White spruce has a transcontinental distribution.
It grows from Newfoundland, Labrador, and northern Quebec west across Canada along the northern limit of trees to northwestern Alaska, south to southwestern Alaska, southern British Columbia, southern Alberta, and northwestern Montana, and east to southern Manitoba, central Minnesota, central Michigan, southern Ontario, northern New York, and Maine. Climax white spruce forests are widespread across Alaska and northwestern Canada. Climax stands are often broken up by extensive seral communities resulting from forest fires. In eastern Canada and the northeastern United States, white spruce occurs as a climax species in pure or mixed stands. AK general veg.