Canada's Physical Environment Essay

Robbie Maguire

CGC 1D0

January 20th, 2023

Canada’s Physical Environment and Its Impact

Canada is a vast country comprising several regions and thousands of kilometers. From freezing tundras to sunny grasslands, Canada’s landscape is unique and diverse. This landscape not only defines Canada, but defines the lives of its people too. Even Canada’s economy, for instance, is influenced by the soils under our feet or the rolling mountains above us. The land even affects where taxpayer money goes, and without the unique features of our land, Canada would lose its opportunities for growth and development. Furthermore, Canada is influenced by its environment. The environment defines us, whether it’s thousands of tourists attracted by the wonders

To illustrate, the location of large and economically important cities are controlled almost entirely by physical elements. Large cities need two things more than anything else. Open space, so that the city can expand with its population, and a large body of water for the sake of both trade and food cultivation. In addition to that, the land can sway the basis of an economy. In the wide open prairies in the province of Saskatchewan, the economy is farming focused, with all that space for crop and livestock alike. In B.C., however, the economy is centered around harvesting the towering old growth forests that coat the landscape. Finally, are the disasters that can often strike such as earthquakes near major fault lines, tornados in the prairies or Atlantic Hurricanes in the maritimes. These disasters require preventative measures, detection measures, and in the event of the worst, rescue efforts to ensure the safety of civilians. What this all means is that money has to be funneled towards disaster proofing major cities, ensuring the safety of its population. This leads into another factor in the physical environment’s influence, the climate and environment

From our notably harsh winters, to the beautiful forests and parks, nature is practically synonymous with Canada. To begin with are the four seasons themselves. Sometimes it is easy to forget that not everywhere experiences the seasons the same as in Canada, especially considering how important the seasons are to us. Even since the first settlers arrived in Canada, life was centered around stockpiling as many resources as possible before heading into the winter. While purchasing food may be easier now through various grocery stores, it is still important that Canada's agricultural industry supplies enough vegetables, crop and grain to these supermarkets before Winter arrives and farming becomes difficult. The seasons are also not too different from the forests of Canada too. They both influence the activities we choose to take part in for leisure such as hikes in the summer, spring, and fall, or skiing and tobogganing in the winter. There is no doubt that Canada’s nature, when taken advantage of, provides a great benefit to Canadians' health. The fresh air of the outdoors is a great stress reliever and Canadians have more access to this nature than anyone else. Lastly, many aspects of Canada’s wildlife are important cultural icons. The beaver, which is our national animal, Canada’s famous moose, the Canada goose named after the country itself. Our forests house an abundance of national icons which are