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An Introduction

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An ecozone is an area where organisms and their physical environment form a system.

Most of the features which are used to determine an ecozone are normally thought of as natural-landforms, soils, water features, vegetation and climate. However, where human activities are extensive and are key to sustaining the character of the area, they must also be considered a factor.

"The Terrestrial Ecozones of Canada" is a nationwide ecological framework developed by Environment Canada so that people in different areas, jurisdictions and disciplines share a common standardized geographical reference.

This framework consists of 15 ecozones. Within these are 194 ecoregions.
Select an ecozone for more information:
Arctic Cordillera

This ecozone incorporates vast polar ice fields and has some of the most spectacular alpine glacier scenery in the world.

Massive ice caps and glaciers mask many of the rugged mountains. Some of Canada's highest but least-known peaks are found here, towering over U-shaped valleys and deep fiords that extend many kilometres inland.

This Arctic Cordillera occupies the northeastern fringe of the Northwest Territories and Labrador. These represent the only major mountainous ranges of Canada outside the western Cordillera.

Atlantic Maritime

The Atlantic Maritime ecozone covers all of the provinces of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island.

Mixed-wood Acadian forests, sand dunes stretched along seaboards, and coastal islands are some of the unique ecosystems of the Atlantic Maritime ecozone.

Boreal Cordillera

This ecozone is located in the midsection of the Cordilleran system. It covers sections of northern British Columbia and southern Yukon.

Consisting of extensive mountains and valleys separated by wide lowlands, this ecozone spans 444,000 square kilometres.

The Boreal Cordillera ecozone contains most of Yukon's population. Whitehorse is the largest centre with a population of 23,000, while the entire ecozone is home to just 31,000 people (1991). Much of the valuable land for residential, agricultural and wildlife habitat is located in the valleys.

First Nations have a significant voice in managing the environment of Yukon portion of this ecozone through Yukon Umbrella Final Agreement signed into law in February 1995.

Boreal Plains

The Boreal Plains ecozone is part of the flat Interior Plains of Canada - a northern extension of the Great Plains of North America.

The subdued relief consists of low-lying valleys and plains stretching across the mid portions of Manitoba and Saskatchewan and continuing through almost two-thirds of Alberta.

It covers 650,000 square kilometres (an area larger than Yukon).

The majority of the surface waters are part of three watersheds: those of the Saskatchewan River, the Beaver River, and Peace, Athabasca and Slave Rivers.

Timber covers 84% of the Boreal Plains and forestry is the primary industry. Less than 20% of the land area is devoted to agriculture.

Boreal Shield

Scientists call the area where the Canadian Shield and the boreal forest overlap the Boreal Shield. This area is the largest of Canada's 15 terrestrial ecozone.

Stretching 3,800 kilometres from Newfoundland to Alberta, the Boreal Shield includes parts of six provinces, covers more than 1.8 million square kilometres and encompasses almost 20% of Canada's land mass and 10% of its fresh water.

Almost two thirds of the country lies on Shield rock.

Canada's largest ecosystem, the boreal forest, forms a continuous belt from the east coast to the Rockies. It is a broad, U-shaped zone that extends from northern Saskatchewan east to Newfoundland, passing north of Lake Winnipeg, the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River.

Hudson Plains

Canada has approximately 25% of the world's wetlands. The Hudson Plain alone embraces the bulk of this figure. The largest extensive area of wetlands in the world are associated with this ecozone. Some say it is the largest wetland on the planet.

The Hudson Plains ecozone is centred in northern Ontario and extends into northeastern Manitoba and western Quebec. Only the Taiga Cordillera and the Arctic Cordillera ecozones have fewer people.

Mixed-Wood Plains

This ecozone covers the lower Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River valley. Its geographic location, waterways and combination of gentle topography, fertile soils, warm growing season and abundant rainfall have made it the most intensely used and populated area in Canada.

Interlaced with national and international transportation routes, the Mixed Wood Plains have become the industrial and commercial heartland of Canada.

Long before European settlement, the favoured Mixed Wood Plains were inhabited by Native communities, including the Mohawk, Algonquian, Iroquoian, and Cree.

Montane Cordillera

The Montane Cordillera ecozone is the most diverse of Canada's 15 terrestrial ecozones, exhibiting some of the driest, wettest, coldest and hottest conditions anywhere in the country. The ecosystems are variable, ranging from alpine tundra and dense conifer forests to dry sagebrush and grasslands. Much of the region is rugged and mountainous. There are some large deep lakes and major river systems, including the Fraser River and the Columbia River headwaters.

