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Wollaston Lake, 2681 km2, elev 398 m, lies in the wooded Shield country of NE Saskatchewan.

Winnipegosis, Lake, 5370 km2, 195 km long, elev 254 m, maximum depth 12 m, Canada's eleventh-largest lake, is located in west-central Manitoba.

Lake Abitibi, 932 km2, elev 265 m, straddles the Québec-Ontario border about 280 km south of James Bay.

In contrast to the soft, white limestone cliffs of the west shore, the east shore is cut into the hard edge of the Canadian Shield, fractured into myriad bays, inlets and sounds, with thousands of islands strewn along the coasts.

Lac Mistassini, 2335 km2, elevation 372 m, max length 161 km and width 19 km, is located in central Québec, 360 km east of JAMES BAY and 220 km northwest of Lac SAINT-JEAN.

Aberdeen Lake, 1100 km2, elev 80 m, maximum length 91 km, is located in Nunavut, 213 km south of the Arctic Circle.

Lac Bienville, 1249 km2, elevation 426 m, maximum length 89 km, is located in a sparsely populated region of northern Québec. This elongated lake, dotted with numerous islands, is fed by Lacs Louet and Ossant. It drains west, via the Grande Rivière de la Baleine (Great Whale River), into Hudson Bay.

The earliest non-Indigenous settlement in the area evolved at the west end of the lake, off Buffalo Bay, where the North West Company established a post (1802) and the Roman Catholic Church followed with a mission (1872).

The Quill Lakes are three connected saline lakes in southeastern Saskatchewan. They are located 150 km north of Regina and 152 km east of Saskatoon. From west to east the lakes are named Big Quill, Middle Quill (also known as Mud Lake) and Little Quill. Despite its name, at 181 km² Little Quill is the second largest of the three lakes. Big Quill is the largest at 307 km². The Quill Lakes’ elevation is 516 m.

Located in Northern Ontario, between the Ottawa River and Georgian Bay, Lake Nipissing is the third largest lake located entirely within the boundaries of Ontario. The lake spans 65 km in an east–west direction and drains into Georgian Bay via the French River. Its name derives from an Ojibwa word meaning "little water," likely a comparison to the nearby Great Lakes, which were important trade routes for the Nbisiing (Nipissing), the First Nation indigenous to this region. Fishing is a popular activity on the lake both commercially and recreationally. Unfortunately, walleye, the lake’s dominant fish species, has declined drastically since the 1980s as a result of overfishing and ecosystem changes.

Little Manitou Lake, 13.3 km2, is a saline lake that lies in the rich, rolling prairie of south-central Saskatchewan near Watrous.

The Great Lakes are the largest group in a chain of large lakes (including Winnipeg, Athabasca, Great Slave and Great Bear) that lies along the southern boundary of the Canadian Shield. From west to east the Great Lakes comprise lakes Superior, Michigan (entirely in the US), Huron, St. Clair, Erie and Ontario. They have a total area of approximately 244,100 km ² and drop from 183 m above sea level at Lake Superior to 74 m at Lake Ontario — the most dramatic drop occurring at Niagara Falls. Lake St Clair, while not properly a “great lake,” is considered part of this Laurentian chain.

Lake Ontario is 18,960 km² (10,000 km² in Canada), with a drainage area of 60,030 km², an elevation of 75 m, a mean depth of 86 m (max 244 m), length 311 km and width 85 km. It is the smallest in surface area and most easterly of the Great Lakes and eighth-largest body of fresh water in North America. The lake receives most of its water supply from the other Great Lakes through the Niagara River and discharges into the St Lawrence River through the Kingston Basin at its northeast end. Other tributaries are the Genesee, Oswego and Black rivers in New York state and the Trent River in Ontario. (See also Largest Lakes in Canada.)

Lake Erie, 25,700 km² (including islands), of which 12,800 km² lie in Canada, elevation 173.3 m; 388 km long, 92 km wide and 64 m deep. The shallowest of the five major Great Lakes (excluding Lake St. Clair), it receives most of its waters from Lake Huron via the Detroit River. Other major inflowing streams are the Maumee and Cuyahoga rivers in Ohio, and the Grand River in Ontario. The lake outflows through the Niagara River at Fort Erie, falling almost 100 m to Lake Ontario; more than 50 m of this drop occurs at Niagara Falls. It is also joined to Lake Ontario by the Welland Canal. (See also Largest Lakes in Canada.)

Great Bear Lake is located in the Northwest Territories. With a surface area of 31,328 km², Great Bear Lake is the largest lake located entirely inside Canadian borders. It is also the fourth largest in North America and the eighth largest in the world. Water flows out of the lake into the Great Bear River, then into the Mackenzie River. Other rivers connected to the lake include the Dease, Camsell and Johnny Hoe. Great Bear Lake is made up of five separate arms, each with their own names: Dease, McTavish, McVicar, Keith and Smith. (See also Largest Lakes in Canada.)

Lake Winnipeg, 23,750 km², elevation 217 m, estimated maximum depth 36 m, sixth-largest freshwater lake in Canada, is located in central Manitoba. Extending 416 km north-south, it drains approximately 984,200 km² of land by way of the Saskatchewan, Red-Assiniboine and Winnipeg river systems. (See also Largest Lakes in Canada.)

Lake Huron, 59,600 km², elevation 176 m, 332 km long, 295 km wide, max depth 229 m; total shoreline length, including islands, 6,159 km. Lake Huron is the second largest of the Great Lakes and fifth-largest lake in the world (see also Largest Lakes in Canada). In Canada, the Lake Huron is part of the traditional territories of the Tionontati (Petun), Neutral, Huron-Wendat and Anishinaabe. Samuel de Champlain visited Georgian Bay and Lake Huron with the French scout Étienne Brûlé in 1615.

Nettilling Lake, 5,542 km², elevation 30 m, max length 123 km, is located toward the south end of Baffin Island. The lake is in the Great Plain of the Koukdjuak, about 110 km southwest of Auyuittuq National Parkand 280 km northwest of Iqaluit. The name is of Inuktitut origin but its meaning is unclear. (See also Largest Lakes in Canada.)