This ecoregion extends eastward from Lake Winnipeg in Manitoba to the Albany River in northwestern Ontario. It is marked by warm summers and very cold winters. The mean annual temperature is approximately 0.5°C. The mean summer temperature is 14°C and the mean winter temperature is -14.5°C. The mean annual precipitation ranges from 450 mm in the northwest to 700 mm in the southeast. This ecoregion is classified as having a subhumid mid-boreal ecoclimate. The dominant land cover is coniferous forest with some limited areas of mixed forest. Characteristic vegetation includes white spruce, balsam fir, and black spruce with some trembling aspen and balsam poplar, although jack pine and black spruce are more common on moderately well- to imperfectly drained sites. Poorly drained areas are covered by fens and bogs and are dominated by black spruce. Wetlands cover over 25% of the ecoregion. The ecoregion is underlain with acidic, crystalline, Archean bedrock of the Canadian Shield that forms broadly sloping uplands and lowlands. Hummocky bedrock outcrops covered with discontinuous acidic, sandy, granitic tills dominate the landscape. However, portions of the central part of the ecoregion are dominated by undulating glaciolacustrine deposits with occasional hummocky bedrock ridges and knolls. Dystric Brunisolic soils are dominant, and Gray Luvisolic and Gleysolic soils occur on finer glaciolacustrine sediments. The western portion of the ecoregion is rockland-dominated with organic Mesisols and Fibrisols occurring to a lesser extent. Wildlife includes wolf, lynx, ermine, fisher, mink, moose, black bear, woodland caribou, red squirrel and snowshoe hare. Bird species include the spruce grouse, herring gull, and double-crested cormorant, as well as bald eagle, great horned owl, red-tailed hawk, and waterfowl. Forestry, recreation, and hunting are the major land uses in this region. The main communities include Red Lake and Sioux Lookout. The population of the ecoregion is approximately 18 400.
This ecoregion is part of the Boreal Shield ecozone.