The Montane Cordillera encompasses two of the four significant agricultural areas of the province; the Creston Valley and the Okanagan Valley. In the latter, orchards, vineyards and cash crops take advantage of favourable soil conditions. Cattle ranching is dominant throughout much of the other interior plateau and valley lands.

Northern Arctic

The ecozone covers 473,000 square kilometres of Canada, stretching from north-central British Columbia south to the United States border. It encompasses the Alberta Foothills as well as the interior mountain ranges and valleys of BC, including the Okanagan and East Kootenay valleys.

Covering 1.5 million square kilometres, or about one seventh of Canada, the Northern Arctic ecozone extends over most of the non-mountainous areas of the Arctic islands and parts of northeastern Keewatin, western Baffin Island, and northern Quebec. It is among the largest Arctic ecosystems in the world.

Snow may fall any month of the year and usually remains on the ground from September to June. Extremely low temperatures and an average precipitation of about 200 mm per year characterize the climate.

It incorporates the coldest and driest landscapes in Canada.

Pacific Maritime

The Pacific Maritime ecozone is the home of Canada's tallest trees, most rainfall, and longest and deepest fiords.

Its unique maritime climate, striking mountains and the ever-changing Pacific Ocean give this ecozone its distinctive character.

Few other areas on earth have such a variety in so short a distance - from undersea kelp forests to alpine tundra, from the lush, flat plains of the Fraser Delta to the massive glaciers punctuating the northern British Columbia coast.

The wettest climates in Canada occur in this ecozone on the coast, especially near the mountains on the windward slopes of Vancouver Island, the Queen Charlotte Islands and the mainland Coast Mountains.

This ecozone covers the mainland Pacific coast and offshore islands of British Columbia.

Prairies

The Prairies ecozone arcs from the western edge of Alberta to the eastern edge of Manitoba. It is characterized by relatively little topographic relief with its grasslands and limited forests.

The Prairies ecozone is often characterized as flat, rural, wheat and oil-producing, or cold. It is the most human-altered region in Canada. Farmland dominates the ecozone and covers nearly 94% of the land base. Termed the 'Breadbasket of Canada', the Prairies Ecozone contains the majority of the country's productive agricultural cropland, rangeland, and pasture.

This ecozone, spans an area of 520,000 square kilometres and is larger than Yukon.

Loss of habitat is the most critical threat to the flora and fauna. Little of the natural vegetation is left, leaving little habitat for animals unique to the grasslands.

Wetlands, which provide critical habitat for 50% of North America's waterfowl, have been altered by agricultural practices and only half the presettlement wetland area remains.

Today, the Prairies Ecozone is home to high numbers of threatened and endangered wildlife species and its native ecosystems are among the most endangered natural habitats in Canada.

Southern Arctic

For almost a million square kilometres, the Southern Arctic is the same: sprawling shrublands, wet sedge meadows and cold, clear lakes.

The Northwest Territories portion of the Southern Arctic ecozone is home to the world's biggest concentration of free-roaming large mammals. These are the Barren-ground Caribou, also called "Buffalo of the Tundra."

Of the three arctic ecozones, this one has the most extensive vegetative cover and highest diversity of species.

This ecozone is split by Hudson Bay into east and west portions with over 80% of the land area in the western portion. It covers northern mainland Canada from the Richardson Mountains in Yukon to Ungava Bay in northern Quebec.

Taiga Cordillera

This ecozone is dominated by alpine and arctic shrubs and flowers, plus vast wetlands and spruce-lined valleys that support many kinds of wildlife. This land hosts some of Canada's largest waterfalls, deepest canyons and wildest rivers.

To the northwest are expansive wetlands and rolling hills that stretch to the Beaufort coast. Treeless arctic tundra dominates its northern reaches and gives way to a mix of alpine tundra and lowland forests farther south. "Cordillera" refers to the series of mountain ranges and valleys that form this ecozone's rugged interior.

This ecozone is located along the northernmost extent of the Rocky Mountain system and covers most of the northern half of Yukon and southwest corner of the Northwest Territories.

Taiga Plains

The Taiga Plains ecozone is an area of low-lying plains centred on Canada's largest river, the Mackenzie, and its many tributaries.

With an area of about 550,000 square kilometres, it is Canada's sixth largest ecozone.

