Canada's Population Patterns Notes - Making Connections Issues in Geography (3rd Edition) 

Oh! Canada?

• Tourism ads about Canada typically show the wilder parts of the country with pictures of moose, mountains, bears, canoes, the northern lights, and mountains.
• The trips usually offer outdoor or wilderness activities such as skiing, aurora viewing, wildlife viewing, and dogsled trips.

Big Country, Small Population

• Remember that the ratio between the amount of people living in Canada and how much space there is, is not equal. Less people live in Canada, and there is a lot of extra space.
• The population of the United States is about 9 times that of Canada, while China’s population is about 40 times bigger than Canada’s.
• Population density is generally expressed as the number of people per square kilometre.
• When we look at the isodemographic map, Canada is significantly smaller than other countries.
• The population density of Canada is 4, while America’s is 35, and China’s is 146.
• The isodemographic map is a map of the world based on the population of each country. Iso – means “equal” and demos – means “people.”
• On an isodemographic map, each country’s shape stays the same, but the boundaries are deformed.
• Many of the parts of the world look the same, but countries such as India and China take up all of Asia, and countries like Canada, Australia and Russia are significantly smaller compared to their land mass. Asian countries have more population due to having not harsh temperatures.
• On the isodemographic map, the relationship between the amount of people living on the land and the land mass is prominent.

Population Concentrations in Canada

• Isodemographic maps can be used to show population distribution within a country. In an isodemographic map of Canada, the shapes are distorted but the boundaries stay the same.
• More than 80% of the population lives in cities and towns with more than 100,000 people. These population concentrations centered around large cities are called Census Metropolitan Areas or CMA’s. 
• The CMA that includes the City of Toronto also includes the adjacent regional municipalities of York, Peel, Halton, and Durham. The CMA that includes the city of Ottawa, also includes the City of Gatineau in Quebec.
• The province with the most CMA’s is Ontario because it’s located near the great lakes, has good soil and climate. It is also near the border.
• Communities are a group of people who share common characteristics such as their history, culture, beliefs, or simply the space where they live. You belong to more than one community (for example your neighborhood, town, ethnic group, school, country, or even the world)

People Patterns and Terminology

• Continuous ecumene is the part of the country where there are continuous permanent settlements.
• Discontinuous ecumene is the part of the country where there are significant patches of settlement.
• There are usually gaps due to physical geography.

Rural Areas Losing Population:

• This is usually due to lack of jobs in rural areas. Many people would have difficulty earning and spending money. This is an issue especially to younger people who are just finishing school.
• Median means that 50% of the residents are older than that age and 50% are younger.
• Viewpoint 1:
• Rural communities, and the villages/towns that support them are big part of our history and Canada will lose it’s diversity without them.
• It is not fair that young people from these communities need to leave their homes and find a job after school.
• Companies could move operations into smaller communities and find willing worker and lower costs.
• These communities provide a lifestyle alternative for people who don’t want to live in big cities.
• Viewpoint 2:
• Canada’s population pattern today is different because of basic changes in our economy and technology.
• In the past, economic activities in rural areas (forestry, agriculture, mining, and fishing) required more workers. Mechanization means that these workers are no longer needed, we can’t back in time.
• The cost of providing services, such as roads and schools, to these communities is too high.
• Companies locate where it makes the most sense for them. If it made sense to move away from CMAs, they would already have done so.

Rural Settlement Patterns:

• The three most important factors that affect the pattern of rural settlement in a particular area are:
• The nature of the resources that attracted people to the area in the first place. For example, the settlement pattern in a rich agricultural region will be quite different from the pattern in an area based on commercial fishing.
• The transportation methods that were in use when the area was settled. For example, if people travelled by water(in the winter, by sleds when the rivers were frozen), the pattern will be different from that in areas settled later when travel was by railway or on roads.
• The role of government in determining the pattern. In some areas of Canada, settlement occurred with little to no influence from the government. People just settles where they wanted to which keeping in mind the above two factors. In other areas, such as Southern Ontario and southern Prairies, the government imposed a survey system before settlement occurred. The survey system included a pattern of roads and lots that still exist.
• The survey system is a gird system used to locate and identify parcels of land and roads.
• The populations in rural areas can be described as being dispersed, concentrated, or linear.
• Dispersed population is a population that is spread evenly across the land, common in agricultural area. (Prairies)
• Concentrated population is a population focused on patches with specific resource industries, such as mines or paper mills. (Great lakes, St. Lawrence Lowlands)

 Linear population is a population settled along a line, such as a coastline, river, or highway.