Debunking Canada's 'Urban' Legend

An outdated statistical definition of "urban" has contributed to a gross overestimation of Canada's urban population, argues Roy MacGregor.

1 minute read

November 27, 2007, 5:00 AM PST

By Michael Dudley

"It may be the ultimate urban legend. It is that enduring - and accelerating - myth that Canada is the most urbanized country in the world. Or at least the second-most urbanized country in the world after Australia. In truth, neither is even in the Top 10 - a list that begins, no surprise, with China and works down through such traffic-plugged centres as Monaco and Singapore to Qatar and Bahrain.

It is a notion that informs both the media and political thinking, a sense that Canadians are now almost exclusively city-lived - if not born and bred. In fact, the true political and economic makeup of this country, some have argued, is no longer 10 provinces and the territories, but a half-dozen or so powerful "city states" that would include Montreal and its suburbs, Ottawa-Gatineau, the Greater Toronto Area, Winnipeg, Edmonton-Calgary and the lower mainland of British Columbia including Vancouver.

According to the Statistics Canada website, "An urban area has a minimum population concentration of 1,000 persons and a population density of at least 400 persons per square kilometre, based on the current census population count."

A thousand people?"

FULL STORY: Who says we're an urban country?

Saturday, November 24, 2007 in The Globe & Mail

Social / Demographics Canada

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