southern half of Saskatchewan, and the southern one-third of Manitoba. This region has the most fertile soil in Canada.

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Canadian Cordillera

Canada’s westernmost region, the Canadian Cordillera, embraces the mountains west of the Great Plains. The region belongs to the vast mountain system extending from the southernmost extremity of South America to westernmost Alaska. The Canadian Cordillera has an average width of about 800 km (about 500 mi). It includes part of western Alberta, much of British Columbia, the Inuvik Region and part of the Fort Smith Region of Northwest Territories, and practically all of Yukon Territory.

The eastern portion of the Canadian Cordillera consists of the Rocky Mountains and related ranges, including the Mackenzie, Franklin, and Richardson mountains. Mount Robson at 3,954 m (12,972 ft) is the highest summit of the Canadian Rockies, and ten other peaks reach elevations of more than 3,500 m (11,500 ft). To the west of the Canadian Rockies are numerous isolated ranges, notably the Cariboo, Stikine, and Selkirk mountains, and a vast plateau region. Deep river valleys and extensive tracts of arable land are the chief features of the plateau region, particularly in British Columbia.

Flanking this central belt on the west and generally parallel to the Pacific Ocean is another great mountain system. This system includes the Coast Mountains, which are an extension into British Columbia of the Cascade Range of the United States, and various coastal ranges. The highest of these, the Saint Elias Mountains, are on the boundary between Yukon Territory and Alaska. Among noteworthy peaks of the western Canadian Cordillera is Mount Logan, which at 5,959 m (19,551 ft) is the highest point in Canada and second highest mountain in North America. Others are Mount Saint Elias at 5,489 m (18,008 ft), Mount Lucania at 5,226 m (17,146 ft), and King Peak at 5,173 m (16,972 ft). All are in the Saint Elias Mountains.

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Canadian Arctic Archipelago

The Canadian Arctic Archipelago is a collection of islands north of Hudson Bay and between the Beaufort Sea and Davis Strait. All but the southern tip of Baffin Island are above the Arctic Circle. The archipelago is a complex region including mountains, uplands, plateaus, and lowlands. There are three main subareas: the Innuitian region, the shield territories, and the Arctic lowlands.

The Innuitian region, in the far north, consists of the Queen Elizabeth Islands. The northernmost of these, Ellesmere and Axel Heiberg islands, are almost entirely mountainous and glacier-covered. The Sverdrup Islands to the southwest are lowlands, forming a basin between the Queen Elizabeths and the plateaus of the Parry Islands.

The second major part of the archipelago is an extension of the Canadian Shield and includes most of Baffin Island, Devon Island, part of Somerset Island, and the southeast tip of Ellesmere. This is mainly granite bedrock that has been uplifted and folded into mountains.

The Arctic lowlands make up most of the remainder of the archipelago. These lowlands extend from the Arctic coastal plain in the far west through the interior lowlands of Banks Island. They include most of Victoria Island, Prince of Wales Island, and King William Island.

The archipelago has a cold, dry Arctic climate. Much of the region is covered by glaciers or polar deserts composed of gravel and other unconsolidated material. The sparse vegetation is mainly lichens and mosses.