Download Chapter 3 Class Notes: Canada`s People

Social Studies Grade 9
Unit Two: Geographic Influences on Identity: Place & People
Chapter 3 Class Notes: Canada’s People
- Canada is one of the world’s largest countries, but its population is small in comparison to
its land mass
3.1 Canada’s Human Landscape (Page 43):
- Population Distribution describes where people have chosen to live in a country
o Geographers refer to Canada’s population distribution as an Archipelago Effect:
 an archipelago is a group of islands
 this refers to the fact that if you look at Canada’s population distribution
on a map, it looks like islands or pockets of settlement within a sea of
mountains, plains and forests
o Most of Canada’s population is distributed along the Canada-U.S.A. border
- Population Density is a measure of how closely together people live in a country or area
within a country.
o It is defined as the average number of people in an area
o It is calculated by dividing the population of an area by the size of the area in
square kilometres
 Ex : For a population of 16,000 people in an area of 2000 km2, the
population density would be 16,000 people/2000 km2 = 8 people/km2
o The main pockets of population in Canada are in Southern Ontario, Quebec, and
in more isolated cities throughout Canada such as Vancouver, Calgary, Halifax,
etc.
o Population Density can be misleading as a tool because it does not take into
account population distribution, meaning that some areas may be highly
populated while others are not. It can also be misleading when compared to the
population density of another country unless you take into account the area/size
of the countries you are comparing
- Geographers divide factors that determine the location of human settlements into 2
categories :
o Site Factors
 Features of the physical landscape
 Examples include : Fertile soil, plenty of trees, sheltered harbour,
minerals or wildlife resources
o Situation Factors
 Involve a site’s relationship to other places
 The Relationship can be economic, related to trade, transportation, or
political (government centre)
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Examples include : access to services such as banking, specialist doctors,
educational facilties, presence of an airport or ferry, presence of a bridge
In addition, there are 3 main purposes for locating settlements:
o Transportation
 Could include a bridge, confluence (place where two rivers meet) or head
of navigation (where a traveller must change to another mode of
transportation)
o Defence
 Could refer to an Island or sheltered Harbour which could also protect
from harsh weather
o Access to Resources
 Refers to locating a settlement close to resources such as minerals, trees,
fish, or water power to make the extraction or use of these resources
cheaper
Settlement Patterns in Canada :
o Contact between Aboriginal Peoples in Canada and European settlers alomost
always led to the relocation of Aboriginal Peoples. This was because Eurpoeans
were attracted by the same site and situation factors that had caused the
Aboriginal Peoples to settle there
o Canada’s Aboriginal Peoples are made up of three distinct groups :
 Inuit – The people of Arctic Canada (Nunavut, Northwest Territories,
Labrador, Quebec)
 Metis – People of European and First Nations ancestry (Ontario,
Northwest Territories, Praries)
 First Nations – Includes Mi’kmaq, Maliseet, Innu, Passamaquoddy
(Throughout Canada)
 Much of Quebec was settled using the seigneurial system of landholding
 This involved settling land which was divided into long, narow lots
that would face rivers and give access to the water
 Much of Ontario was settled using the township system of landholding
 This involved settling land which was divided into square blocks of
land which was used for farming
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3.2 Growth and Decline of Settlements (Page 48):
Growth :
- Canada used to be primarily agricultural
- The Great Lakes – St. Lawrence Lowland region developed into an agricultural area
becuase of its fertile soils
- Atlantic Canada developed fishing, lumbering and shipbuilding industries because of it’s
forest and sea resources
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The West Coast of Canada develped fishing and lumbering industries for similar
reasons
- Most of Canada’s big cities develped because of site and situation factors that included
markets for farm-grown goods and efficient transportation systems
Classifying Communities :
- Communities can be classified based on the services they provide
- Villages : provide limited services (one gas station, convenience store, elementrary
school only)
- Cities : provide high levels and more specialized service (university/college, hospital,
banks, shopping centres)
- Sometimes corridors (an area of urban development that extends from a city, often
along a highway) from one city can meet a corridor from another city, creating a huge
urban area. Ex : Windsor-Quebec City corridor
Decline :
- In 1881, 75% of Canadians lived in rural areas (25% in urban areas)
- Rural: areas that are located outside towns and cities; are often agricultural
- After Canada underwent an industrial revolution (change from agricultural to
manufacturing economy), many people moved to urban areas
- Urban : a town or city with a population of 1000 people or more OR a population
density of 400 people/km2
- Rural to Urban Drift: the movement of people from areas of lower population density
into towns and cities; this can occur within provinces and from region to region (ex :
moving from a small community in NL to St. John’s)
- By 1939, more than 50% of Canada’s population lived in urban areas.
- Since 1939, the rate of urbanization (the process by which a rural area becomes urban)
has increased due to a loss of industry such as fishing, mining or farming
Megacities :
- Urbanization is a worldwise trend, resulting in megacities
- Megacities:
o large, urban areas that face difficulties such as crowding, poor or deteriorating
infrastructure, and environmental problems
o Common issues include : poverty, poor water quality, poor air quality, trafic
congestion, inadequate sewage and garbage collection, deteriorating roads,
bridges and inadequate housing
3.3 Canada : A Regional Perspective
- Geographers use four main categories when classifying regions :
1. Location
 Communities within a region share a geographic location, and sometimes a
regional name (ex : Atlantic Canada)
2. Physical and Cultural Characteristics
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Each region has unique physical (landscape) characteristics as well as cultural
characteristics (ex : plains in the Prairie Region, immigration from Asian
countries in British Columbia)
3. Political Perspective
 Some regions share political/cultural views or business relationships with other
areas (sometimes in the U.S.A. or other countries)
4. Hierarchy
 Regions contain smaller regions within them (ex : NL as a distinct region within
Atlantic Canada)
- Canada’s Five Political Regions are:
1. Atlantic Canada
2. Central Canada
3. The Prairies
4. British Columbia
5. The North
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*See Figure 3.12, Text Page 54 for a summary of Canada’s five political regions
based on their characteristics
The Core & The Periphery :
- Each region’s development is influenced by its relationships with other regions
- Interaction among the regions is explained using the concepts of core and periphery
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Core : the nucleus of a region; most developed area, greatest wealth, highest
population density; site of manufacturing (ex : Toronto, Montreal, Halifax, St. John’s
are all core cities)
Periphery : the areas outside the core; provides raw materials to the core as well as
market to sell the goods produced in the core
3.4 Regional Identities:
- Physical and cultural differences in different areas throughout Canada have resulted in
unique regional identities
- this means that a person is identified as having certain characteristics or they identify
themselves with certain objects, practices or activities because of where they live or
where they come from
- many regional identities are associated with local industries (ex: Newfoundlanders as
fisherman, cowboys on the Prairies)
- often regional identities may become part of a stereotype (an oversimplified view of
the characteristics of the members of a certain place)
- Sometimes, these stereotypes can be not only false, but negative (ex :
Newfoundlanders are not intelligent)
- festivals and tourism ads may foster or perpetuate stereotypes by playing on regional
identities
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