Go to Section: Camping Country Guides | USA Country Guide | Canada County Guide | Australia Country Guide | New Zealand County Guide | Europe Guide | France Country Guide | Italy Country Guide | Spain Country Guide | UK Country Guide

Canada

Canada sits to the north of the USA and covers 9,976,000 sq km (3.9 million sq mi). Greenland borders the northeast, Alaska the east and the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans surround Canada. The country is separated into ten provinces and three territories and the landscape is diverse, ranging from fertile plains to vast mountain ranges, lakes and rivers. The Rocky Mountains lie to the west and the Great Lakes sprawl across the south east, where you will also find St Lawrence River and Niagara Falls. The Polar ice cap lies to the north.

Within Canada’s varied environments there are 39 national parks, 145 parks-administered national historic sites and 13 areas on the UN World Heritage list for their natural significance. If you enjoy the outdoors you can ski, sail, hike or camp out or visit the cities and indulge in culture and cuisine in the museums and restaurants

The west offers stunning countryside. Surround yourself with pristine forestland, take a stroll through Vancouver\'s Stanley Park or around English Bay or take in the ski slopes of the world famous Whistler-Blackcomb. There are an abundance of opportunities to river-raft, hike or heli-ski through the thousands of kilometres of Canada\'s backcountry.

In eastern Canada you can visit the cities of Toronto with its many ethnic restaurants, bakeries and shops; Charlottetown, Canada\'s birthplace with its rolling fields and sandy Atlantic beaches of Prince Edward Island and ancient Québec City. The north is the place to view Canada’s wildlife, commonly travelling across this vast space by plane or all terrain vehicles.

Nature

There are eight vegetation zones covering Canada, most of which are dominated by forest where you will find black spruce, balsam and Douglas fir, western red cedar, white pine and the of course the sugar maple, a symbol of Canada-its leaf appearing on the flag.

Wildlife

The wildlife found in Canada is diverse, the grizzly, black, brown and polar bears can be seen as well as the beaver, buffalo, wolf, coyote, lynx, cougar, deer, caribou, elk and moose. Bird watchers will be impressed with 500 species of birds including the great blue heron and Canada geese. Measures are taken to protect Canada’s endangered beluga whale and eastern wolf.

Weather

Canada has four seasons which arrive at varying times around the country. Generally, it gets colder the further north you travel, explaining why the warmer south is more densely populated. The northern two-thirds of the country have very cold winters and short, cool summers. The western and eastern coasts are wet with most of the rain falling in the winter and moderate winter and summer temperatures. Central southern Canada is fairly dry all year round with very cold winters and hot summers. All of Canada, except the west coast, has a long and hard winter season with average temperatures below freezing and with continuous snow cover in some areas.