List of Canadian islands by area
Overview of Canada's largest islands
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This is a list of Canadian islands as ordered by area. It includes all 51 islands with an area greater than 1,000 km2 (390 sq mi). The total area of these islands is 1,554,181.09 km2 (600,072.67 sq mi)
Islands over 1,000 km2 (390 sq mi)
| Rank | World rank |
Island[A] | Area (2026)[B][2] | Province or territory |
Permanent population (2021) |
Notes | Ref | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (km2) | (sq mi) | |||||||
| 1 | 5 | Baffin Island | 507,204.95 | 195,832.93 | Nunavut | 13,039 | Largest in Canada, second in North America, and fifth in the world. Population does not include Kinngait (1,396) and Qikiqtarjuaq (593). Both of which do not lie on Baffin Island proper | [3][4] |
| 2 | 8 | Victoria Island | 219,191.31 | 84,630.24 | Northwest Territories, Nunavut | 2,168 | Contains the world's largest island within an island within an island. | [3][5][6] |
| 3 | 10 | Ellesmere Island | 197,790.33 | 76,367.27 | Nunavut | 144 | Canada's northernmost island. Population includes Grise Fiord, Alert and Eureka. | [3] |
| 4 | 15 | Newfoundland | 108,878.06 | 42,038.05 | Newfoundland and Labrador | 470,627 | The largest island in Canada outside the Arctic. Population estimated.[C] | [7][8] |
| 5 | 24 | Banks Island | 70,191.02 | 27,100.90 | Northwest Territories | 104 | Robert McClure's ship, the HMS Investigator was found at Mercy Bay in 2010. The ship had been lost during the McClure Arctic expedition. | [5][9] |
| 6 | 27 | Devon Island | 55,535.39 | 21,442.33 | Nunavut | 0 | The largest uninhabited island in the world | [10] |
| 7 | 32 | Southampton Island | 43,069.35 | 16,629.17 | Nunavut | 1,035 | The only area in Nunavut, that does not use daylight saving time. | [3][11] |
| 8 | 33 | Melville Island | 42,330.26 | 16,343.80 | Northwest Territories, Nunavut | 0 | One of two major breeding grounds for the brant geese. DNA analysis and field observations suggest that these birds may be distinct from other brant stocks. | [12] |
| 9 | 34 | Axel Heiberg Island | 42,276.97 | 16,323.23 | Nunavut | 0 | Location of the McGill Arctic Research Station that was established in 1960 | [13] |
| 10 | 40 | Prince of Wales Island | 33,307.98 | 12,860.28 | Nunavut | 0 | The CBC series North of North is set in the fictional town of Ice Cove, which is situated on the island. | [14] |
| 11 | 42 | Vancouver Island | 31,815.31 | 12,283.96 | British Columbia | 840,281 | Population estimated. [D] | [15][16][17] |
| 12 | 46 | Somerset Island | 24,754.51 | 9,557.77 | Nunavut | 0 | Site of Fort Ross, Nunavut, last trading post established by the Hudson's Bay Company. | [18] |
| 13 | 54 | Bathurst Island | 16,050.61 | 6,197.18 | Nunavut | 0 | Site of Brooman Point Village, a Dorset, Paleo-Eskimo and Thule village. | [19] |
| 14 | 55 | Prince Patrick Island | 15,792.19 | 6,097.40 | Northwest Territories | 0 | Home of the now abandoned Mould Bay Weather Station.[E] | [20] |
| 15 | 59 | King William Island | 13,174.63 | 5,086.75 | Nunavut | 1,349 | John Franklin abandoned his ships in the area. | [3] |
| 16 | 67 | Ellef Ringnes Island | 11,350.45 | 4,382.43 | Nunavut | 0 | Home of Isachsen, a formerly staffed weather station, but now an Automated Surface Observing System | [21] |
| 17 | 69 | Bylot Island | 11,057.96 | 4,269.50 | Nunavut | 0 | Home to Sirmilik National Park and Bylot Island Migratory Bird Sanctuary | [22][23] |
| 18 | 74 | Cape Breton Island | 10,513.17 | 4,059.16 | Nova Scotia | 132,019 | [24] | |
| 19 | 78 | Prince Charles Island | 9,665.87 | 3,732.01 | Nunavut | 0 | Inuit visited the island to hunt caribou | [25] |
| 20 | 90 | Anticosti Island | 7,953.55 | 3,070.88 | Quebec | 177 | [26] | |
| 21 | 96 | Cornwallis Island | 7,070.11 | 2,729.78 | Nunavut | 183 | [3] | |
| 22 | 100 | Graham Island | 6,552.25 | 2,529.84 | British Columbia | 3,314 | Population estimated.[F] | [3][27] |
| 23 | 105 | Prince Edward Island | 5,740.96 | 2,216.60 | Prince Edward Island | 154,331 | [28] | |
| 24 | 106 | Coats Island | 5,708.64 | 2,204.12 | Nunavut | 0 | The last home of the Sadlermiut. | [29] |
