Trump's threats should remind us of Canada's underpopulation risk. From November, but even more relevant now that we've experienced the danger of an undersized domestic market. www.theglobeandmail.com/gift/e33036f... - ThreadSky

dougsaunders.bsky.social • 30 days ago

Trump's threats should remind us of Canada's underpopulation risk.

From November, but even more relevant now that we've experienced the danger of an undersized domestic market.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/gift/e33036f366625ad4b419c831d2c0cd0bf35008823c036fe7f5cbf944f973e5f6/UGKNN5NQOVFFZJNKQCHWWB3KSA/

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brianbswizzle.bsky.social•30 days ago

Time for the federal government to use POGG to abolish exclusionary zoning.

princesaud.bsky.social•29 days ago

https://www.faf.ae/home/2025/2/4/trump-puts-tariff-on-canada-france-and-mexico-on-hold

jimsdouglas.bsky.social•30 days ago

Not an original thought, but our population is concentrated in a handful of cities, so immigrants understandably want to live in GTA/Montreal/Vancouver. We need to spread out, but it's a hard problem. (I was born in Vancouver and I'm grateful to still be able to live here, but not everyone can.)

dougsaunders.bsky.social•30 days ago

We very much do not need to spread out. All of those cities suffer from low population density -- that's why they have traffic problems, because too many of their districts are too sparsely populated to support rapid transit. Not just their inner suburbs but many central areas.

dougsaunders.bsky.social•30 days ago

(For example, I would speculate that Surrey could quadruple its population, thus allowing much better quality of life and services, while still not seeming very "urban")

jerryluu.bsky.social•29 days ago

Surrey's Hospital cant handle the current population, its already at a breaking point

dougsaunders.bsky.social•29 days ago

The fact that Surrey only has one major hospital tells us that there are great opportunities for Vancouver to build the infrastructure for the city of 6 million it wants to be

jimsdouglas.bsky.social•30 days ago

I like Eby's recent legislation aimed at increasing density, but quadruple seems aggressive? Surrey's current projections show a relatively modest increase, on the order of +50%, by 2046.

https://www.surrey.ca/business-economy/business-data/population-estimates-projections

dougsaunders.bsky.social•29 days ago

That'll get them there by century's end

jimsdouglas.bsky.social•29 days ago

Even over that timeframe, Metro Vancouver is geographically constrained: Water to the west, mountains to the north, Washington State to the south, and agricultural land that we don't want to pave to the east. We can build more towers, but unlike most cities, there are hard limits to our growth.

adrianhiel.bsky.social•30 days ago

Completely agree but it would be great if we invested more in existing, smaller cities too. With sufficient density to support actual services and small businesses.

dougsaunders.bsky.social•29 days ago

Second-tier cities with universities and colleges are the great migratory growth areas; their lower housing costs and easier access to needed credential-updating PSE have made them favoured settlement places for newcomers. The smarter ones are adding public transit and density-friendly policies

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