The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Parliament has resumed and the nation is back to business. As the nationÕs leaders grope their way through a maze of issues, they should not lose sight of CanadaÕs big cities and the larger urban agenda. Statistics Canada continues to point out that the nation is inexorably marching toward a highly urbanized future. No surprise there. But less familiar is how this urbanizing trend centres around CanadaÕs big-city regions. Between the 2001 and 2006 census, CanadaÕs 33 largest Òcensus metropolitan areasÓ represented almost 90 per cent of national population growth. It is evident that CanadaÕs demographic future, and hence its economic future, is becoming ever more closely intertwined with our big cities. And no other national region has experienced the effects of rapid urbanization more than Western Canada, where the demographic landscape has been dramatically altered. Five decades ago, the West was far less urban than the rest of the country. Not today. The West is home to CanadaÕs most dynamic big cities. Between 1961 and 2006, Kelowna and Abbotsford emerged as the fastest growing cities among those with a current population of less than 250,000. Kelowna grew by 491 per cent and Abbotsford by 446 per cent. Among cities exceeding 500,000 in population, three of the top five fastest growing were western cities: Calgary (273 per cent), Edmonton (164 per cent) and Vancouver (156 per cent). Of the WestÕs nine big-city regions, seven emerged within the top five for growth in their respective size category. What is more, this is not just about British Columbia and Alberta, but also Saskatchewan and Manitoba. Traditionally, CanadaÕs urban axis has spun around the trio of Toronto, Montreal, and Ottawa. This no longer is true. Vancouver, for instance, has emerged as one of the most dynamic cities in Canada with a rapidly growing population and an enviable international reputation. Canada has always preoccupied itself with finding that one common thread or experience that can be said to unite Canadians. First it was the Canadian Pacific Railway. Then it was the CBC. Today some would say it is universal and publicly funded health care. Perhaps it should be our city regions. At the very least, Canadians and their governments need to pay more attention to the future of our large cities, for these regions are critical to our demographic and economic success.
