Happy 40m!
June 16, 2023 11:46 AM Subscribe
Statistics Canada has a page where they extrapolate from census data, births, deaths, immigration, etc. and smooth it out to estimate the exact population of the country at any moment.
The country will, by this metric, hit 40 million in the next half hour or so.
Well, the UN still has us at about 38.9 million, but someone must be buying those Nickelback tickets.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 11:51 AM on June 16, 2023 [12 favorites]
posted by ricochet biscuit at 11:51 AM on June 16, 2023 [12 favorites]
2 comments in and we see our first Nickelback crack
life is good, life is damn good
posted by elkevelvet at 11:53 AM on June 16, 2023 [11 favorites]
life is good, life is damn good
posted by elkevelvet at 11:53 AM on June 16, 2023 [11 favorites]
In my mind our population is only about 34 million so it's kind of good that this is getting attention so that we can all update our mental image of the population of Canada.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 11:55 AM on June 16, 2023 [7 favorites]
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 11:55 AM on June 16, 2023 [7 favorites]
wow, Canada is 236 out of 248 countries and dependencies for pop density.
congratulations, I guess?
posted by supermedusa at 11:57 AM on June 16, 2023
congratulations, I guess?
posted by supermedusa at 11:57 AM on June 16, 2023
Reminds me of what was already a very old joke at the time that my 11th grade history teacher would tell us in the mid 1980s:
"The U.N. says a woman gives birth once every seven minutes. ... We gotta stop that woman!"
[His favorite joke was also tangentially pregnancy related, he would say "have you ever read Eugene V. Debs' autobiography? It's called My 70 years in Labor."]
posted by chavenet at 11:58 AM on June 16, 2023
"The U.N. says a woman gives birth once every seven minutes. ... We gotta stop that woman!"
[His favorite joke was also tangentially pregnancy related, he would say "have you ever read Eugene V. Debs' autobiography? It's called My 70 years in Labor."]
posted by chavenet at 11:58 AM on June 16, 2023
Lot of rednecks in my neck of the woods with stickers on their trucks saying "We're Full Fuck Off!" I mean, it would seem a lot less full if there were fewer of those guys and more of everyone else.
Re: Canada's population density. Almost everyone in the country lives within 100km of the border. In 2020 it was the 38th most urbanized country in the world. So theoretically it's empty, but it doesn't feel like it.
posted by klanawa at 12:01 PM on June 16, 2023 [10 favorites]
Re: Canada's population density. Almost everyone in the country lives within 100km of the border. In 2020 it was the 38th most urbanized country in the world. So theoretically it's empty, but it doesn't feel like it.
posted by klanawa at 12:01 PM on June 16, 2023 [10 favorites]
"The U.N. says a woman gives birth once every seven minutes. ... We gotta stop that woman!"
The industrial city I grew up in had a nominal population of 318,000 from the time I could read the Welcome To signs at the city limits until it was forcibly amalgamated with its neighbours, a span of some 25 years. I used to say that it was because it’s the kind of place where when someone becomes pregnant, someone else leaves town.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 12:03 PM on June 16, 2023 [8 favorites]
The industrial city I grew up in had a nominal population of 318,000 from the time I could read the Welcome To signs at the city limits until it was forcibly amalgamated with its neighbours, a span of some 25 years. I used to say that it was because it’s the kind of place where when someone becomes pregnant, someone else leaves town.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 12:03 PM on June 16, 2023 [8 favorites]
Almost everyone in the country lives within 100km of the border.
Indeed. If you consider where people live, Canada looks like someone spun Chile 90 degrees.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 12:05 PM on June 16, 2023 [14 favorites]
Indeed. If you consider where people live, Canada looks like someone spun Chile 90 degrees.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 12:05 PM on June 16, 2023 [14 favorites]
Lot of rednecks in my neck of the woods with stickers on their trucks saying "We're Full Fuck Off!"
Funny because it didn't occur to me that sticker was about immigration. When I see that I think "Oh geez poor guy. His mother must be really pushy at meal time."
posted by Ashwagandha at 12:06 PM on June 16, 2023 [3 favorites]
Funny because it didn't occur to me that sticker was about immigration. When I see that I think "Oh geez poor guy. His mother must be really pushy at meal time."
posted by Ashwagandha at 12:06 PM on June 16, 2023 [3 favorites]
Most Canadians live farther south than almost all of Washington state.
posted by Etrigan at 12:08 PM on June 16, 2023 [5 favorites]
posted by Etrigan at 12:08 PM on June 16, 2023 [5 favorites]
I have been watching this all afternoon. The population hit 40 million at about 14:55 EST.
posted by Multicellular Exothermic at 12:16 PM on June 16, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by Multicellular Exothermic at 12:16 PM on June 16, 2023 [3 favorites]
wow, Canada is 236 out of 248 countries and dependencies for pop density
I read this as “poop density” and was impressed with Canada.
