Canada has the largest concentration of confirmed meteorite impact craters on Earth.
This is partly a numbers story and partly a preservation story. Canada is the world’s second-largest country, giving it a vast target area, while much of its exposed bedrock belongs to the ancient Canadian Shield. Hard, stable rocks preserve the geological signatures of impacts for hundreds of millions of years.
Glacial erosion also helps reveal circular structures, unusual rock formations and impact lakes across the country’s northern landscape. Many Canadian craters are remote, submerged or heavily eroded, so “largest concentration” means the greatest number of confirmed structures—not necessarily the greatest number of visible bowl-shaped holes.
Canada includes several famous examples. The Sudbury Basin in Ontario formed about 1.85 billion years ago and is one of Earth’s largest known impact structures. Quebec’s Manicouagan structure, about 100 kilometres across, formed roughly 214 million years ago and is visible as a striking ring-shaped reservoir. The country’s total changes as suspected structures are investigated and new discoveries are confirmed.