This paper is concerned with permafrost distribution in Lake Minto area, Nouveau-Québec, studied with the aid of geophysical techniques. Permafrost has a discontinuous distribution and its depth varies greatly with biophysical conditions of sampled sites. Permafrost is shallow or absent on wooded lacustrine terraces, fens and coarse fluvioglacial deposits, whereas it is well developped on windy and snow-free sites, either in mineral deposits (reworked till terraces, cryogenic mineral mounds) or organic ones (palsas and peat plateaus). In an ecologically well diversified area the active layer and permafrost were mapped in detail. Snow, run-off, and soil water capacity seem to be the main factor responsible for the presence and importance of permafrost.