Population of Canada if it had been in the USA

[ottermax]

I find it interesting that you think Canada's pop would be greater if it had been annexed by the USA. I think the opposite.

From my understanding, the prairies were largely settled because the Canadian government encouraged westward expansion to stave off American northward expansion. If you look at the border between Saskatchewan/Manitoba and Minnesota/North Dakota/Montana, the development to the north is much more impressive and denser.

I also doubt that Vancouver would be as dense and populous today because Canadians would be able to go to California and other West Coast locations as warmer destinations. I also doubt that there would be as much immigration to cities like Toronto and Vancouver that have formed the bulk of pop growth in the past few decades. Alberta would likely be smaller as well, but going through a current boom because of the oil.

I also think that the Maritimes would have a significantly lower population because of westward expansion. I also think that the North would be less populated because it is very different from Alaska. Alaska only has a significant population because its coastal access has allowed fishing and port access plus the oil revenue that has allowed growth in Anchorage.

I do agree that Quebec would be more populated because it would not have suffered the same effects from the Quiet Revolution, but I also would guess that French would have disappeared considering how insignificant Quebec would be in the whole scheme of the USA; I'm guessing it would turn out like Louisiana but with a stronger French presence.

Then again, the economic growth of the USA and possible encouraged northward expansion may have encouraged population growth, but I've always thought that Canada was more populated than it should be because of its limited arable land and generally awful weather.