| 25 | 112 | Amund Ringnes Island | 5,289.51 | 2,042.29 | Nunavut | 0 | ||
| 26 | 116 | Mackenzie King Island | 5,056.27 | 1,952.24 | Northwest Territories, Nunavut | 0 | ||
| 27 | 126 | Stefansson Island | 4,490.11 | 1,733.64 | Nunavut | 0 | ||
| 28 | 159 | Mansel Island | 3,162.26 | 1,220.96 | Nunavut | 0 | ||
| 29 | 161 | Akimiski Island | 3,112.89 | 1,201.89 | Nunavut | 0 | Part of the Attawapiskat First Nation's (Omushkego or Omushkegowuk Cree) traditional territory, the islands name is Swampy Cree for "land across the water". | [30][31] |
| 30 | 170 | Moresby Island | 2,929.22 | 1,130.98 | British Columbia | 325 | [32] | |
| 31 | 173 | Borden Island | 2,795.95 | 1,079.52 | Northwest Territories, Nunavut | 0 | ||
| 32 | 174 | Manitoulin Island (2005)[G] | 2,766 | 1,068 | Ontario | 13,935 | Largest lake island (including both freshwater and saltwater lakes). | [33][34][35] |
| 33 | 189 | Princess Royal Island | 2,294.15 | 885.78 | British Columbia | 0 | ||
| 34 | 194 | Cornwall Island | 2,265.48 | 874.71 | Nunavut | 0 | ||
| 35 | 210 | René-Levasseur Island (2005)[G] | 2,020 | 780 | Quebec | 0 | Largest artificial island and second largest lake island | [33][35] |
| 36 | 219 | Flaherty Island | 1,861.56 | 718.75 | Nunavut | 1,010 | One of the Belcher Islands and named in honour of Robert J. Flaherty who wrote and direted Nanook of the North. | [3][36] |
| 37 | 230 | Air Force Island | 1,737.74 | 670.95 | Nunavut | 0 | ||
| 38 | 231 | Richards Island | 1,728.47 | 667.37 | Northwest Territories | 0 | ||
| 39 | 254 | Eglinton Island | 1,538.91 | 594.18 | Northwest Territories | 0 | ||
| 40 | 270 | Pitt Island | 1,398.55 | 539.98 | British Columbia | 0 | ||
| 41 | 272 | Graham Island | 1,376.93 | 531.64 | Nunavut | 0 | ||
| 42 | 277 | Nottingham Island | 1,349.62 | 521.09 | Nunavut | 0 | ||
| 43 | 279 | Lougheed Island | 1,331.12 | 513.95 | Nunavut | 0 | ||
| 44 | 296 | Wales Island | 1,176.81 | 454.37 | Nunavut | 0 | ||
| 45 | 299 | Byam Martin Island | 1,164.26 | 449.52 | Nunavut | 0 | ||
| 46 | 307 | Île Vanier | 1,122.77 | 433.50 | Nunavut | 0 | ||
| 47 | 308 | Rowley Island | 1,119.79 | 432.35 | Nunavut | 0 | Site of an unmanned Distant Early Warning Line base, called FOX-1 at 69°04′01″N 079°03′54″W, and an Automated Surface Observing System. | [37] |
| 48 | 316 | Cameron Island | 1,062.19 | 410.11 | Nunavut | 0 | From 1985 to 1996 the double-hulled tanker MV Arctic shipped the light crude from Bent Horn in the south-west of the island to Montreal | [38] |
| 49 | 322 | Banks Island | 1,034.18 | 399.30 | British Columbia | 0 | ||
| 50 | 325 | Resolution Island | 1,011.63 | 390.59 | Nunavut | 0 | Site of CFS Resolution Island (BAF-5). | [39] |
| 51 | 326 | Nagjuttuuq (Vansittart Island) | 1,008.89 | 389.53 | Nunavut | 0 | ||
See also
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Notes
- Area of all islands are from 2026 unless indicated in brackets in this column
- All areas from the United States Geological Survey, Esri, and the United Nations Environment Programme - World Conservation Monitoring Centre unless indicated otherwise[1]
- Population for the island obtained by deducting Brighton (163), Change Islands (184), Cottlesville (244), Crow Head (156), Division No. 1, Subd. R (264), Division No. 7, Subd. L (1,183), Division No. 8, Subd. D (5), Division No. 8, Subd. H (1,788), Division No. 8, Subd. I (163), Fogo Island (2,117), Greenspond (257), Little Bay Islands (0), Lushes Bight-Beaumont-Beaumont North (169), Miles Cove (97), Pilley's Island (286), Port Anson (42), Ramea (388), St. Brendan's (125), Summerford (805), Triton (896), Twillingate (2,121), Wabana (1,815), and Labrador (26,655), from the province of Newfoundland and Labrador (510,550).
- Population Obtained by adding North Vancouver Island Health Service Delivery Area (131,434), Central Vancouver Island Health Service Delivery Area (293,399), and South Vancouver Island Health Service Delivery Area (415,541).
- Listed as Elleg Ringens
- Population obtained by adding Masset, Masset 1, Port Clements, Queen Charlotte 4, and Skidegate 1.
- Area (and possibly island) not shown on USGS, Esri and UNEP-WCMC map