Western Canada is a region in the west of Canada, also known as the Western provinces. The provinces are Alberta, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan. Western Canada is a rich region with numerous rich mineral deposits and over 600 lakes (McLean, 2020). The landscape is mainly mountains, grasslands, desert badlands, and massive cedar forests. Western Canada rests on a land size of 2,703,159 km 2 and had a population of over 11 million people in 2016 (McLean, 2020). There are major towns in the region that serve as capital cities for each of the three provinces. The cities are Winnipeg (Manitoba), Edmonton (Alberta), and Regina (Saskatchewan). For Manitoba, however, the largest city is Winnipeg, which serves as a commercial hub in the region. Provincial capitals for the rest of the western provinces are located in the second-largest city in each province.
Figure 1. Population growth in Canada from 2018-2019.
Figure 1 Source: https://winnipeg.ctvnews.ca/highest-population-increase-ever-recorded-in-canada-while-manitoba-s-growth-slows-statcan-1.4618823
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Canada recorded a steady population increase between 2018-2019 except for western Canada (Dow, 2019). Winnipeg is the capital of Manitoba. The demographics in Winnipeg are a reflection of a typical Canadian society; multicultural and multilingual. According to the Canadian census of 2016, the city had a population of 778,489 living in the metropolitan area of Winnipeg and 705,244 people living in the City of Winnipeg proper (tatcan.gc.ca, 2016). The average population age is 39 years old. On the other hand, Alberta’s Edmonton had a slightly more population size in the same year, 2016 (tatcan.gc.ca, 2016). It had a population of 932,546 people, which was a significant increase from the previous census of 2011, 812,201 people (tatcan.gc.ca, 2011). The population of Edmonton has experienced steady growth in the past few decades. In a period of five years, between 2011 and 2016, for area population increased by 14.8% and by 11.2% in the previous five years. The other city is Regina, Saskatchewan’s capital. It's the most populous capital in the Western Canada provinces, with a population size of about 193,000 in 2015. In the 2016 census, the metropolitan area population had grown to 233,000 (tatcan.gc.ca, 2016). Around 94% of the population are Canadians, and about 6% are recent immigrants.
More than 80% of all people in Western Canada are Canadian citizens who have settled there for a long time. More than 68% are Christians, 27% non-religious, 2% Muslims, and less than 1% for other religions. Being majorly Canadian, the culture of Western Canada is the typical Canadian culture that is characterized by nature, respect, and equality.
Before the discovery of oil in 1947, the West Canada economy depended on commodities like wheat and livestock. The region did not attract a lot of people at the time. The quick demographic growth was a result of economic expansion, which was contributed by the discovery of oil in Alberta (opentextbc.ca, n.d). With oil, it was time for Albertans and the Western Canadians as a whole to build industries as it had happened in other rich jurisdictions like Texas. A lot of people migrated from rural areas to work in new industries and do business in Alberta. By 1951, Alberta was no longer a rural area (opentextbc.ca, n.d). The population in West Canada is equally distributed; there are people from all parts of Canada. After the discovery of oil, people from different parts of Canada flocked to the west to look for opportunities. As a result, they all settled there.
References
8.10 Oil and Gas and the New West (n.d). Retrieved from: https://opentextbc.ca/postconfederation/chapter/8-10-oil-and-gas-and-the-new-west/
Dow, K. (2019). The highest population increase ever recorded in Canada, while Manitoba's growth slows: StatCan. Retrieved from: https://winnipeg.ctvnews.ca/highest-population-increase-ever-recorded-in-canada-while-manitoba-s-growth-slows-statcan-1.4618823
McLean, J. (2020). Canadian Provinces and Territories. Retrieved from: https://www.tripsavvy.com/canada-provinces-and-territories-1481740
Statistics Canada. (2011). https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2011/dp-pd/index-eng.cfm
Statistics Canada. (2016). https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/dp-pd/index-eng.cfm