The northern reaches of the ecozone feature a rich diversity of plants, birds and mammals from both the Subarctic and the Arctic. The southern portion is home to the world's largest Wood Bison herd, contains the only known nesting site of the endangered Whooping Crane and encompasses the sprawling Peace-Athabasca Delta - a wetland habitat of global significance.

The Taiga Plains are located mainly in the southwesterly corner of the Northwest Territories, Northeastern British Columbia and Northern Alberta.

Taiga Shield

This ecozone lies on either side of Hudson Bay, hence there is an east and west zone. In northern Canada, much of the Boreal coniferous forest (Taiga forest) rests on the Canadian Shield, the bedrock heart of the continent. With an area of over 1.3 million square kilometres, the Taiga Shield is one of Canada's largest ecozones.

The Taiga Shield is an ecological crossroads where climates, soils, plants, birds and mammals from the Boreal and the Arctic meet.

Western Taiga Shield Ecozone

The western segment occupies portions of northern Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and the Northwest Territories. The world's oldest rocks are found on the Taiga Shield north of Great Slave Lake.

Eastern Taiga Shield Ecozone

The eastern segment occupies the central part of Quebec and Labrador.

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An ecozone is an area where organisms and their physical environment form a system. Most of the features which are used to determine an ecozone are normally thought of as natural-landforms, soils, water features, vegetation and climate. However, where human activities are extensive and are key to sustaining the character of the area, they must also be considered a factor.

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Resources: Welcome to the Neighborhood - Crash Course Kids #2.1

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Canadian Landforms Regions Assignment Final

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Physical Regions Video Postcard Teacher Sample

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Cody and Andy Rap about the Great Canadian Outdoors

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Canada occupies the northern part of the continent of North America. Canada stretches across the continent from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean. Its southern border meets the United States, and it goes north to the Arctic Ocean. Canada is the second largest country in the world. The magnetic north pole (not the same as the geographical north pole) has been located within Canadian territorial claims, but the location of the magnetic north pole changes from year to year.

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Canada occupies the northern part of the continent of North America. Canada stretches across the continent from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean. Its southern border meets the United States, and it goes north to the Arctic Ocean. Canada is the second largest country in the world.

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Political regions are areas that were originally grouped together under a local provincial or territorial government because they share a common region (place) in Canada, have similar people(s), language(s), lifestyle(s) and beliefs.

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CanadaInfo is more than 500 pages of information about Canada - its government, history, facts, people, security, geography, provinces, symbols, and more. Browse through statistics, maps, and photographs and then choose from dozens of fact sheets to download to your computer.

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Physical regions are areas grouped together because they share similar habitats, landforms and climates. We can say that these regions have common "physical" features or characteristics.

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Links & Resources for Learning

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(2nd) largest country in the world with a population ofAlberta - British Columbia - Manitoba - New Brunswick - Newfoundland and Labrador - Northwest Territories -Nova Scotia - Nunavut -Ontario -Prince Edward Island - Quebec - Saskatchewan -Yukon - Photo Tour 34.4 million people.

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Across Canada, there are hundreds of interesting roadside attractions. This site is dedicated to cataloging our nation's large roadside attractions.

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Canada

The name "Canada" likely comes from the Huron-Iroquois word "kanata," meaning "village" or "settlement." In 1535, two Aboriginal youths told French explorer Jacques Cartier about the route to kanata; they were actually referring to the village of Stadacona, the site of the present-day City of Québec. For lack of another name, Cartier used the word "Canada" to describe not only the village, but the entire area controlled by its chief, Donnacona.

The name was soon applied to a much larger area; maps in 1547 designated everything north of the St. Lawrence River as Canada. Cartier also called the St. Lawrence River the "rivière du Canada," a name used until the early 1600s. By 1616, although the entire region was known as New France, the area along the great river of Canada and the Gulf of St. Lawrence was still called Canada.

Soon explorers and fur traders opened up territory to the west and to the south, and the area known as Canada grew. In the early 1700s, the name referred to all French lands in what is now the American Midwest and as far south as present-day Louisiana.

The first use of Canada as an official name came in 1791, when the Province of Quebec was divided into the colonies of Upper Canada and Lower Canada. In 1841, the two colonies were united under one name, the Province of Canada.

