The population west of Ontario now exceeds the population east of Ontario, according to new 2011 census data. This was what made headlines when Canadian population growth of 5.9 per cent from 2006 to 2011 (upwards of one per cent per year) was announced recently by Statistics Canada. It led commentators to forecast a continued shift in political power west.
Conservative legislation (prepared before the release of 2006-11 population data) enlarges the House of Commons by adding 15 seats in Ontario, six each in Alberta and B.C., and three in Quebec. But the impact of demographic changes on Canadian electoral politics can be easily overstated. What is more important are the shifts in economic power that underlie the changes in population.
