Canadian Soil Types

Cryosolic

• Much of northern Canada is covered in cryosolic soil, especially throughout the Canadian territories of Yukon and Nunavut. A distinctive quality of cryosolic soil is the presence of permafrost not less than 9 feet below the surface. Cryosolic soils are generally finer grained sandy types, and because of the weather conditions and the pressure exerted on the soil in these cold regions, the surface of cryosolic soils often appears "churned"--cracked and uneven.

Brunisolic

• Brunisolic soils are forest soils that occur through a forested belt stretching from northwest Ontario down to the southern parts of Yukon and Northern Quebec. Brunisolic soils are located in dry areas, with precipitation of less than 700 mm annually. The soil type is also typically acidic, and supports a majority of coniferous forest cover.

Chernozemic

• Chernozemic soils are found en masse in the south of Canada, and comprise the majority soil type for the Canadian prairies. This region, between Winnipeg and Edmonton, is primarily grassland, converted to either agricultural lands or grazing lands since European colonization. While it is used for agriculture, chernozemic soils are typically frozen for part of the year.

Podzolic

• Podzolic soils are a forest soil type, found in the western and eastern extremities of Canada, around Halifax and Quebec in the east, and up from Victoria in the west. Podzolic soils are typically acidic, and contain mineral deposits of iron and aluminium. Like brunisolic, podzolic soils support primarily coniferous vegetation, which has adapted to the dry, acidic soils of these areas.

Organic

• Organic soil types are found in concentration in the Hudson Plains ecozone in southwest Canada, as well as in Ontario, the southern prairies and across the Canadian Shield. Organic soils do not refer to the system of organic gardening (i.e., sans chemicals) but rather to the rich depositories of organic matter found in the soil. Typically this type of soil is associated with wetlands, and comprises the many peats and bogs that are found in Canada.