The 2016 census headline released Wednesday suggests that Canada, at slightly more than 35 million souls, is more than ever a land of city-dwellers with an increasing trend to condominium life. It is a fascinating and in some ways sobering view of the country with the second-largest land mass in the world (9,984,670 sq. km.) As the Statistics Canada comparison above shows, our enormous land mass is populated on average by just four persons by per square kilometre. Russia, the largest national land mass in the world (17,075,200 sq. km.) has nine people were square kilometres. For those who think strategically about a country’s capacity to truly command its territory, disparities like these cause unease. It is of course why Canada more than any other country is so eager for immigrants, and is prepared to grant dual citizenship almost without exception. Few other countries are as generous. On the plus side, the 2016 numbers show our cities are growing with those in the west growing fastest. We have the fastest rate of growth of any country in the G7. Statistics Canada reveals this in the first of what will be seven tranches of 2016 census data to be released over the course of the year. Wednesday’s release focused on population and dwellings; the next one, in May, will be focused on age and sex. CBC
