has a population 10 times the size of Canada but spread out across the country in a hub-and-spoke network linked by an extensive transportation system. What’s also interesting between Canada and the United States is the difference in population concentration that has accompanied this productivity gap.Ĭanada is a long linear country with much of its small population clustered along the U.S. This productivity gap occasionally narrows – particularly during a natural resource boom – but then tends back towards the average. For much of its history, Canada’s per capita GDP has been at about 80 per cent of U.S. This means increasing Canada’s population. While Canada is an urban country, it needs more large and dense cities to provide a larger internal market that would create economies of scale and further economic productivity growth. This tells us that Canadian cities have room to become denser relative to other major cities.Īnd not only do we need Canadian cities to become more densely populated, we need more large cities. Paris is 4.29 times as dense as Montreal. Chicago, New York and London are 1.03, 2.45 and 2.48 times as dense as Toronto. The coastal hubs of San Francisco and Barcelona are 1.31 and 2.89 times as dense as Vancouver, which at 5,493 people per square kilometre is Canada’s densest major city. But compare it to Barcelona, which has 1.6 million inhabitants in a smaller area, leading to a population density of 15,873 people per square kilometre. And a recent Fraser Institute study comparing population density in cities across Canada and other high-income countries found that Canada’s major cities have relatively low population densities compared to other international cities.įor example, Toronto, Canada’s biggest city at 2.7 million people, seems crowded at 4,457 inhabitants per square kilometre. Studies have found greater urban population densities associated with economic productivity gains, especially in knowledge and creative industries. Dense urban centres allow for economies of scale in spreading the cost of infrastructure such as transit across more people, creating efficiencies. ![]() ![]() Population density is important because it creates nodes of economic activity and opportunity that foster economic innovation, productivity and growth, as well as diverse cultural and artistic opportunities.
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