How do you envision life in Canada in 2030?

[kiwi]

Politically

Socially

Enviromentitally

etc

Thanks.

[once]

10 years ago we were in a harper minority & iphones & facebook was everywhere.

Today we are in a trudeau minority & iphones & facebook are everywhere.

In 10 years, maybe another conservative minority & iphones & facebook are everywhere.

[Acajack]

Cold in the winter and warm to hot in the summer. With just about anything in between.

[Doug]

Only slightly warmer but far more indebted.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by Doug

Only slightly warmer but far more indebted.

Or how about the weasel "we have no idea" weather forecast: "mix of sun and clouds with a 30 percent chance of showers"?

[manny_santos]

I believe the affordability issues plaguing Toronto will continue, as the region continues to see massive job growth and population growth. I also believe there will be limited progress made on public transit, aside from the opening of Line 5. Mayor Mike Layton will be sparring with the provincial government over funding for affordable housing and transit expansion, particularly after the NDP win the 2022 provincial election and scrap the Ontario Line in favour of starting over building the Relief Line as originally planned, and then getting stalled following the win of the Liberals in 2026.

At a national level, we're going to see an even greater centralization of jobs in Toronto, Ottawa, Vancouver and Montreal, with the rest of Ontario continuing to get left behind and the Prairies feeling more alienated than ever. Automation will kill off a lot of the remaining manufacturing jobs in Southwestern Ontario, however Windsor will see a bit of a bump in its economy following the opening of the Gordie Howe Bridge. Serious Wexit talk will emerge, as well as a new political party similar to the Bloc Quebecois advocating for the interests of the West that will win a few seats in Alberta and Saskatchewan.

We're also going to start seeing the effects of the aging Baby Boomer generation on the health care system and economy as the oldest ones reach age 84 that year. Areas with older populations (particularly rural areas and to a lesser extent smaller cities) will be hit hard by population decline, although that is more likely to be a theme of the 2030s; while housing costs continue to be out of control in the GTA and Vancouver, I predict housing prices will plummet in rural Canada and in small towns that aren't close to major cities. That may lead to a population shift away from major cities, in search of affordability.

[Acajack]

Even though I don't relish it, I have to admit to wondering if the affordability and infrastructure deficit issues in the Lower Mainland of BC and the Golden Horseshoe aren't going to lead to a "killing the goose that laid the golden egg" scenario, à la California.

[someone123]

Originally Posted by Acajack

Even though I don't relish it, I have to admit to wondering if the affordability and infrastructure deficit issues in the Lower Mainland of BC and the Golden Horseshoe aren't going to lead to a "killing the goose that laid the golden egg" scenario, à la California.

Have there been any metro areas in North America that have gone from being expensive to being affordable without some kind of drop in employment prospects or desirability? It seems like the large North American cities are moving toward the norms of European or Asian cities, where few people can afford a house and working class adults tend to have roommates. I believe this is driven fairly directly by population growth.

I think over the next decade we'll see the rise of the medium-sized cities, just like the US has been seeing during the next couple of decades. The fast-growing places will be the Canadian equivalents of Austin, Raleigh, or Nashville. Not New York, LA, and Chicago.

[MonkeyRonin]

Originally Posted by Acajack

Even though I don't relish it, I have to admit to wondering if the affordability and infrastructure deficit issues in the Lower Mainland of BC and the Golden Horseshoe aren't going to lead to a "killing the goose that laid the golden egg" scenario, à la California.

You're probably right. Though as was brought up in another thread recently, Canada has fewer "release valves" to absorb growth than the US does, so we'll probably still see steady (albeit slower) growth coupled with a worsening quality of life.

[rousseau]

Originally Posted by someone123

I think over the next decade we'll see the rise of the medium-sized cities, just like the US has been seeing during the next couple of decades. The fast-growing places will be the Canadian equivalents of Austin, Raleigh, or Nashville. Not New York, LA, and Chicago.

Purely from a selfish standpoint, as self-employed people our future retirement plan depends entirely upon whatever value our 130-year-old house near the centre of Stratford will have in a couple of decades. If your forecast is true, and I think the way Kitchener-Waterloo is currently developing is evidence of that, then I don't think we'll have much to worry about.

