1. A Regional Geography of Canada Study Canada 2012
David Rossiter
Department of Environmental Studies, WWU
F H Johnston: Fire Swept – Algoma, 1920

2. “If some countries have too much history, we have too much geography.”
PM W.L. Mackenzie King,1936
Whistler, BC backcountry. Photo: D. Rossiter, 2012

3. Oh, to brag… Second largest country
Canada’s total area: 9,984,670 sq.km
9,093,507 sq.km land
891,163 sq.km freshwater.
Coastline: 243,042 km
Longest in world
Resource rich
Sparse yet diverse population
Source: Statistics Canada

4. Pop Quiz YK
NWT
NVT
NFLD and LAB BC
ALTA
MTBA
SASK
QUE
PEI
ONT NB NS

5. Whitehorse
Iqaluit
Yellowknife
St. John’s
Edmonton
Vancouver
Saskatoon
Charlottetown
Victoria
Calgary
Winnipeg
Fredericton
Regina
Quebec
St. John
Halifax
Ottawa
Montreal
Toronto

6. How to make sense of it all?
Physical base
Human geography – current patterns
Historical geography and political economy
Oil Canada: regions, environment, and economy

7. The Physical Base Geology Topography Soils Vegetation Climate
Fundamental to understanding Canada’s human geography and historical development

8. The Late Wisconsin Ice Age
Maximum extent 18,000 years ago
Started to recede 15,000 years ago
Last remnants in Rockies 7,000 years ago
Drumlin – Alberta
Glacial valley - Alberta
Glacial till and erratic – NS

11. Appalachian Uplands N. Appalachian Mountains
Rounded uplands; narrow river valleys
Rocky, shallow soils
Mixed forest
Cool, maritime climate
short summer, wet winter
NFLD Coast

12. Great Lakes – St. Lawrence Lowlands
Sedimentary rock and glacial deposits
Flat, rolling topography
Good soil
Moderate climate, good growing season
humid and hot summer / cold winter
Oak Ridges Moraine – S. Ontario

13. Canadian Shield Geol. core of N.A. Precambrian rocks
> 3 billion yrs old
Widespread glaciation
shallow soils, exposed granite
Mixed and Boreal forest
Northern continental climate
hot, short summer / cold, long winter
North Shore, Quebec

14. Interior Plains Sedimentary rock
Shaped by glacial and hydrological processes
river valleys
Drain east to Hudson Bay
Decent soils in south
Oil and gas deposits
Continental climate
moderate precip.
hot summer / cold winter
Wheat fields outside Winnipeg, MB
South Saskatchewan River

15. Cordillera Formed 40-80 million years ago Glaciers in high alpine
colliding NA and Pac. plates
Glaciers in high alpine
Fertile river valleys and deltas
Mostly coniferous forest
Micro-climates
warmer, wetter on coast
colder, drier in interior
Alberta Rockies
The Barrier – Coast Mountains

16. Hudson Bay Lowlands Youngest phyiso. reg. in Canada Muskeg
w/ low ridges of sand and gravel
Poorly drained
low elev., level surface
Northern climate
maritime influence
short summer / long winter
Muskeg
James Bay delta

17. Arctic Lands ~25% of Canada’s territory
Coastal lowlands & plateaux and mtns. (Innutian)
Mainly sedimentary rock w/ permafrost
Glaciers still active
Areas of polar desert
Baffin Island - Nunavut

18. Where are all the people?
Short answer:
In cities, near the USA
~80% of Canadians live in cities (100,000+)
~80% of Canadians live within 100km of USA

19. Density by Census Div. (persons / sq.km)
Population density, 2006
Map source: Atlas of Canada
Legend
Density by Census Div. (persons / sq.km)
< 0.1
> 150.0
Less than 0.1
Greater than 150.0
Total population, ,476,690
Source: Statistics Canada

20. Major Cities and Productive Agricultural Lands

21. Where are all the people?
Longer answer:
All over
“Heartland” (cities) draws on resources of “hinterland”
north dominated by resource towns and regional service centres

22. Resource Reliant Communities, 2001
Map source: Atlas of Canada
Legend
30-100% of income from:
Agriculture
Energy
Fishery
Forestry
Mining

23. Degree of specialization
Financial Specialization, 1996
Map source: Atlas of Canada
Legend
Degree of specialization
Low to
High

24. An historical-geography of Canada’s political economy
in 10 minutes…

25. Three Popular Explanations
Staples Development
Canada developed by resource extraction
Heartland-hinterland patterns
International, national, regional scales
Physical disunity (or, unity despite geography)
Human settlement in patches, difference from USA

26. Storehouse of Raw Materials?
“Hewers of wood and drawers of water”
Early Euro interests more commercial than colonial – fish, fur, timber
Settlement through extraction and export
Trade with “mother countries”
Resources still major economic sector

27. Regional Run-down New France (later Quebec / Lower Canada)
From 17th C: “habitant” agriculture, fur trade, forestry
Maritimes (NFLD, Acadia; later NB, NS, PEI)
From 17th C: fisheries, lim. ag.; 19th C: forestry NB
Upper Canada; later Ontario
From 18th C: freehold agriculture; 19th C: manufacturing in south, mining & forestry in north
West (“the NW”, the prairies, the cordillera)
From 18th C: fur trade; 19th C: mining & forestry in BC, agriculture in prairies

28. Changing Economic Geographies:
From East to West (and back again) in the late-19th C…
Source:

29. …to North and South (and all over) in the 20th C.
GM plant – Oshawa, ON

30. Oil Canada

31. Source: http://www.energy.gov.ab.ca

32. Map source: nicholas.duke.edu

33. Map source: pacifcwild.org
Northern Gateway

34. References Many maps and images were obtained at: Other resources:
Other resources:
A good atlas of Canada
Historical Atlas of Canada, vols. 1-3, University of Toronto Press
Heartland and Hinterland, McCann and Gunn
Regional Geography of Canada, Bone