Canada's Regions: Citizenship Test Study Notes

The five regions of Canada

Canada is the second-largest country in the world by total area, after Russia, and reaches across six time zones from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west. To make sense of such a vast land, the country is usually described in five regions, each with its own landscape, economy and character.

The Atlantic provinces — Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick — sit on the east coast, where fishing, shipping and resources have long shaped daily life. Central Canada covers Ontario and Quebec; it is the most populated region and the industrial heartland, home to much of the country's manufacturing and most of its people. The Prairie provinces — Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta — are rich in farmland and energy, producing grain, oil and gas. On the far side of the Rocky Mountains lies the West Coast, the single province of British Columbia, known for its forests, mountains and Pacific ports. Finally, the Northern territories — the Northwest Territories, Nunavut and Yukon — make up more than a third of Canada's land mass but are home to only a small share of its population.

Provinces, territories and their capitals

Canada is made up of 10 provinces and 3 territories. Provinces have their own powers under the Constitution, while territories receive their authority from the federal government in Ottawa. Knowing each capital city is one of the most common things asked about Canadian geography, so it is worth memorising the list below.

• Ontario — Toronto · Quebec — Québec City
• Nova Scotia — Halifax · New Brunswick — Fredericton
• Manitoba — Winnipeg · British Columbia — Victoria
• Prince Edward Island — Charlottetown · Saskatchewan — Regina
• Alberta — Edmonton · Newfoundland and Labrador — St. John's
• Northwest Territories — Yellowknife · Nunavut — Iqaluit · Yukon — Whitehorse

The national capital is Ottawa, located in Ontario on the Ottawa River, where you will find Parliament Hill and the federal government. Be careful not to confuse a province's largest city with its capital: for example, Toronto is both Ontario's largest city and its capital, but British Columbia's capital is Victoria rather than the bigger city of Vancouver.

Oceans, borders and the lay of the land

Three oceans touch Canada's coasts: the Pacific Ocean to the west, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Arctic Ocean to the north. This gives the country one of the longest coastlines on Earth. To the south, Canada shares the world's longest international border with the United States — about 8,900 kilometres long when the boundary with Alaska is included — and it is often described as the longest undefended border in the world.

Canada's interior is shaped by water as much as by land. The Great Lakes — Superior, Huron, Erie, Ontario and Michigan — straddle the border with the United States and form the largest system of fresh water in the world; four of them are shared between the two countries. From there the St. Lawrence River flows northeast, linking the Great Lakes to the Atlantic and serving as a historic gateway for trade and settlement. Other major rivers, such as the Mackenzie in the north, drain a huge share of the continent.

Most Canadians live in cities, and the largest are worth knowing: Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton and the capital, Ottawa. The population is concentrated in a relatively narrow band close to the U.S. border, while the vast northern reaches remain sparsely settled.