Powerless and penniless: more than 80 percent of Canadians live in cities and the vast majority live in four large metropolitan areas--Greater Toronto, Greater Montreal, Southwestern British Columbia, and the Calgary-Edmonton corridor. Any of these four regions could make a legitimate claim to province-hood based on population alone.(REGIONALISM-CITIES)

Publication: Canada and the World Backgrounder

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COPYRIGHT 2005 Canada & the World

When he came to power in 2003, Prime Minister Paul Martin said that fixing the problems of Canada's cities was a top priority. He recognized that cities are the engines of Canada's economy--just look at the numbers.

Winnipeg accounts for 67 percent of Manitoba's Gross Domestic Product (the value of all the goods and services produced). In Nova Scotia, Halifax generates 47 percent of the province's GDP, Calgary, and Edmonton together account for 64 percent of Alberta's GDP. And, Toronto is responsible for 20 percent of the entire nation's GDP.

In 2002, almost half of all Canadians lived in the eight largest metropolitan areas. They are, in order: Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Ottawa-Hull, Calgary, Edmonton, Quebec City, and Winnipeg.

Mr. Martin knows that if Canada's cities start to stumble the rest of the country falls flat on its face.

And, our urban areas have begun to falter in their steps. Years of neglect have left our cities and towns with a huge backlog of problems that need to be dealt with. The problems are similar right across the country: lack of affordable housing; traffic congestion and overcrowded transit; immigrant settlement services falling apart; pockets of unemployment and poverty growing larger; water and sewage treatment systems creaking with age.

All these things go to make up what's called public infrastructure or public capital. They are vital to the economic health of the country. A Statistics Canada economic study shows why. "Within the business sector as a whole," the 2003...

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