With all this talk about population around the world we sometimes forget about Canada and looks like we have reached the 35 million mark. Read this article and think:
1) Why is the growth happening in the west and not in the east?
2) Why is their little variation in growth rates in the last 30 years?
3) Why is net migration our largest source of population increase?
4) What impact does this have on our government policy?
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canadian-population-surpasses-35-million-1.1869011
This is my post for the week
ReplyDeleteIt is really shocking that Canada's population has surpassed 35 million. When you think of Canada you think of a small country with a limited amount of people so 35 million being such a big number it's weird to think Canada has surpassed it. It is also crazy to think that the United States, and especially places like Canada and India have so much more people than us, when 35 million seems like so much it really is crazy. The reason the population growth in Canada is more excessive in the west than in the east is due to the abundance of people migrating and immigrating to Alberta and Saskatchewan. Meanwhile, there is a very limited number of people in the Atlantic provinces, and they have a very low ratio of births to deaths in provinces like Nova Scotia. The article says that the reason for little variation in our growth in the past years is because we are not growing as a population by too much or too little. The reason for other countries growing massively is because of their very high fertility rates. Even a small change in fertility rates makes a huge impact. The reason for migration being our highest source of population increase is because of the abundance of people migrating to the western provinces which is allowed by our government policy. If our government policy didn't allow immigrants, we would for sure decline in population. We are educated enough to prevent fertility if we want which is why our birth rate is not too high and we can control our population, leaving us with not too high of a population.
Source : www4.hrsdc.gc.ca/.3ndic.1t.4r@-eng.jsp?iid=35
I agree with you Julia! It's insane to think how much Canada's population has grown in such a short period of time. We can even see this growth is Barrie. I remember when I first moved here, Barrie had a very low population and was mostly farmland so it is crazy to see what we have become. I also think it is good that we are educated because it helps us keep our population under more control than other countries by teaching family planning.
DeleteI also agree with you, I found it really odd that we can't maintain a growth rate and that we need to rely on immigration. We have been keeping our population up however that's thanks to immigration.
DeleteI do have to agree with you Julia. I think that the fact that Canada has passed 35 million people is crazy. I know that we do have a large land mass, and still have less people than some other countries but I still think that it is crazy!
ReplyDeleteThis is a map of the population density by province:
http://worldpopulationreview.com/images/places/canada2.gif
I totally agree that it's insane to think that canada has already passed 35 million and sure we have a lot of land so we can handle that many people but we're growing so fast!
ReplyDeleteThis is my weekly post:
ReplyDeleteI can understand why the statistic of there being over 35 million inhabitants in Canada can be very alarming to many. However, what I found most shocking is not the population itself but the massive growth rate it underwent over the past few decades. In 1982, Canada was at 25 million meaning the population escalated by a rapid rate of 40% over the last 30 years. Needless to say, Canada is the fastest growing nation in comparison to its fellow G8 countries. To really put it in perspective – Canada’s population growth is doubled what the United States (one of the highest populated countries in the world) receives each year.
When examining population growth, it’s vital that we also zero in on what specific areas have experienced a more dramatic expansion in residents. In Canada’s case, the more heavily populated provinces reside in the West causing them to contribute a greater amount to the mass population. The principle reason for this being migration. Not only on an international scale either – inhabitants of other provinces have flocked towards these Western provinces leaving the East to be more sparsely populated.
In contrast, when comparing the population growth rate annually - there’s very little recognizable variation. The 1.2% increase is the same as it was the previous year and very similar to the years before. What I take from this is that Canada’s growth rate is quite gradual in comparison to itself on account of other years but in retrospect, it’s managed to attain quite the milestone considering where it was in population only decades prior.
Net migration is inevitably Canada’s largest source of population growth. Being such an industrialized and developed nation equipped with many optimal benefits – Canada has always been the ideal countries to live in the eyes of foreigners especially those coming from underdeveloped countries seeking a better life. Our government policy encourages both immigration and migration into our country to be pursued, only further expanding our population as well as our multicultural society.
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/blogs/canada-politics/canada-population-reaches-35-million-fastest-growing-g8-174256519.html
Wow a 40% growth rate over the span of 30 years? That is truly shocking. You brought up some really interesting (and almost scary) numbers and stats. Great post, Kayla!
Deletethis is my weekly post.
ReplyDeleteI feel that 35 million is a lot of people but i think due to the mass amounts of land in Canada we can handle it. the main reason why the population is growing so much in western canada is because the tar sands and oil has made lots of available job opportunities in that part of the country making the economy slightly better. this causes people from other countries and provinces to want to come to canada and get better jobs. overall in canada the population increase isnt very high (1.2%) compared to other countries that is why we still have a manageable amount of people in canada unlike other countries that have very high fertility rates and population increase.
http://www.worldometers.info/world-population/
I agree with Brodie although i think that Canada is in for another huge growth in the next couple years. As a developing country with many undiscovered/unharnessed natural resources, much of the world will be looking to our country for those valuable resources. As Brodie said, most of the population increase will still come from the immigration to our country because having large families is a fairly undesirable thing now-a-days.
DeleteGreat post though Brodie!