posted by Jon_Evil at 12:42 PM on June 16, 2023 [7 favorites]
I read this as “poop density” and was impressed with Canada.
posted by Jon_Evil at 12:42 PM on June 16, 2023 [7 favorites]
While I understand the need for versimilitude, watching the death counter run down is a bit unnerving.
posted by mollweide at 12:44 PM on June 16, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by mollweide at 12:44 PM on June 16, 2023 [2 favorites]
Well, housing starts/ completions have not even approached the population growth rate. It's a real problem. The competition for housing has diffused from Vancouver/ Toronto to the rest of Canada - even the maritimes.
posted by porpoise at 1:12 PM on June 16, 2023
posted by porpoise at 1:12 PM on June 16, 2023
Shit. I thought we were at 25M. TIL.
posted by Jessica Savitch's Coke Spoon at 1:47 PM on June 16, 2023 [5 favorites]
posted by Jessica Savitch's Coke Spoon at 1:47 PM on June 16, 2023 [5 favorites]
Same here Jessica's Coke Spoon, I guess you also were first made to know about this in the 70s like me.
posted by Meatbomb at 1:59 PM on June 16, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by Meatbomb at 1:59 PM on June 16, 2023 [1 favorite]
Canada is 236 out of 248 countries and dependencies for pop density
Yeah, they mostly say "soda."
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 2:03 PM on June 16, 2023 [16 favorites]
Yeah, they mostly say "soda."
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 2:03 PM on June 16, 2023 [16 favorites]
For the 'I have an old number from grade school in my head' crowd:
If it helps, the rule of thumb that there are as many Canadians as Californians still applies.
(Sorry to Australia, whose old rule about population equal to Texas has been made obsolete by population growth. If you team up with New Zealand though, that sets it back to more or less an even 30 mil all around.)
posted by bartleby at 2:14 PM on June 16, 2023 [5 favorites]
If it helps, the rule of thumb that there are as many Canadians as Californians still applies.
(Sorry to Australia, whose old rule about population equal to Texas has been made obsolete by population growth. If you team up with New Zealand though, that sets it back to more or less an even 30 mil all around.)
posted by bartleby at 2:14 PM on June 16, 2023 [5 favorites]
2 comments in and we see our first Nickelback crack
Life is good, life is damn good
I was hoping for this Nickelback joke.
posted by bartleby at 2:20 PM on June 16, 2023 [5 favorites]
Life is good, life is damn good
I was hoping for this Nickelback joke.
posted by bartleby at 2:20 PM on June 16, 2023 [5 favorites]
There may be decent advantages to having a bigger population, but the message for the past few decades has been that we need to curb emissions and worry about our carbon footprint. I don't get how we grow the population, which is mostly through immigration and something that the Canadian government is in control of, and then ignore the ecological impact of that growing population.
I don't think Gen Z, Gen Alpha, and Gen Beta will be thrilled about Canada's population growth while they try to secure shelter that is rising faster than wages.
posted by DetriusXii at 3:14 PM on June 16, 2023
I don't think Gen Z, Gen Alpha, and Gen Beta will be thrilled about Canada's population growth while they try to secure shelter that is rising faster than wages.
posted by DetriusXii at 3:14 PM on June 16, 2023
I don't get how we grow the population, which is mostly through immigration and something that the Canadian government is in control of, and then ignore the ecological impact of that growing population.
Having more people, and in particular more people close together means that you can much more efficiently provide infrastructure and services for them. I lived in Winnipeg for a couple of years and there aren't enough people there to make a subway worthwhile so the best public transit they can do is a bus system. Riding the bus is still better for the environment than driving a car but imagine how much lower the per person emissions would be if you could have people taking a train or subway. The Windsor to Quebec City corridor keeps getting talked about for high speed rail but that route is 1200km long and the only cities with populations over 1,000,000 on it are Toronto and Montreal. If the other cities on the route say doubled their population then the thing may be viable. Windsor, London, Kitchener-Waterloo, Kingston, and Quebec City, are all proper cities that have the space for it.
Housing prices also shot up during the peak pandemic years when immigration was essentially zero. Immigration certainly plays a factor in the cost of housing but the bigger factors are wealth concentration, cheap credit, and governments of all levels doing their best not to piss off homeowners by making any policies that might reduce property values.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 3:43 PM on June 16, 2023 [2 favorites]
Having more people, and in particular more people close together means that you can much more efficiently provide infrastructure and services for them. I lived in Winnipeg for a couple of years and there aren't enough people there to make a subway worthwhile so the best public transit they can do is a bus system. Riding the bus is still better for the environment than driving a car but imagine how much lower the per person emissions would be if you could have people taking a train or subway. The Windsor to Quebec City corridor keeps getting talked about for high speed rail but that route is 1200km long and the only cities with populations over 1,000,000 on it are Toronto and Montreal. If the other cities on the route say doubled their population then the thing may be viable. Windsor, London, Kitchener-Waterloo, Kingston, and Quebec City, are all proper cities that have the space for it.
