Quote:
Originally Posted by GreaterMontréal
You don't need skyscrapers. The city of Montreal was growing pretty fast before the covid years.
Montreal (city) : 1,784,681 , 2021 ; 1,704,694 , 2016
That is strong growth.
Calgary : 2016 , 1,239,220 ; 2021 , 1,306,784
In 2016 the difference was 465,474, in 2021 it's 477,897.
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It may have a lot to do with economy, as the energy sector has slowed down in Alberta as a result of the Keystone pipeline was closed and many major energy companies just haven't been hiring which is the result of the lower growth than five years back.
Montreal is currently the second largest city in Canada, but even that can change if Alberta's economy rebounds. It all depends on the economy and like I said if I had to choose between Calgary and Montreal to live in then I'd live in Montreal because it reminds me a lot like New York and Philadelphia.
Calgary is another interesting city but with 820.62 km2 (316.84 sq mi) of land, it would be much easier to place 2 million people within the city limits by not building much multifamily housing as opposed to what Montreal has to do, which is to build multifamily housing and more midrises on 365.13 km2 (140.98 sq mi) of land.
I'd still choose Montreal over Calgary for living if I was given the choice, but I can't deny the potential of Calgary being the second largest city in Canada by surpassing Montreal and even Edmonton being number three but there are factors (cost of living, local economy, land values, etc.) that will make a difference if Calgary and Edmonton becomes #2 & #3 cities in Canada.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Zeej
Who cares if the municipalities of Calgary and Edmonton surpass the municipality of Montreal in terms of population? The municipality of Montreal is basically built-out and sits on an island. Calgary and Edmonton make up 80-90% of their respective metropolitan areas' populations so it's normal that the city propers will gobble up the growth as they continue to sprawl outward. Metro population is what counts anyway. No one thinks that Edmonton is 'bigger' than Vancouver.
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As far as city limits go, Calgary and Edmonton are bigger cities than Vancouver when it comes to population and land areas (
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o..._by_population), but Vancouver has the stronger economy (
https://www.statista.com/statistics/...-areas-canada/) as of 2016 and of 2021.
Any city can change and in the 20th century, Montreal was the largest city in Canada until amalgamation laws allowed Canadian cities to gobble up nearby communities to appear bigger, and as a result of that, Toronto became the biggest city by 2001.
It's not whether you care if Calgary or Edmonton surpasses Montreal in population, it's just the fact that the Canadian economy is reliant on petroleum and the centers of the petroleum industries lie in Calgary and Edmonton. If anything, it would be a game changer if Montreal allowed 300 m skyscrapers but the city has been governed by archaic height limits and now with Law 101 being reinstitute in Quebec, while I do believe that Montreal is the most cosmopolitan city in Canada even over Toronto, I believe that by trying to force everybody to speak French, it's only going to have a negative effect on Montreal and Quebec it it's fully enforced.