Search for ""

The Mackenzie River system, 4,241 km long, is the second largest in North America after the Mississippi River.

The Miramichi River is 217 km long from its source in Juniper, in central New Brunswick, to the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

Rivière Nottaway, 776 km (via Rivière Bell to head of Rivière Mégiscane), rises in west-central Québec and flows north via Lacs Parent and Quévillon into Lac Matagami. Here it is joined by its chief headstream, Rivière Waswanipi, and then drains northwest through Lac Soscumica.

The Moose River is 547 km long from the head of its tributary, the Mattagami River. It is formed by the confluence of the Mattagami and the Missinaibi rivers, and flows northeast 104 km to discharge into the bottom of James Bay in northern Ontario.

From its 4 headwater lakes (called Four Ponds - lakes are called "ponds" in Newfoundland and Labrador) in the Long Range Mountains on Newfoundland and Labrador's Great Northern Peninsula, the Main River drops quickly over boulder-strewn rapids.

Peace River, 1,923 km long, is one of the principal tributaries of the Mackenzie River system. The name of the river refers to a settlement between Cree and Dane-Zaa (Beaver) warring parties around 1781 at Peace Point at the lower portion of the river. The Dane-Zaa word for the river is unchaga, meaning “big river”; the Cree word for the settlement there is sâkitawâhk.

The Humber River, 153 km long, drainage basin 7680 km2, is the principal river of western Newfoundland.

Anderson River, 692 km long, originates in a group of lakes north of Great Bear Lake in the Northwest Territories and meanders north and west to empty into Liverpool Bay, an arm of the Beaufort Sea, just east of the Mackenzie Delta.

The Qu'Appelle River, 430 km long, rises in Lake Diefenbaker and meanders generally east across southern Saskatchewan, joining the Assiniboine River just east of the Manitoba border.

Caniapiscau, Rivière, see KOKSOAK, RIVIÈRE.

The Margaree-Lake Ainslie system is the largest river system on Cape Breton Island, and one of the largest in Nova Scotia, with a total length of 120 km and a watershed of 1165 km2.

The Exploits River, 246 km long is the longest river on the Island of Newfoundland. Its tributaries, the Lloyds and Victoria rivers, rise in the southwest corner of the Island and flow northeast into Red Indian Lake (250 km2).

The Nechako River rises in the Coast Mountains in west-central BC and flows east to form a principal tributary of the Fraser River. Because of massive damming of its headwaters, it is no longer possible to give its length or tell exactly where it used to rise.

The Hayes River, 483 km long, rises in Molson Lake (399 km2) northeast of Lake Winnipeg, flows northeast to Oxford Lake (401 km2) and Knee Lake, through the rock and bush of the Canadian Shield, across the clay flats of the Hudson Bay Lowlands and into the bay at YORK FACTORY.

The Alsek River originates in the highest mountains in Canada, the St Elias Range.

The Kicking Horse River begins as glacial meltwater streams flowing down the west slope of the Rocky Mountains.

The Arctic Red River flows 499 km north-northwest from glaciers in the North Mackenzie Mountains, crossing 4 mountain ranges before it winds its way through the Mackenzie Lowlands, crossing the Arctic Circle and joining the MACKENZIE RIVER just south of the Mackenzie River Delta.

Severn River, 982 km long, rises in the wooded Shield country of northwestern Ontario and flows northeast through Severn Lake to Hudson Bay.

Saint John River, 673 km long, rises in northern Maine and flows northeast into the forests of Madawaska County to Edmundston, where it is joined by the Madawaska River and turns southeast, forming much of the border between Maine and New Brunswick.

The Red River (880 km long) begins at the confluence of the Bois de Sioux and Otter Tail rivers at the border between Minnesota and North Dakota. It then flows north through southern Manitoba and into Lake Winnipeg. The last 175 km of the Red River, the portion located in Manitoba, is designated as a Canadian Heritage River due to its cultural and historical value. The Red River flows through a productive agricultural region that is prone to both drought and severe flooding — the largest flood in the area in recent history, coined “the flood of the century,” occurred in 1997. The river’s basin was once the bottom of a glacial lake, Lake Agassiz, which covered the region 8,000 years ago. Currently, the Red River provides water for municipal, industrial and agricultural uses, and offers numerous summer and winter recreational opportunities, including boating, fishing (including ice fishing), camping and skating.