Canada's population estimates: Record-high population growth in 2022

[MonkeyRonin]

Yep, that's some impressive growth. Now let's compare the GDP growth to the population growth in the same time period. It's no secret that Canada has been using immigration to fuel economic growth instead of productivity, but the consequence of that is that GDP per capita has been stagnant or declining for several years. Add in the housing crisis and increasingly strained public services & infrastructure, and all we really have to show for it is a worsening quality of life.

On the bright side, at least Americans won't be able to tell us that California has a bigger population than Canada anymore!

[JManc]

People, please spay or neuter your Canadians...

[BlackDog204]

Originally Posted by Nite

about 175,000 Ukrainian came to Canada last year and something like 1 million have been approved to come but have chosen not to or have moved somewhere else instead.

Not true.

There are about 943,000 applications to come to Canada, and growing by day. Over 600,000 have been approved, but many of those applicants need time to get their affairs in order to come here.

Currently, we have admitted roughly 191,000 Ukrainian refugees. That number will increase substantially (perhaps double) by the end of 2023.

source: https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration...y-figures.html

[BlackDog204]

Originally Posted by Nite

it's funny that Ontario borders all these states losing population while it's added half a million people.

If Ontario was a state, it would be 5th in population. Ontario passed Pennsylvania and Illinois a few years ago, and if trends continue, it may pass New York within 10-15 years.

Only California, Texas, and Florida would be ahead of Ontario.

[Chef]

Is growth for growth's sake good for a country? Does it improve the lives of the people who live in it? It is definitely good for business because they have a larger market and more workers. But does that benefit people? I think it gets murky.

[Crawford]

Originally Posted by BlackDog204

If Ontario was a state, it would be 5th in population. Ontario passed Pennsylvania and Illinois a few years ago, and if trends continue, it may pass New York within 10-15 years.

Only California, Texas, and Florida would be ahead of Ontario.

If Ontario were a state, it would probably be like 20th in population, at most. Maybe a Wisconsin. Toronto would probably be smaller than Buffalo. Ontario was relatively lightly settled when the American Midwest was settled and industrialized.

Ontario's relatively large population is a result of being the dominant Anglosphere geography with generally the nation's best climate/land and the most liberal immigration policies of any first world nation. If, in an alternate history, Ontario were a U.S. state, Ontario would have major issues with climate and location.

[MolsonExport]

Alternate histories are just that. We can't really know or even speculate. If New York State had ended up part of Canada (along with New England), admittedly a highly unlikely situation, could we speculate on the size of New York State/City?

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by JManc

People, please spay or neuter your Canadians...

Thank you Bob Barker but as has been stated that is not really why our population has been increasing so much.

[Crawford]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

Alternate histories are just that. We can't really know or even speculate. If New York State had ended up part of Canada (along with New England), admittedly a highly unlikely situation, could we speculate on the size of New York State/City?

I'd assume NYC would be relatively unimportant, as it would have never become a major seaport, the Erie Canal would have never been built, there wouldn't have been the huge pre-Depression immigration waves and it wouldn't be a command center for a giant economy.

If the Northeast were always Canada, there would have probably been a very large city somewhere in the coastal Southeast, however. Probably Charleston or Savannah.

[iheartthed]

Originally Posted by SFBruin

They're stealing our people!

Canada might be getting even more people with the tech industry layoffs. Many people on H1b visas attempt to migrate to Canada because they can get a quicker path to permanent residency than in the U.S.

[Crawford]

Originally Posted by iheartthed

Canada might be getting even more people with the tech industry layoffs. Many people on H1b visas attempt to migrate to Canada because they can get a quicker path to permanent residency than in the U.S.

And then sometimes they hop back to the U.S. once they have citizenship.

For example, my sister-in-law's stepbrother, who is an Iranian immigrant to Canada, is an Ottawa-based techie who just got his Canadian citizenship. Now, as a Canadian citizen, he's eligible for U.S. tech jobs, and just got a position in Ann Arbor, MI. As an Iranian national, even with legal Canadian residency and work visa, he had no chance. He'll be making nearly double the income, and Ann Arbor, while incredibly expensive for Michigan, is still cheaper than Ottawa.

