Canadian Shield Stratigraphic range: Precambrian 4500–540 mya
Type	Shield
Unit of	North American craton
Sub-units	Laurentian Upland Kazan
Area	8 000 000 km2
Location
Region	North America
Country	Canada  United States
The Canadian Shield is a broad region of Precambrian rock (pictured in shades of red) that encircles Hudson Bay. It spans eastern, northeastern, and east-central Canada and the upper midwestern United States.

The Canadian Shield is also called the Laurentian Plateau, or Bouclier canadien (French).

It is a large area of exposed Precambrian igneous and high-grade metamorphic rocks (geological shield). It is the ancient geological core of the North American continent (the North American Craton or Laurentia).

A continuation of the shield is in west Greenland, to which it was once connected. In the United States the shield is mostly covered with much younger rocks and sediment.