(Source: Government of Canada)

Newfoundland and Labrador

King Henry VII of England referred to the land discovered by John Cabot in 1497 as the "New Found Launde." It's likely that name Labrador came from Joas Fernandez, the Azorean known as "El llavorador", an explorer on the Corte-Real's expedition in 1500. The area of Labrador includes all the northern islands in the region. The province officially became Newfoundland and Labrador in December 2001 when an amendment was made to the Constitution of Canada. (Sources: Government of Canada, Canadian Geographical Names Data Base)
Find out more:
Nova Scotia

Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". The province was named by Sir William Alexander who was given the land by King James VI of Scotland in 1621. Prior to its official naming, the First Nations knew it as "Mi'kma'ki", the French called it "Acadia", and the British were already familiar with calling the land "New Scotland".

(Sources: Government of Canada, Tourism Nova Scotia)
Find out more:
New Brunswick

This province was originally included in the area that made up Nova Scotia. It was later separated and established as a province in 1784. The name "New Brunswick" was given to the area in honour of King George III who also held the title of Duke of Brunswick, an area in Germany.

(Sources: Government of Canada, Government of New Brunswick)
Find out more:
Prince Edward Island

The province's earliest documented name was "Abeqweit" which was given to the area by the Mi'kmaq and meant "cradled in the waves". It later became Ile Saint-Jean which was used by the original French settlers, the Acadians. After the Treaty of Paris ceded the island to the British in 1763, it was renamed St. John's Island. In 1799 the English declared that the island would be called Prince Edward Island in honour of the Duke of Kent and Strathearn, Prince Edward. (Sources: Government of Canada, Government of Prince Edward Island)
Find out more:
Quebec

The name "Quebec" comes from the Algonquin word for "narrow passage" or "strait". It was first used to describe the narrowing of the St. Lawrence River near what is now the City of Québec. Quebec has had several names throughout its history: Canada, New France, Lower Canada and Canada East.

(Source: Government of Canada)
Find out more:
Ontario

Ontario acquired its name from the Iroquois word "kanadario", which translates into "sparkling" water. The earliest recording of the name Ontario was in 1641 where it was used to describe a mass of land on the north shore of the easternmost part of the Great Lakes. The British settlers had originally called the land that covered Quebec, Ontario, and part of the United States all as Quebec. It wasn't until the British enacted the Constitutional Act in 1791 that Ontario would be known as the land upstream from the St. Lawrence River, or Upper Canada, and Quebec considered the land downstream from the St. Lawrence River, known as Lower Canada. In 1867, Ontario and Quebec officially became separate provinces.

(Sources: Government of Canada, Government of Ontario)
Find out more:
Manitoba

The name is believed to have originated with Cree term "Man-into-wahpaow", meaning "the narrows of the Great Spirit", which describes Lake Manitoba and how it narrows significantly at the centre. The province entered confederation in 1870 following the Manitoba Act. Sir John A. Macdonald announced that the province's name, suggested by Métis leader Louis Riel, was selected for its pleasant sound and its associations with the original inhabitants of the area.

(Sources: Government of Canada, Government of Manitoba)
Find out more:
Saskatchewan

The name of the province comes from the Cree name for the Saskatchewan River, "Kisiskatchewanisipi" or "swift-flowing river." The modern spelling was adopted in 1882 when the area became a district of the North West Territories (it would later become a province in 1905).

(Source: Canadian Geographical Names Data Base)
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Alberta

This province was named after Queen Victoria's fourth daughter, Princess Louise Caroline Alberta. Alberta was originally established as a provisional district of the North West Territories in 1882. The name was maintained when Alberta officially became a province in 1905.

(Source: Government of Canada)
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British Columbia

The southern part of the area now known as British Columbia was called "Columbia", after the Columbia River. The central region was given the name of "New Caledonia" by explorer Simon Fraser. To avoid confusion with Colombia in South America and the island of New Caledonia in the Pacific Ocean, Queen Victoria named the area British Columbia when it became a colony in 1858.

(Source: Government of Canada)
Find out more:
Nunavut

In the Inuit language of Inuktitut, Nunavut means "our land". Nunavut became Canada's third territory when it was officially separated from the Northwest Territories in 1999.

(Sources: Government of Canada, Canadian Geographical Names Data Base)
Find out more:
Northwest Territories

Prior to 1870, it was known as the North-Western Territory. The name has always been a description of the location of the territory.

