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No Major Cities: Why So Few Canadians Live In On The East Coast
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Mar 31, 2025
Much like the United States, Canada's first European settlements began on its east coast. But where many of the US's first settlements would eventually emerge as major population centers such as Boston, New York City, and Philadelphia, Canada's major population centers would grow much farther inland. This leaves Canada's Atlantic provinces with very few people relative to even a single major Canadian city. And there's a huge geographic reason for this!
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New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Washington DC, and Miami are home to tens of millions
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of Americans, and all exist on the Atlantic coast of the United States
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But if we look just to the north, Canada's largest metro regions are mostly inland, well
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away from the ocean. So why doesn't Canada have a major city on their east coast
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Hello and welcome to Geography by Jeff. As North America was settled by Europeans, most of the original colonies were
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on the East Coast, which makes sense given its physical proximity to Europe. But while this led
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to many of America's largest cities being on its East Coast, the same story has not played out for
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Canada. And there's a geographic reason for this. But first, if you're a fan of me, consider
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supporting me on Substack. Paid subscribers get even more geography every week, special call-outs
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ad-free podcast episodes, and these special perks. So if you want to engage with me even more
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Substack is the place. And I will see you there. Before we get to why Canada doesn't have a major East Coast population center
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we should first explore just a little bit how Canada was colonized, grew, and expanded through the decades
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Long before Europeans set foot on North America, of course, Canada was home to a wide array of indigenous peoples
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with rich cultures, traditions, and trade networks. But because this is about the Canada of today
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let's go ahead and jump to when Europeans first landed on the continent. In terms of European exploration
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modern-day Canada is believed to be the first region Europeans would explore
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Around the year 1000, an expedition by Norwegian explorer Leif Erikson would establish a short-lived settlement named Vinland
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thought to be located in present-day Newfoundland. However, it was not until the late 1400s
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that a more sustained exploration and settlement would begin. In 1497, under the patronage of England's King Henry VII
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explorer John Cabot would set sail for the Americas where he's believed to have made landfall on the island of Newfoundland
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His expeditions demonstrated the abundance of fish, setting the stage for lucrative fishing grounds
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that would attract future European explorers and settlers. But while England would kick off the current exploration of modern-day Canada
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it would be France who would actually settle the region first. France entered the scene in the 1500s when Jacques Cartier
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was tasked by King Francis I to find a direct maritime route to Asia
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Between 1534 and 1542 Cartier made three voyages and he would eventually explore the Gulf of St Lawrence and claim the land for France naming the territory Canada derived from the Iroquoian word Canada meaning village The French would be the first to establish a permanent European settlement with the founding of Quebec City by Samuel de Chaplin in 1608
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Champlois' establishment became the foothold for France and the Americas, and he is often
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called the Father of New France. The early French settlers forged alliances with multiple indigenous tribes, primarily
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to establish fur trade networks. Due to competing interests in North America, the 1600s and 1700s saw frequent wars between
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England and France. In 1610, the British established their first permanent settlement called Cooper's Cove
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today known as the Town of Cupid's on the island of Newfoundland. The British and French colonies coexisted, but with increasing animosity and frequent skirmishes
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A culmination of global British-French tensions would lead to the Seven Years' War between 1756 and 1763
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more locally known as the French and Indian Wars in the colonies, which ended in British victory
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The 1763 Treaty of Paris led to Britain gaining control of almost all French territories in North America, marking the end of New France
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Then the British North America Act in 1867 marked the beginning of Canada as a federated nation
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initially with four provinces, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia. The westward expansion of the Canadian Pacific Railway brought promise and opportunity
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leading to the inclusion of other provinces and territories into the Confederation. Canada's settlement began on its east coast
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much in the same way the United States did. But where many of America's first cities
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became some of its largest population centers, Canada's did not. But before we get to why Canada's largest cities
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are not on its east coast, if you're enjoying this video, hit that subscribe button
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More fun geography videos are just a single click away. When most people think of Canada
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they're probably thinking about a few key areas. More often than not, they'll think about Montreal and Toronto, which are within Quebec and Ontario, respectively
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They'll probably also think of British Columbia, the home to Vancouver on the west coast of Canada
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And they may even think about Alberta, home to Calgary, Edmonton, and Canada's vast oil industry
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But what they probably don't think about as often is Canada's smaller Atlantic Coast provinces of Newfoundland and Labrador
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Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia. Which is crazy because these provinces are quite spectacular
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The geography of the Atlantic provinces is shaped by the Atlantic Ocean and defined by a diverse
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blend of ecosystems from the highlands to the lowlands, forests to tundra, and bountiful