The U.S. immigration system is beyond idiotic. It's completely broken. The Canadian system, while amazingly open for a developed nation, at least has logic. Also the Canadian inflow is so great, that I don't think it can be reduced. It would be too dangerous in terms of economic impact. Immigration isn't feeding the economy, immigration is the economy. It's like in Sunbelt areas where construction doesn't feed the economy, the construction itself is the economy.

[C.]

Originally Posted by Crawford

I'd assume NYC would be relatively unimportant...

Absolutely shocked to read this line before I understood the context behind it.

[mrnyc]

^ yep same for my niece and her canadian husband -- they left windsor for columbus for similar $ reasons.

[iheartthed]

Originally Posted by Crawford

And then sometimes they hop back to the U.S. once they have citizenship.

For example, my sister-in-law's stepbrother, who is an Iranian immigrant to Canada, is an Ottawa-based techie who just got his Canadian citizenship. Now, as a Canadian citizen, he's eligible for U.S. tech jobs, and just got a position in Ann Arbor, MI. As an Iranian national, even with legal Canadian residency and work visa, he had no chance. He'll be making nearly double the income, and Ann Arbor, while incredibly expensive for Michigan, is still cheaper than Ottawa.

He's probably using a TN visa, or maybe an L-1 if the company transferred him from a subsidiary in Canada. The TN does allow him to work in the U.S. but it can't be used to obtain permanent residency in the U.S. The L-1 can be used to start the green card process though.

[mrnyc]

yeah something is definitely broken as this low number is not sustainable for the usa:

2022 immigration/legal
usa = 248,000
canada = 437,180


and this is definitely not the proper way to address it:

Migrant border crossings in fiscal year 2022 topped 2.76 million, breaking previous record
The 2022 numbers were driven in part by increases in the number of Venezuelans, Cubans and Nicaraguans making the trek north.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/imm...king-rcna53517

[iheartthed]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

Alternate histories are just that. We can't really know or even speculate. If New York State had ended up part of Canada (along with New England), admittedly a highly unlikely situation, could we speculate on the size of New York State/City?

Only New York and New England? Philadelphia would have assumed the role of NYC. NYC would probably be a midsized city and Buffalo might have become the largest city in the province of New York. The U.S. Great Lakes would probably look mostly the same.

[MolsonExport]

Originally Posted by Crawford

I'd assume NYC would be relatively unimportant, as it would have never become a major seaport, the Erie Canal would have never been built, there wouldn't have been the huge pre-Depression immigration waves and it wouldn't be a command center for a giant economy.

If the Northeast were always Canada, there would have probably been a very large city somewhere in the coastal Southeast, however. Probably Charleston or Savannah.

Maybe. Although NYC has one of the finest natural harbors on the East Coast (and if part of Canada, may have sucked away some of that function from Montreal).

I do find these alternative history speculations interesting. Imagine, for example if France did not lose Quebec, and if the original territory for Quebec had been retained. Quebec may have become a superpower.



Most of what was Quebec is no longer Quebec, and most of what is Quebec was not Quebec.

[jmecklenborg]

If the U.S. had won the War of 1812 and there never was a Canada, there would be a lot fewer people living in what is now Canada.

The main reason why the U.S. did not make a second attempt at taking Canada was because its future states would have been admitted as free states.

Similarly, the U.S. did not make Cuba a state because it would have been a slave state.

The U.S. did successfully march on Mexico City but only kept the northernmost parts of Mexico that are now Texas west to California.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by mrnyc

yeah something is definitely broken as this low number is not sustainable for the usa:

2022 immigration/legal
usa = 248,000
canada = 437,180


and this is definitely not the proper way to address it:

Migrant border crossings in fiscal year 2022 topped 2.76 million, breaking previous record
The 2022 numbers were driven in part by increases in the number of Venezuelans, Cubans and Nicaraguans making the trek north.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/imm...king-rcna53517

Such an imbalance between controlled and uncontrolled immigration is insane.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

Maybe. Although NYC has one of the finest natural harbors on the East Coast (and if part of Canada, may have sucked away some of that function from Montreal).

I do find these alternative history speculations interesting. Imagine, for example if France did not lose Quebec, and if the original territory for Quebec had been retained. Quebec may have become a superpower.



Most of what was Quebec is no longer Quebec, and most of what is Quebec was not Quebec.

Eastern North American might have been a constant battleground for the better part of the last 2-3 centuries.