(Source: Government of Canada)
Find out more:
Yukon

The territory's name probably comes from the word "Yu-kun-ah" meaning "great river." In 1846, chief trader John Bell of the Hudson's Bay Company canoed down the Porcupine River to where it meets the Yukon River. There, he met natives who told him that the name of the big river was the "youcon". It was named "Yukon Territory" in 1898, and became "Yukon" under the Yukon Act in 2003.

(Source: Government of Canada, Canadian Geographical Names Data Base)
Find out more: Geographical names search results: Yukon

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Origin of the names of Canada and its provinces and territories

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The name "Canada" likely comes from the Huron-Iroquois word "kanata," meaning "village" or "settlement." In 1535, two Aboriginal youths told French explorer Jacques Cartier about the route to kanata; they were actually referring to the village of Stadacona, the site of the present-day City of Québec.

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Canadian Provinces And Capitals Map Puzzle

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Canadian Provinces And Capitals Map Puzzle

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Learn the provinces of Canada and their capitals

with this fun and educational map puzzle. Use the free Canada map puzzle as a quiz to test your knowledge of the provinces and capitals.

Canada is the second largest country in the world, occupying the northern part of the North American continent. Canada's 3 territories in its cold north make up a large amount of its land area and coastline, though they contain relatively little of its population while its seven southern provinces, which share a border with the US, contain most of its people and industry.

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Canada Provinces and Capitals Map Puzzle

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with this fun and educational map puzzle. Use the free Canada map puzzle as a quiz to test your knowledge of the provinces and capitals. Canada is the second largest country in the world, occupying the northern part of the North American continent.

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TVOKids doesn’t have control over the new place you’re about to visit, so please make sure you get your Parent or Guardian’s permission first!

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CanadaInfoLink is everything you wanted to know about Canada and canadian information about provinces, provincial federal government, native people, maps and statistics

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Everything you wanted to know about Canada, Canadians, provinces, provincial federal government, the people, statistics and british columbia alberta, saskatchewan manitoba ontario quebec nova scotia new brunswick prince edward island newfoundland labrador yukon north west territories nunavut north america statistics maps physical geography climate premiers prime ministers place names boundaries counties crosswords charts biography biographies history activities knowledge cities of canada

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The Atlas of Canada | Natural Resources Canada

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Many data resources are available from The Atlas of Canada website.

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Political, Physical, Climate, Vegetation

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Physical and Political Features of Canada

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Physical and Political Features of Canada

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Video Lesson with Map

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Physical and Political Features of Canada When

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Final Copy of Physical Regions Video Postcard Teacher Sample

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Physical and Political Features of Canada

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Map of the Physical and Political Features of Canada

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Interior Plains, Canadian Shield, Lowlands and Highlands

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Interior Plains, Canadian Shield, Lowlands and Highlands

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Landform Regions

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Landform Regions

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Atlantic Provinces

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Atlantic Provinces

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Atlantic Provinces

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Pacific Coast

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Central Canada

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Canada's Capital

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Central Canada

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Heritage Minutes

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The story of Chanie "Charlie" Wenjack, whose death sparked the first inquest into the treatment of Indigenous children in Canadian residential schools. The 84th Heritage Minute in Historica Canada's collection.

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History, politics, arts, science & more: the Canadian Encyclopedia is your reference on Canada. Articles, timelines & resources for teachers, students & public.

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The Prairie Provinces

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The Prairie Provinces

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The Prairie Provinces

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Canada's Northern Terrotories

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Canada's Northern Terrotories

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Canada's Northern Terrotories

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Sustainable Salmon Fishing with Douglas Fricke

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Washington State salmon fisherman Doug Fricke provides us with first-hand reaction to the impact of climate change on the salmon population. **Correction from video: To purchase video, please visit our (new) website: www.mediapolicycenter.org or call 1-310-828-2966

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Sustainable Fishing in Australia - Sardines

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Sustainable Fishing in Australia - Sardines

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Last year, the government granted a visiting super trawler a quota to catch 18,000 tonnes of jack mackerel and redbait in Australian waters. The storm of protest that followed saw giant factory ships banned for two years pending further research. But how is that research undertaken and what does it tell us about how to manage our fisheries?

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Summary of Learnings

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Primary, Secondary, Tertiary

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Uploaded by LaMouleQuiCoule on 2009-11-08.

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North America

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A Song

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The Provinces (and Territories) of Canada

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You are viewing a document archived by Library and Archives Canada. Please note, information may be out of date and some functionality lost.

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A Song