AHC: Canada with Japan's urban population density

AsGryffynn

Banned
I think I discussed this before when arguing about Superpower Canada with current territory. The way I saw it, however, nobody explored the possibility of Canada undergoing the same kind of growth as Japan, with a population closing in on the 200,000,000 which should be enough to make them into a Superpower.

Is this kind of growth possible at some point? Specially if the boom starts BEFORE 1900?
 
I think I discussed this before when arguing about Superpower Canada with current territory. The way I saw it, however, nobody explored the possibility of Canada undergoing the same kind of growth as Japan, with a population closing in on the 200,000,000 which should be enough to make them into a Superpower.

Is this kind of growth possible at some point? Specially if the boom starts BEFORE 1900?

I'm going to go on a limb here and say... doubtful.

I can envision a Canada that works very hard at attracting immigrants having double the current population. If some terrible calamity somehow befalls the United States and Canada becomes a more attractive place to settle perhaps (but extremely unlikely) Canada could have upwards of 100,000,000. The bulk of these will reside between Quebec City and Windsor, with a string of larger settlements following the transcontinental railroad with Vancouver being a large Pacific city.

But 200,000,000 Canadians will only happen if tragedy strikes the globe which leaves much of it rendered uninhabitable and Canada miraculously avoids disaster.
 
The presence of the United States across the border basically makes this impossible, if we're talking about Canada as we know it, with its current borders and history up to the 19th century. That Canada can't catch up to the United States. (Canadians themselves are actually part of the "problem" here, as they always have immigrated to the U.S. in large numbers, whereas relatively few Americans make the trek north. The migration exchange is generally about a 4:1 ratio in favor of the United States, despite its far larger population.)

The one way you could do it is in a New France-survival scenario, where France sends far more settlers and is able to hang on to the entire region from the Gulf of St. Lawrence to New Orleans. A "Canada" with those borders can attract a lot more immigrants, though it'd be more of a super-sized Quebec than what we know of as Canada (bilingual, with an anglophone majority) today.
 

AsGryffynn

Banned
Supposing the US remains isolationist and enacts a tighter immigrant policy while Canada opens its borders post WWII, wouldn't that make a difference (that and the possibility of Canadian baby boomers?)

Japan's population wasn't that large back then. What made it grow to the 130,000,000 of modern day Nihon-koku?
 
Supposing the US remains isolationist and enacts a tighter immigrant policy while Canada opens its borders post WWII, wouldn't that make a difference (that and the possibility of Canadian baby boomers?)

Japan's population wasn't that large back then. What made it grow to the 130,000,000 of modern day Nihon-koku?

The U.S. in OTL had very strict immigration quotas from 1924 to 1965, but this did not cause Canada to become a giant. It drew some immigrants, but there were just too many other options to immigrate to - Brazil, Argentina, Australia, New Zealand, et al. - for it to dominate in that area. The fact that Canada is known for having extremely harsh winters probably doesn't help matters. (If you're say, a Sicilian looking to emigrate, are you going to choose Canada and its bitter winters over Argentina and its Mediterranean-like climate?) Besides, even if the U.S. has strict immigration laws, Canadians who want to immigrate will still make it across the border easily - it's far too long to be completely policed.

Japan has always been far more populous than Canada. In 1900 it had 44 million people to Canada's 5 million. In 1950 it had 83 million people to Canada's 13 million. Canada did have a baby boom IOTL, for the record. Its population has almost tripled since WWII. Problem is, there weren't that many people to begin with.
 
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Supposing the US remains isolationist and enacts a tighter immigrant policy while Canada opens its borders post WWII, wouldn't that make a difference (that and the possibility of Canadian baby boomers?)

Japan's population wasn't that large back then. What made it grow to the 130,000,000 of modern day Nihon-koku?

It was. It was always a million or two below France's population pre industrial. Before Russia started catching up in population it was France, japan vying for that 3-4 spots especially when the eastern Romans started collapsing.

The U.S. in OTL had very strict immigration quotas from 1924 to 1965, but this did not cause Canada to become a giant. It drew some immigrants, but there were just too many other options to immigrate to - Brazil, Argentina, Australia, New Zealand, et al. - for it to dominate in that area. The fact that Canada is known for having extremely harsh winters probably doesn't help matters. (If you're say, a Sicilian looking to emigrate, are you going to choose Canada and its bitter winters over Argentina and its Mediterranean-like climate?) Besides, even if the U.S. has strict immigration laws, Canadians who want to immigrate will still make it across the border easily - it's far too long to be completely policed.

Japan has always been far more populous than Canada. In 1900 it had 44 million people to Canada's 5 million. In 1950 it had 83 million people to Canada's 13 million. Canada did have a baby boom IOTL, for the record. Its population has almost tripled since WWII. Problem is, there weren't that many people to begin with.

This is true in a western sense. However, pod is before 1900. Not only that, Japanese dominated culture/society would have made Canada more populous.

I do agree though that Canada which include French Louisiana would have grown 100m+ If you are strict with making Canada a western society.
 
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