1. Chapter 3: The Geography of
Western Canada
Review: Part Two
Western Canada Specified

2. Physical Regions of Western Canada
3 Major Regions:
The Canadian Shield
The Interior Plains
The Western Mountains
+ other physical regions of western Canada:
Western Cordillera, Far North, Maritime, Great
Lake Lowlands

3. The Canadian Shield
Age: shields are the oldest parts of the Earth
Topography: shields are large masses of rock; was a volcanic mountain
range (in the past) that wore down into a landscape of exposed rock
and lakes over million years by erosion and weathering
Rock Type: igneous rock (volcanic sate) --> metamorphic rock (changed
by heat and pressure)
- this creates minerals such as copper, gold, lead and nickel
Location: spreads from Arctic islands around the Hudson Bay to the
Adirondack Mountains in the US and east across the Labrador
Land/ Area Use: unsuitable for agriculture and large scale settlement

4. The Interior Plains
Age: Younger than the shield because the sedimentary rock is
made up of eroded materials of the shield
Topography: have the most uniform physical characteristics
Rock Type: sedimentary rock formed from eroded material
from the Canadian Shield and remains from occasional floods
(tropical climate million years ago)
Location: stretches from the Canadian shield to the Rocky
mountains
Land/ Area Use: deposits of fossil fuels and evaporites formed
in the sedimentary layers

5. The Western Mountains
Age: Youngest
Topography: have the most complex physical structure
- landforms: valleys, plateau, and parallel mountain ranges
(cordillera): Coast Mountains and Rocky Mountains
- formed by plate collision --> sculpted by erosion from rivers
+ glaciers
Rock Type: Metamorphic (formed or/ and shaped by plate
collision)
Land/ Area Use: alluvium (sediment carried by river) formed
fertile river valleys

6. The Natural Regions (biomes) of Western Canada
1. Boreal forest
- Made up of coniferous trees
- Very little moisture is lost through the needles, they do not freeze
Soil type is known as “podzol”: acidic, not fertile
2. Parkland
- Transitional area between the dry prairie grasslands and the coniferous forest
regions of the North
- Long grass with isolated stands of trees (aspen, willow)
- The long grass provides a lot of humus, black soil
- An ideal region for growing wheat: the soil is rich and precipitation is sufficient
3. The Prairie
- “Grasslands”: a vast area of western Canada located between Winnipeg and Calgary
4. Interior Mountain Range
- Consist of a variety of landforms (meadows, plataeu, mountains)
- Has many soil types
5. Coastal Forest

7. Climates of Western Canada
Continental climate: Most areas in Western Canada; temperature extremes and low precipitation
Maritime climate: Coastal areas of BC; mild temperature and high precipitation
Factors Affecting Climates (of Western Canada): OLAMPNAS
1. Ocean Currents
- mild wet climate in the West Coast is due to warm ocean currents heating or warming the air blowing over the West
Coast, and that warm air absorbs more water than cold air
2. Latitude
- in northern latitude, there is greater seasonal variation in the length of day and night
- in southern Canada, higher angle of the sun results higher intensity of sunlight
3. Altitude
4. Mountain barriers
5. Prevailing winds (pressure belts) / Wind direction
- in western Canada, prevailing winds are generally, westerlies and northerlies
6. Nearness to water/ Distance from the sea
- a large land mass in Western Canada swings between temperature extremes (high temperature in the summer and
low temperature in the winter)
- Summer and winter temperatures of the West Coast of Canada are moderated by water
7. Amount of Cloudiness
8. Slope (aspect) north- south facing

8. Precipitation
Western Canada experience three types of precipitation
1. Orographic precipitation
- prevailing westerly winds push warm, moist Pacific air up against the mountains of Vancouver Island
and the Coast Range and create orographic precipitation
- as the winds force the air up the mountainside, the air cools and expands, losing its moisture as rain
and snow
- as the air descends on the eastern slope, it becomes war and dry- this area is called rain-shadow
- Also occurs on the Rockies, (less rain falls on the western slopes)
- “Chinooks” (winds that descend the eastern slopes of the Rockies): warm so quickly that they can raise
the temperature 20 degrees in a matter of hours
2. Convectional precipitation
- Falls primarily on the prairies and on the Canadian Shield during hot months
- This type of precipitation provides much-needed moisture to arid prairies
- Unreliable precipitation
- Heavy rain or hail often damages crops
3. Frontal precipitation
- Most of Canada lies on the “frontal” zone of polar air from the North and the tropical air from the Gulf
of Mexico
- more frontal activity during the Canadian winter because the polar air extends further south and the
two air masses vary most dramatically in temperature
“Cyclonic storms;” are fierce frontal activity results in winter and are pushed from west to east by the
prevailing westerlies.

9. Water Resources of Western Canada
- most rivers of western Canada begin in the cordillera
- source of water: high levels of precipitation and melting snowpacks
- flow of rivers:
- in west or east direction
- from highlands of the Rockies and Coast range
- to a major body of water (such as Hudson Bay or the Pacific Ocean)
- join other rivers along the way, flow through lakes, and form river system
that drain the land
A drainage basin: area drained by one river system; formed as the rivers carry away
eroded material from the land
- Water quality, not water supply, is an issue in Canada but water supply
- increase in the population and pollution increased threats to water quality
Example of pollution in Canada that threaten water quality: the Lower Fraser Basin as
dumping ground for industrial and municipal sewage and agricultural run-off
- solution to increase water quality: in early 1990s, communities in the lower mainland
+ provincial government set aside $50 million to clean up the Fraser

10. The Cultural Landscape/ Environment
of Western Canada
- Aboriginal Nations did not significantly changed the landscape
(respected the natural environment when using land and resources)
- European Settlement used much resources they could use and
changed landforms and Aboriginal people fought against the European
settlement (political resistance)
- In early 20th century, western Canada began to experience the
effects of large scale settlement and during the 20th
century, immigrants and urban development completely changed the
way the land looked
Farming - division of land
Cattle ranching
Mining - coal, gold, copper, and other minerals
Manufacturing - factories, variety of resources
Urban development

11. Boundaries
Natural boundaries: lines that divided western Canada according to the physical features
(recognized before the European settlement by the Native peoples, Metis, early explorers and fur
traders)
Political boundaries: "artificial" and "clear" lines diving areas in unnatural way (drawn by
Europeans and North American government after the European settlement and dominating the
continent)
Example: Provincial and territorial boundaries in western Canada
- indicate political leaders the extent of their authority
- determine the amount of taxes people have o pay
- determine what form of education people receive
- determine the form of government
These political boundaries were drawn by people with power and not the Native peoples and this
led to many conflicts. (a boundary between BC and Alaska, 49th parallel of latitude)
Before the Confederation and the purchase of Rupert’s Land by Canadian government, the West
had been simply been an area that served furs and other resources under the control of Hudson’s
Bay Company. However, as more people settled in the West, more specific political boundaries
had to be drawn to indicate whether areas were controlled by the federal government of
provinces, and later on all provinces needed their right to local control in transportation,
resources, and civil law.