Concise Gazetteer of Canada

Bill Waiser is a professor of history at the University of Saskatchewan,
and the author of Saskatchewan’s Playground: A History of Prince
Albert National Park and Park Prisoners: The Untold Story of Western
Canada’s National Parks, 1915–1946.  His

The Concise Gazetteer of Canada is a one-volume reference guide to
47,000 (or approximately 13 percent) of the place names in Canada
recognized by the Canadian Permanent Committee on Geographical Names
(CPCGN). The bilingual introduction provides a brief history of the
CPCGN (including a list of its current membership), describes the
principles by which new names are determined, outlines the procedures
for submitting name proposals for CPCGN approval, and explains the
criteria by which names were selected for the gazetteer.

Organized alphabetically, the place names are identified by entity
(type of feature), by location (province and land division), by map (the
map or chart on which the feature is located), and by longitude and
latitude. There is also a helpful section on how to use the gazetteer,
in particular how to read the various identification keys. A small map
of Canada—of questionable use—is appended to the back cover.

The Concise Gazetteer of Canada, which nicely complements the Canada
Gazetteer Atlas (1980), is an indispensable reference tool for anyone
interested in Canadian toponymy.