Second_in_pie
Senior Member
I'll guess that there's not another thread around here, but I somehow feel like it's a pretty hot, if closeted, issue. So, to be blunt, we're a very sparsely populated country. Second largest country in the world, a huge amount of fresh water, but a pretty tiny population. Yet we're world-renowned for having some of the best living conditions in the world. For a while now, I've been wondering why we seem to have no people, and I started doing some serious research into all sorts of facts and figures, at the basics a general study of why people live in certain places, and why they don't and theoretically couldn't live in Canada. So after a good 1 1/2 months of hardcore hobby research, I've come to the conclusion that there's really no reason why more people don't live here.
So now, in the 21st century, we need to grow our population. I believe we need to do this primarily not because of the economic benefits, or the better political weight we'd have as a bigger country. No, Canada should do this for the overwhelming social benefits that a larger population would garner. If Canada was to have a higher density, it'd give Canadians a certain density of scale that exists in places like Europe, which would allow us to specialize more in what we want, build a distinctly Canadian culture, and give more Canadians the kind of amenities that denser regions have.
I would propose that Canada grow it's population to about 100 million people in about 40 years, by 2050. I would call this achievable if we dropped all our things and got to work on growing our country, but I think that realistically it could happen by around 2060, giving about 10 or 15 years for us to steadily set our course as we gain national confidence. This would almost all be accomplished through immigration. Basically, like 99.9% of our 100 million people would live within ~500 km of the US border, with areas like the Canadian shield, northern prairies, and the territories seeing very little of these new immigrants. Obviously, there's tonnes of room for people in those areas to live fairly comfortably (and economically,) but likelihood is that they'll settle in southern Canada, which is even better because it creates a greater density in those areas, while keeping our more delicate northern natural environments intact.
This new Canada emerging with 100 million people would be an entirely different country, and perhaps more importantly create a chance to totally rebuild our country. Programs would be made to make sure people are dispersed evenly throughout the country, not just in the cities or 5 biggest metropolitan areas. I'd guess something like 5 million people in the Maritimes, 15 million in Quebec, 40 million in Ontario, 25 million in the Prairies, and 15 in BC, resulting in huge growth in both cities and rural areas.
All the development and new economies forming would be based on sustainability and the most enriching in a social context. Both cities and towns would build up, keeping as much farmland as possible and also creating denser, more lively cities and towns. development would include things like urban agriculture, mixed use building, and focus on walking, biking or public transit. We'd already have a head start in these, as a vast majority of immigrants that we'd be getting from developing countries are already reliant on these kind of lifestyles. What we'd be offering them is security, stability, and freedom. Instead of offering them a slight upgrade to the American dream, we'd be giving them something completely different globally. Our economy would have to be boosted through grassroots businesses and industries mainly serving the local level, which would not only be a lot easier to organize with the introduction of many many new people (i.e. you don't really have to,) but would allow for more enriching lives when combined with Canada's current social security network (and a possible network of the future.)
So why is Canada special here? Most importantly is our social stance. Canadians are some of the most tolerant people in the world, and our current immigration rate and ethnic diversity is a pretty good indicator of that. We're also no strangers to letting out a helping hand, which would be required to undertake the infrastructure and social programs that we need anyways but would become imperative for our population to increase by 60 million in 40 years. I truly believe that many Canadians want this, and we can definitely achieve it.
Who's with me? Comments on this? It's currently at the basics, cold hard speculation fueled by imagination and hope for the future. But I think my general premise isn't too far off from the truth.
EDIT: And this thread could probably be in a better spot, like the general discussions thread.
So now, in the 21st century, we need to grow our population. I believe we need to do this primarily not because of the economic benefits, or the better political weight we'd have as a bigger country. No, Canada should do this for the overwhelming social benefits that a larger population would garner. If Canada was to have a higher density, it'd give Canadians a certain density of scale that exists in places like Europe, which would allow us to specialize more in what we want, build a distinctly Canadian culture, and give more Canadians the kind of amenities that denser regions have.
I would propose that Canada grow it's population to about 100 million people in about 40 years, by 2050. I would call this achievable if we dropped all our things and got to work on growing our country, but I think that realistically it could happen by around 2060, giving about 10 or 15 years for us to steadily set our course as we gain national confidence. This would almost all be accomplished through immigration. Basically, like 99.9% of our 100 million people would live within ~500 km of the US border, with areas like the Canadian shield, northern prairies, and the territories seeing very little of these new immigrants. Obviously, there's tonnes of room for people in those areas to live fairly comfortably (and economically,) but likelihood is that they'll settle in southern Canada, which is even better because it creates a greater density in those areas, while keeping our more delicate northern natural environments intact.
This new Canada emerging with 100 million people would be an entirely different country, and perhaps more importantly create a chance to totally rebuild our country. Programs would be made to make sure people are dispersed evenly throughout the country, not just in the cities or 5 biggest metropolitan areas. I'd guess something like 5 million people in the Maritimes, 15 million in Quebec, 40 million in Ontario, 25 million in the Prairies, and 15 in BC, resulting in huge growth in both cities and rural areas.
All the development and new economies forming would be based on sustainability and the most enriching in a social context. Both cities and towns would build up, keeping as much farmland as possible and also creating denser, more lively cities and towns. development would include things like urban agriculture, mixed use building, and focus on walking, biking or public transit. We'd already have a head start in these, as a vast majority of immigrants that we'd be getting from developing countries are already reliant on these kind of lifestyles. What we'd be offering them is security, stability, and freedom. Instead of offering them a slight upgrade to the American dream, we'd be giving them something completely different globally. Our economy would have to be boosted through grassroots businesses and industries mainly serving the local level, which would not only be a lot easier to organize with the introduction of many many new people (i.e. you don't really have to,) but would allow for more enriching lives when combined with Canada's current social security network (and a possible network of the future.)
So why is Canada special here? Most importantly is our social stance. Canadians are some of the most tolerant people in the world, and our current immigration rate and ethnic diversity is a pretty good indicator of that. We're also no strangers to letting out a helping hand, which would be required to undertake the infrastructure and social programs that we need anyways but would become imperative for our population to increase by 60 million in 40 years. I truly believe that many Canadians want this, and we can definitely achieve it.
Who's with me? Comments on this? It's currently at the basics, cold hard speculation fueled by imagination and hope for the future. But I think my general premise isn't too far off from the truth.
EDIT: And this thread could probably be in a better spot, like the general discussions thread.
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