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It's also a tough question to answer because globally some cities are more well-known in certain regions, others have more renown in others.
In Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America, as far as recognition is concerned, Montreal is often neck and neck with Toronto and even ahead of it in certain countries and sub-regions.
But once you reach India and going east into the rest of Asia, it's all about Toronto and Vancouver, and Montreal doesn't register much of a blip compared to the other two.
You are absolutely right here, Acajack! Vancouver is more famous in Asia than Toronto as a matter of fact.
^ Except Toronto has significantly more Chinese people than Vancouver in absolute numbers, so it should be at least as well known as Vancouver in that country. Same with India.
Toronto is the biggest by far. Next is Montreal, followed closely by Vancouver. Those are the big 3 in Canada. I would say Calgary would be #4. I've been there 7 times, I have family there. It's grown so much in the past 10 years. I think realistically in just over 20 years Calgary's city population will be closing in on Montreal unless the city of Montreal develops an aggressive growth plan. Metro wise...not a chance. Calgary and Vancouver will dominate Western Canada with a third place influence of Edmonton while Toronto and Montreal will continue to dominate the east with Ottawa being #3 for the east. I think that pretty much sums it up.
I can see 20 years down the road, the city of TO will have about 3.2 million people, Montreal will be around 1.8 million, Calgary will be around 1.6 million, and Vancouver will be around the 900,000 mark. Metro wise TO will be around 7.5 to 8 million, Montreal will still be in second with around 4.7 million. Vancouver will still be #3 with about 3.1 million. Calgary will be the #4 Metro with about 1.8 million people.
Toronto is the biggest by far. Next is Montreal, followed closely by Vancouver. Those are the big 3 in Canada. I would say Calgary would be #4. I've been there 7 times, I have family there. It's grown so much in the past 10 years. I think realistically in just over 20 years Calgary's city population will be closing in on Montreal unless the city of Montreal develops an aggressive growth plan. Metro wise...not a chance. Calgary and Vancouver will dominate Western Canada with a third place influence of Edmonton while Toronto and Montreal will continue to dominate the east with Ottawa being #3 for the east. I think that pretty much sums it up.
I can see 20 years down the road, the city of TO will have about 3.2 million people, Montreal will be around 1.8 million, Calgary will be around 1.6 million, and Vancouver will be around the 900,000 mark. Metro wise TO will be around 7.5 to 8 million, Montreal will still be in second with around 4.7 million. Vancouver will still be #3 with about 3.1 million. Calgary will be the #4 Metro with about 1.8 million people.
I agree with all of this. I find the Metro populations are what really matter when determining the size of a city. Is Ottawa still larger than Calgary? Or did Calgary surpass it?
I agree with all of this. I find the Metro populations are what really matter when determining the size of a city. Is Ottawa still larger than Calgary? Or did Calgary surpass it?
It is a matter of dispute and they are very close but I think Calgary is probably ahead now.
^ I think Calgary is tied with Ottawa metro wise but will take over very shortly to become Canada's 4th largest metro city. Probably by 2013 the title will go to Calgary especially with the Ottawa job cuts. As for Montreal, as of 2011 their population was 1.65 million in the city center. In 2006 that number was 1.62 million... as you can see this is very low growth. The city will probably be at 1.8 million come 2031 unless they start attracting higher growth in which it could very well go higher. It seems all the growth in Montreal is in the metro boundaries. But time will certainly tell.
As for Vancouver... they need to keep growing if they want to continue to provide services for the public. 900,000 might be a bit steep for 2031 but it's based on increased growth patterns it could very well happen. Perhaps 750,000 to 800,000 is more realistic. Calgary will overtake Montreal in business high rises by 2016 according to reports. I 100% believe this. Population wise, Montreal should be able to hold the #2 position for a minimum of 20 years. Metro wise... they have that secured for way longer. Montreal needs a better growth plan to keep up with Ontario and the west. Regardless, the big four cities in Canada for the next 30 years will be:
Anyone think the rise of Western Canada (eg. the claim recently that not long ago, for the first time in history, there are more Canadians in the West than the East now) is something that's going to be a significant demographic shift in the near future?
I've personally seen more and more of my peers in the 20s and 30s age range move to Alberta (though many of them are engineers, business people etc.), though some of that might be temporary. Also, I have noticed a much larger amount of immigrant communities in Calgary and Edmonton, even in the past ten years or so too.
Long-range predictions of demography are always a crapshoot though -- much can easily change in the span of decades.
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