Housing prices also shot up during the peak pandemic years when immigration was essentially zero. Immigration certainly plays a factor in the cost of housing but the bigger factors are wealth concentration, cheap credit, and governments of all levels doing their best not to piss off homeowners by making any policies that might reduce property values.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 3:43 PM on June 16, 2023 [2 favorites]
wow, Canada is 236 out of 248 countries and dependencies for pop density|
It really is pretty nuts. Canada has roughly the same population as the greater Tokyo area, which is 13,555 square kilometers. Canada, by contrast, weighs in at 9,984,670 square km (736 times bigger)
The Tokyo Metropolitan area has an average population density of 2,642 people/km2. If Canada had that same ratio, our population would be a little over 26 billion, more than triple the current population of Earth.
posted by mrjohnmuller at 4:00 PM on June 16, 2023 [5 favorites]
It really is pretty nuts. Canada has roughly the same population as the greater Tokyo area, which is 13,555 square kilometers. Canada, by contrast, weighs in at 9,984,670 square km (736 times bigger)
The Tokyo Metropolitan area has an average population density of 2,642 people/km2. If Canada had that same ratio, our population would be a little over 26 billion, more than triple the current population of Earth.
posted by mrjohnmuller at 4:00 PM on June 16, 2023 [5 favorites]
I have been watching this all afternoon. The population hit 40 million at about 14:55 EST.
I was watching. As if calculated to generate outrage among the usual suspects, the forty millionth in the projected count was an immigrant moving to Ontario.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 4:17 PM on June 16, 2023 [9 favorites]
I was watching. As if calculated to generate outrage among the usual suspects, the forty millionth in the projected count was an immigrant moving to Ontario.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 4:17 PM on June 16, 2023 [9 favorites]
40 million people, and 10,000 trees per capita.
posted by Capt. Renault at 6:13 PM on June 16, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by Capt. Renault at 6:13 PM on June 16, 2023 [1 favorite]
10,000 trees per capita.
Rocks and trees (and water)
posted by nubs at 6:16 PM on June 16, 2023 [2 favorites]
Rocks and trees (and water)
posted by nubs at 6:16 PM on June 16, 2023 [2 favorites]
Most Canadians live south of Seattle.
Some Canadians live as far south as California.
posted by blue_beetle at 11:03 PM on June 16, 2023 [1 favorite]
Some Canadians live as far south as California.
posted by blue_beetle at 11:03 PM on June 16, 2023 [1 favorite]
Rocks and trees (and water) yt
I can never quite keep that one straight with this Wendell Ferguson song.
Incidentally, speaking of the 10,000 trees per capita, I once interviewed someone for a summer job and, while looking at his resumé, remarked on how he was switching up his seasonal gig after several summers.
“I see you worked as a tree planter for six summers. What led you to not go back to it this year?”
“Unfortunately I injured my back last season and my doctor says another year of that will leave me permanently disabled. It’s too bad; I was just shy of my personal goal.”
“What was your goal?”
“A million trees.”
“Wow. And how close were you?”
“998,400.”
posted by ricochet biscuit at 3:56 AM on June 17, 2023 [12 favorites]
I can never quite keep that one straight with this Wendell Ferguson song.
Incidentally, speaking of the 10,000 trees per capita, I once interviewed someone for a summer job and, while looking at his resumé, remarked on how he was switching up his seasonal gig after several summers.
“I see you worked as a tree planter for six summers. What led you to not go back to it this year?”
“Unfortunately I injured my back last season and my doctor says another year of that will leave me permanently disabled. It’s too bad; I was just shy of my personal goal.”
“What was your goal?”
“A million trees.”
“Wow. And how close were you?”
“998,400.”
posted by ricochet biscuit at 3:56 AM on June 17, 2023 [12 favorites]
For those who want some visuals, here's the road into the town where Nickelback grew up.
posted by clawsoon at 4:26 AM on June 17, 2023
posted by clawsoon at 4:26 AM on June 17, 2023
40 million in the next half hour or so.
so roughly double what it was the first time I became aware of such stats -- maybe 1967-68. I suppose it explains what all these people are doing in my neighbourhood.
posted by philip-random at 11:55 AM on June 17, 2023
so roughly double what it was the first time I became aware of such stats -- maybe 1967-68. I suppose it explains what all these people are doing in my neighbourhood.
posted by philip-random at 11:55 AM on June 17, 2023
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