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coastlines The area is dotted with thousands of lakes carved by rivers and features several major bays and inlets notably the Bay of Fundy known for having the highest tides in the world The easternmost areas such as Newfoundland present a rugged
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terrain with fjords, mountains, and barren cliffs that plunge into the sea, whereas the mainland
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part of Labrador is a mix of boreal forests and arctic tundra. As we move south, the terrain
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shifts to the rolling landscapes and fertile valleys of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island
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the latter marked by its vibrant red soil and sand. New Brunswick's geography is equally diverse
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boasting dense forests, fertile river valleys, and the far northern tip of the Appalachian Mountain Range
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And the coastal location of these provinces influences their climates, leading to relatively moderate temperatures, but also high precipitation
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including heavy snowfall in the winter. In many ways, Canada's Atlantic provinces share many of the same geographic features
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of the United States' New England. But unlike New England, Canada's Atlantic provinces don't have a major city to call their own in the same way that New England has Boston
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Canada does have cities on its east coast, but none of them are nearly as large as Canada's other major cities such as Toronto, Montreal, or Vancouver
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And this is odd because, given the continued power and influence of ports on establishing major population centers
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the assumption would be that Canada would need a major city on its east coast in order to facilitate trade
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And while Canada does have Halifax, Nova Scotia, a medium-sized city with a fairly large port
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it doesn't break into the top 10 of Canada's largest cities. And much of this has to do with a single, massive river
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The St. Lawrence River has really been foundational for Canada. Its size and width has allowed for not only an abundance of fresh water
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but also the ability for large freight ships to travel in and out with relative ease
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And perhaps most important is that the river connects directly to the Great Lakes
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allowing for transportation directly in and out without the need for a land crossing
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In many ways, the St. Lawrence River is to Canada, as the Mississippi River is to the United States
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So it's not surprising that Canada's oldest city, Quebec City, exists at the mouth of the St. Lawrence
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As the French were looking for a route to Asia, the St. Lawrence's sheer size would inevitably lead them to believe that it could go quite a ways inland
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and maybe even to the Pacific Ocean. Now given its size, the St. Lawrence River made transportation relatively easy in a country that
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is otherwise pretty rugged and cold. This really enabled many of Canada's largest cities to grow
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in ways they otherwise would not have. Canada's largest city, Toronto, exists in what would be
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called Canada's Golden Horseshoe, named in part because it has an abundance of fertile agricultural
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lands combined with an incredible amount of fresh water But while agriculture was and still is very valuable shipping it could be quite expensive And it for this reason that we see major cities appear along the St Lawrence River or even on a tributary river such as Ottawa rather than the East Coast It far cheaper
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to transport things by water than by land. And the fact that goods can be made, produced
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grown, or manufactured in Toronto or Montreal, and then shipped downriver and out to the world
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was far more enticing than transporting them by land to Halifax first. This helps explain why the
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Port of Montreal ships approximately 40 million tons of cargo every year
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compared to Halifax's less than 20 million tons, despite Montreal being hundreds of miles inland
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As I've already mentioned in this video, Canada's Atlantic provinces do have a lot of Canadians
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living within them, and they do have plenty of cities dotting the east coast of the country
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While these four provinces might not have as many people as Toronto, they still combine to create an incredibly important region for Canada as a whole
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Canada's Atlantic provinces are led by Nova Scotia with about 1 million people in total
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This would be followed by New Brunswick with 775,000 people, Newfoundland and Labrador with 510,000 people
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and finally Prince Edward Island with 154,000 people. Notably, however, while Prince Edward Island has the fewest people of any full province in Canada
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it's also the province with the highest population density due to its area size
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Canada's other provinces all just happen to be really large, and this region would be led by the city of Halifax, Nova Scotia
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with about 465,000 people within its metro region. This would be about one-tenth the size of Montreal, Quebec
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which has about 4.2 million people. Following Halifax would be St. John's in Newfoundland and Labrador with 212,000 people
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St. John's also has the distinction of being the easternmost city in North America
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Moncton, St. John, and Fredericton in New Brunswick would be the third, fourth, and fifth largest cities in the region
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with 157,000, 130,000, and 108,000 people respectively. Prince Edward Island's largest city would be Charlottetown with about 79,000 people
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All four provinces combined have a population of only 2.4 million people
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which is a little less than the Vancouver-British Columbia metro region. Canada's Atlantic region features some incredible landscapes
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but the fact that the St. Lawrence River was able to connect the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean
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probably stunted its growth. And because of this, these four provinces will probably always be smaller than their inland neighbors
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I hope you enjoyed learning more about Canada's Atlantic provinces and why there are no major Canadian cities located there
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If you did, please subscribe to my channel. And if you want to watch more of my videos
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you can do so here. Thanks for watching. See you next time
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