Canada 2035
Building A Better Tomorrow, Today
Indroduction
Changing Populations
Canada will be attracting immigrants in the skilled worker class because Canada is in demand for workers with high skills such as doctors, lawyers, and engineers, and the point system devised for immigrants will allow that. Location wise Canada will be attracting people from Asia and the middle east because that's from where people come for better living conditions and Canada is known for that.
Canada's population is aging, and the ideal working age population is declining. This is because the birth rate is decreasing since people are deciding to have smaller families. No sign of change is coming to that so the population will only continue to age. By 2030, 28.5 per cent of the population is projected to be the age of 60, and we would have entered stage 5 of the demographic transition model, so our birth rate will be low and our death rate will be high.
Interactions In The Physical Environment
The west coast has the warmest climate in Canada, even though given it's latitude it should be pretty cold. This is because ocean currents have a big affect on the climate in this region. The Pacific ocean carries warm water down south as far as California up north along the coast, and air streams blow over this water, heating up, and onto British Columbia, giving the coast the most temperate climate and hardly any snow year round.
The Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Lowlands have hot and humid summers and unpredictable winters. Nearness to water plays a great role in this regions climate as it is right on the banks of the Great Lakes. Water changes temperature slower then the land and air, so it can moderate the temperature from what it actually is, this is called the moderating effect. Also being close to large bodies of water causes more precipitation, and in the summer this region can have up to 100 cm of rain each year because of the humidity. Also the latitude is close to the equator giving a warmer climate. The winter is very unpredictable because the moderating effect and latitude should depict that the climate be warmer then most of Canada, but wind and air masses cause make a difference here. The arctic winds from the north can cause temperatures to drop to as low as -30 degrees Celsius, and the gulf stream from the east collides with this and can cause very dangerous convectional precipitation.
The Prairies is mostly dry because of the factor of relief. The rocky mountains block the moist air from the Pacific Ocean and dry air falls back on the leeward side, making the prairies have very less precipitation and not well suited for agriculture.
In the east the Labrador Current meets the Gulf stream cooling the air and causing frequent fog.
Canada is divided into 7 vegetation zones:
The Tundra- too cold to grow any more than shrubs and mosses
The Boreal and Tiagra forest- largest vegetation zone and has good precipitation but harsh winters
The mixed forest- has a warm climate, good precipitation, humus in soil, and long growing season
Deciduous Forest- warm climate, rich soil, a lot of precipitation, long growing season
Grasslands- hot and dry climate, difficult for tree growth but good for wheat crops
Cordilleran Vegetation- cooler temperatures, precipitation leeches through the thin soils, little tree growth
West Coast Forest- warm climate, lots of precipitation, long growing season, leached soils
Canada is also divided into regions by it's physical landscape and how the physical features such as the types of rocks and tectonic boundaries formed the region, and in what geological era.
Climate change has a big effect on the physical environment. The most noticeable one is that glaciers are melting. Also sea levels are rising and that increases risks of flooding in coastal areas. Another effect is that their are more heat waves resulting in more forest fires, this and erosion are the cause of forests shrinking. Water supplies are shortening because of drought.
Managing Canada's Resources and Industries
Another resource that will be very important in 2035 is oil. Canada has the world's third largest oil reserves in the world, accounts for 22 per cent of Alberta's GDP, and employs over 100,000 people. Production is expected to grow from the current level of 1.98 million barrels per day to 5.2 million barrels per day 2030. Oil Sands-related investment is expected generate $79.4 billion in government revenues between 2012 and 2035. Canada's energy sector (mining.oil,natural gas) is the largest contributor to its annual GDP, and is projected to stay that way. Lumber will also be a very important resource. Those are the resources I think will be important in 2035.
Canada will manage these resources in a sustainable manner using three methods; sustainable yield management, sustainable resource development, and being aware of tragedy of the commons. Sustainable yield management is knowing the amount of a resource that can be harvested without depleting the resource, meaning harvesting at a rate that allows the resource to replenish itself. Sustainable resource development is meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. For example, if we take trees, we cut them down only so much that we have the wood that we need, but not fast enough that their not able to grow back in time. The "Tragedy of the Commons" is when a natural resource is consumed by many nations with little care taken for any of the resources well being. For this we can take the example of fish, as many nations have over harvested the oceans and many species have already gone extinct. If we take into account these methods, we can sustain the resources that would otherwise that we will have in 2035 for many future generations.
Canada is ranked 14th in the world for annual GDP and is worth 2.94% of the worlds economy, and is ranked 9th in the world for GDP per capita. Canada is connected to the rest of the world through trade and globalization with international free trade agreements and trans-national corporations. The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) allows free trade between Canada, USA, and Mexico, which is very important because over 75.7% of Canada's trade is with NAFTA partners. Trans-national corporations, a result of globalization, allow Canadian companies to operate in many different countries. The advantages of this are lower prices products, more employment worldwide, and higher product output.