Why is Canada so sparsly populated?

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SteveN

If you take a look at Yahoo! Maps and type in "Canada", you will see that our country is indeed huge. In fact, it is the second largest country in the world in terms of land mass.

But you will also notice that quite a bit of Canada is pretty far north. Anything that is higher than the southern tip of Hudson Bay does not have a long growing season, and is pretty barren or covered with snow and ice most of the year.

Some parts of Canada don't even have roads in the summer. There is something up there called permafrost, which means that the ground is permanently frozen throughout the year, but on other parts the sun will melt the first foot or so and the solid ground turns into a bog or swampland, making driving impossible. They actually have to fly in supplies during the summer, and in winter when it freezes up, they can build ice roads on top of the frozen ground and lakes.

When you consider that the growing season can be as little as 40 days in some parts of Canada's northern territories, it is no wonder that most people choose not to live up there.

So that leaves Canadians to settle all along the US border. I don't know the exact percentage of the population that lives within 250 miles of the USA northern border but I am pretty sure it is over 70%. Take a look at the map of Canada's population density (below) to see what I mean. Compare that to the first link (Canada's climate) and you can see that where we can grow things is where people settled first years ago.

So why is Canada so sparsely populated? Livable habitat is the key. When you are a settler in the 1700's, your job was mainly farming or trapping, and it's hard to build a life or a town when there is snow on the ground much of the year.

Just look at Alaska. It is your largest state in terms of area, but it has a population smaller than Rhode Island! That's because Sarah Palin's home state is very much like most of Canada...snowy and doesn't grow anything most of the year.

been there done that

Most of northern Canada (and quite a bit of southern as well) is undeveloped with few or no roads. That and the climate (winters can be brutal) have combined to keep populations mostly along the southern border. We are also a relatively young country that is still growing.

Karen C

Birth Control

Might be bigger but also has a lot of tundra which is not conducive to sun bathing or puttering in the garden.

leblongeezer

Although its territory is huge, most of it is extremely cold and most of its population are concentrated along the southern border, i.e. near the northern states of US. So, if you you consider only the warmer part's of Canada's territory, its population density might not be too different form that of the northern US states.

The Canadian sheild takes up a large portion of the land, and it is almost impossible to live on. Also, extreme weather and tundra also takes up a large portion.

Also, when they they were starting out, Canada was not nearly as populated as the States' 13 colonies, because the french were using it as a colonie de comptoir, and even when the brits came. So they had a bit of a head start.

old lady

There is a populated swath along the border, but once you get half way up Canada, the country is largely unopened. No roads, no railway. Canada is growing, but it has weather problems that make life difficult in the northern climes. It may be smaller as far as population goes, but it ha a stable economy.

Wanderer

mostly rocks and too cold most of the time

MasterPython

There is a large amount of land where there is no good reason for more than a few people to live. Like open prairies, tundra and thick forests. A few small towns are all that's needed to exploit the resources.

sheloves_dablues

Ever been to Canada in the dead of winter?

A lot of the country's land mass is under ice and snow.

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