Six Cities In Canada Essays - Eastern Canada,

Six Cities In Canada INDEPENDENT STUDY PROJECT CANADIAN POPULATION CHANGE IN SIX CITIES Population Change in Six Canadian Cities Since the first moment that humans arrived in Canada, Canada has undergone many changes and will continue to do so as time goes on. One of the most remarkable aspects is the growth and development of large cities throughout the country. Although Canada is the second largest country in the world, Canada's population remains centralised around those regions where opportunities are available. Because of the amount of opportunities and other social factors, people from across the world move to large diverse Canadian cities, such as Chicoutimi-Jonquiere, Montreal, Oshawa, Toronto, Winnipeg, and Vancouver. Between 1991 and 1996, Canadian cities have changed significantly. Using the mentioned cities as studies to show Canada's growth, figures show that Winnipeg and Oshawa follow somewhat the same trends as well as Toronto and Vancouver. Chicoutimi-Jonquiere and Montreal on the other hand follow their own patterns. The latter two are much more different from the others because they are French dominated cities. However, most trends occurring in all six cities are results of Canadian history. Populations in these cities are very different, Toronto has the highest population and a relatively high population increase between 1991 and 1996 due to a number of factors. When settlers first settled in Canada, they settled along the southern strip of what are now Ontario and Quebec. Since then Canada's centre has remained in these regions and attracts many immigrants with its high level of employment and opportunities. Toronto remains more attractive to immigrants however due to its culturally diverse population and upscale employment opportunities. Montreal, who has a very large population, is however not as quick with growing its population because of the current instability due to separatists and because most immigrants are not Francophones causing a smaller desire to move to Montreal. On the other hand, Montreal is a very business oriented city and a large centre for corporations, headquarters, and small business, which in turns creates a very opportunist place to live who may be bilingual or French speaking. Out of the six selected cities, Oshawa and Vancouver have the fastest growing populations. Oshawa being very focused on the automobile industry, offers housing at lower costs than other parts of Toronto's surrounding peripheries, and thus attracts many migrants; Oshawa also has a very low population to begin with and thus is makes it easier to have a higher percentile of growth. The growing city of Vancouver is also rapidly growing due to international immigrants, mostly from Southeast Asia, because of its short distance across the ocean and its numerous amounts of import and export ports. Thus, Southeast Asians can arrive quickly and less costly when travelling by boat across the Pacific Ocean. Chicoutimi-Jonquiere, the lowest populated city, is the only city with a decreasing population. Located in northern Quebec, Chicoutimi and Jonquiere are homes to many Native Canadians, Metis, and French Loyalists. The cities are very French oriented and are not desirable places for immigrants unless the immigrants have a specific reason for moving to this region. Population decreased by 474 people or 0.3% of the five year span for lack of pull factors to attract attention, therefore while people are either leaving the region or dying, not enough are being born or moving in order to replace one another. Population is very unevenly distributed across Canada due to history, international relations and existing communities, and will continue to be very disperse as long as different amounts and cultures of people migrate to selected cities and regions. Toronto and Vancouver, unlike the other four cities are very diverse in cultural minorities; they are home to large amounts of immigrants and carry wide ranges of languages amongst their populations. The other four cities either fall into English spoken or French spoken inhabitants. Chicoutimi-Jonquiere, being home to many Natives and French are dominated by non-English mother tongue people, with very few immigrants and few visible minorities; meanwhile, Oshawa and Winnipeg have populations dominated by those who primarily speak English, are non immigrants and are not of visible minority. Again, the social aspects of these cities have very much to do with the cities' history and employment set up.