A Quebecer moves to the Northwest Territories, a family in Newfoundland and Labrador welcomes a new arrival, another in British Columbia mourns a loss, an immigrant settles somewhere in Ontario.
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Within the span of just a few minutes, an online tool from Statistics Canada offers an evocative snapshot of the countrysa国际传媒檚 ever-shifting population through a series of statistically modelled demographic events.
The so-called sa国际传媒� sa国际传媒� sa国际传媒� which went live shortly after Canada Day last year sa国际传媒� uses StatCan data to present a real-time visualization of the countrysa国际传媒檚 major demographic trends, including births, deaths, immigration and emigration.
Watching it is somewhat akin to playing a real-life, nationwide version of the city-building video game SimCity: coloured bars representing births, deaths and various migrations slowly fill up or deplete, leading to animations on a map showing each occurrence playing out across the country.
Itsa国际传媒檚 not quite true to life, of course sa国际传媒� the federal government doesnsa国际传媒檛 claim to be tracking every individual in the country in real-time sa国际传媒� but one of the pagesa国际传媒檚 main designers says itsa国际传媒檚 pretty close.
Patrick Charbonneau, a senior analyst with StatCansa国际传媒檚 demography division, says the model is based on the agencysa国际传媒檚 latest population estimates, which are updated every three months.
sa国际传媒淭he counts that are shown in the population clock are strictly for visualization purposes, to give Canadians a sense of how fast the population is changing. Itsa国际传媒檚 more of a learning tool than a decision-making tool,sa国际传媒� said Charbonneau.
sa国际传媒淏ut those numbers are still obtained through really robust methodology nevertheless.sa国际传媒�
Charbonneau said the agency launched the clock in an effort to increase sa国际传媒渟tatistical literacysa国际传媒� in the general population sa国际传媒� particularly among young Canadians sa国际传媒� and to give people a sense of how the population is changing.
sa国际传媒淚 think itsa国际传媒檚 something that everyone should be able to know sa国际传媒� how fast the population is changing sa国际传媒� What is the rhythm? What is the pace?sa国际传媒� said Charbonneau.
He said the clock has proven popular in its first year, becoming one of the most-visited pages on StatCansa国际传媒檚 website. He said hesa国际传媒檚 also heard accounts from teachers who have shown it in their classrooms to introduce students to population studies.
Howard Ramos, a professor of sociology at Dalhousie University, said itsa国际传媒檚 important for Canadians to maintain a life-long interest in the demographic trends that continue to shape the country.
sa国际传媒淚 think that a lot of Canadians would even be surprised by the overall population sa国际传媒� wesa国际传媒檙e now at 37 and a half million people. I think a lot of peoplesa国际传媒檚 notion of how big we are or how populated we are is often frozen by what they got in high school social studies,sa国际传媒� he said.
sa国际传媒淚t would offer a lot of insight on the importance of immigration in Canada. I think that certainly you see that in the bigger cities like Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal. But in the rest of the country, this tool really shows the impact and the importance of immigration to maintaining our population, not to mention growing it.sa国际传媒�
Ramos urged Canadians to check out the tool for themselves, and if they find it interesting, to sa国际传媒渄ig intosa国际传媒� the vast amount of data available on Statistics Canadasa国际传媒檚 website.
sa国际传媒淭his is a great way for us to get to know who we are,sa国际传媒� he said.
sa国际传媒淚f you live only in Toronto, Vancouver or Montreal, you might not know what itsa国际传媒檚 like to live in the Yukon, or in Cape Breton, or in the Prairies. And these kinds of tools allow us to begin to see what those places look like, and begin to imagine them.sa国际传媒�
Adam Burns, The Canadian Press
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