Why is the population density of Canada so low even though the density in your region is relatively high?

Answer 1

Canada has high density population areas. Not anywhere near as high as Mumbai (30,000 per sq/km) or Mexico City (8,500) but Toronto does have about 2,600 people per sq/km and by Canadian standards that is a crushing number of people for such a small area and is not sustainable.

Having a population density of 2,600 people per sq/km is clearly unsustainable. When it comes to carbon emissions alone they would emit much more carbon than could be naturally sunk by such a small area and of course could not grow their own food.

But Toronto is part of Canada and most of Canada has a population density of less than one person per sq/km. It is the large expansiveness of our forests, Canada has less than one half of one percent of the worlds population but 10% of the worlds forests, and farmland that make Canada one of the few sustainable countries in the world.

The reason for that is climate and history. Canada was one of the last frontiers, so had fewer people moving here throughout the 17 and 1800's due in large part to the harsh climate and remoteness.