The Boreal Shield Ecozone, as defined by the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC), is the largest ecozone in Canada. Covering 1.8 million square kilometres it covers almost 20% of Canada's landmass, stretching from northern Saskatchewan to Newfoundland. [1]

Largest of Canada's ecozones, the Boreal Shield provides the images of exposed bedrock, endless forests, and rushing rivers that characterize the image that much of the world (as well as many Canadians) has of Canada.

Canada’s largest ecosystem, the boreal forest, forms a continuous belt from the east coast to the Rockies. Scientists call the area where the Canadian Shield and the boreal forest overlap the Boreal Shield, the largest of Canada's 15 terrestrial ecozones.

Named for the intersection of the boreal forest and the Canadian Shield, the Boreal Shield ecozone stretches from the northeastern corner of Alberta to the eastern tip of Newfoundland. It is the largest ecozone in Canada, at about 195 million hectares, accounting for almost 20% of the country’s land mass and 22% of its freshwater surface area.

The largest ecozone, the Boreal Shield, extends in a broad, U-shape from northern Saskatchewan to Newfoundland. There are vast stretches of trees, lakes and rivers, and bedrock exposures. This ecozone has been largely opened up by transportation systems, but it still provides scenic wilderness sites.

The Boreal Shield Ecozone, as defined by the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC), is the largest ecozone in Canada. Covering 1.8 million square kilometres it covers almost 20% of Canada's landmass, stretching from northern Saskatchewan to Newfoundland. [1]

The forest that makes up the Canadian Shield is known as a boreal forest or taiga. This type of forest is distinguished by long, cold winters and short, hot, wet summers. Boreal forests are also made up of mostly coniferous trees such as pines, cedars, spruce, and fir trees.

Largest of Canada's ecozones, the Boreal Shield covers a vast area from Alberta to Newfoundland, south of the Taiga Shield and Hudson Plains and north of numerous ecozones, including the Boreal Plains, Mixedwood Plains, and the Atlantic Maritime.

The climate of the Boreal Shield is generally continental with long cold winters and short warm summers. Cold air masses over Hudson Bay bring relatively high levels of precipitation to much of the area, from 400 mm in the west to 1 000 mm in the east.

Each spring the abundance of water in the Boreal Shield Ecozone attracts hundreds of thousands of ducks, loons, geese and swans. They come either to breed or simply rest and feed before flying on to more northerly nesting grounds.