Barring a zombie apocalypse or whatever other unforeseen developments that may occur, of course.

[manny_santos]

Originally Posted by someone123

Have there been any metro areas in North America that have gone from being expensive to being affordable without some kind of drop in employment prospects or desirability? It seems like the large North American cities are moving toward the norms of European or Asian cities, where few people can afford a house and working class adults tend to have roommates. I believe this is driven fairly directly by population growth.

I think over the next decade we'll see the rise of the medium-sized cities, just like the US has been seeing during the next couple of decades. The fast-growing places will be the Canadian equivalents of Austin, Raleigh, or Nashville. Not New York, LA, and Chicago.

I think we’re going to see a lot of growth in mid-size cities like London. Whether jobs will actually grow in a similar proportion remains to be seen, but last fall I did see some promising stats on the growth of tech jobs in that city.

[svlt]

No drastic changes. Major urban centers will become sizeably bigger. Metro Van well above 3 million, maybe even 3.5. Mild growth for secondary cities. Immigration levels I think will stabilize but not plateau even with a change in government. Mildly warmer but nothing major. Economically I think a realization will finally dawn on the citizens, if not the leaders of the Western provinces that O&G is no longer the viable path forward from here on. I do think there is still at least a decade left of a viable industry in Canada that can help sustain the collective denial.

[canucklehead2]

What I would hope 2030 looks like? More subways, skyscrapers and social/non-market housing in all major markets. A coalition government that truly represents the wishes of the majority, not just flip-flopping between corporatist tw*twaffles with access to unlimited Bay Street and Stephen Avenue cash....

What do I expect 2030 to look like? More of the same. Unaffordable major cities, relaxed labour standards leading to even more political and economic instability, more corporate bobbleheads with pat answers and sleazy smiles, you know, modern Canada...

[GreaterMontréal]

I expect Montréal to continue to sprawl to infinity.

[wave46]

Skynet will have taken over the United States and Terminator-style wars will have been occurring since 2029.

In 2030, Canada and Canadians, being several years behind the curve, will complain that they too want a post-apocalyptic battle between robots and humanity.

However, since our robots will be owned by an oligopoly of incompetent corporations due to protectionist regulations requiring 51% domestic content in both official languages and only using registered firearms, it won't be as good as the one to our south.

We'll pretend that our post-apocalyptic battle is just as good as the one happening to the south of us, but secretly we'll know that America's is better.

Some will complain that we should have a European-style robot apocalypse given our British and French roots.

[ericmacm]

Originally Posted by someone123

I think over the next decade we'll see the rise of the medium-sized cities, just like the US has been seeing during the next couple of decades. The fast-growing places will be the Canadian equivalents of Austin, Raleigh, or Nashville. Not New York, LA, and Chicago.

I think this is the most accurate answer so far. There's going to be a lot of spillover from the large, expensive metropolitan areas into mid-sized cities where housing is generally cheaper and people can live with less headache.

Places like Victoria, Kelowna, Saskatoon, Winnipeg, Windsor, London, Guelph, Quebec City, and Halifax are among the cities that will probably see the most significant changes in population and development by 2030. Lot of things are happening already in all of these places, and I would expect that to continue.

In terms of large cities, Ottawa will likely change the most.

[Luisito]

Politically - Moved to the right. Cuts to healthcare and other serives. Probably a push for a private health care or double tier health care system. Cuts to pensions. An Asian prime minister. Increased ties with China and India etc etc.

Socially - pretty similar to now except transgenderism will be much more common and normal. At the same time we will have more religious people.

etc - Canada will be much more Asian. Quebec (possibly Atlantic Canada) will be the only remnant of Canada as we know it.

[MTLskyline]

It's only 10 years away.

Society will be older, overall. Median age will be pushing 50 in a lot of places.
The baby boomers will be predominantly in their 70s.
There will be a lot of construction of new seniors residences, nursing homes, assisted living, etc. And a lot of old hotels will see conversions to these purposes.

Most larger cities will get new tallest buildings.

Montreal:
- Reaches 5 million people in the metro area.
- Pink line planning and construction goes ahead.
- MLB returns at least part-time
- Development of St-Hubert Airport as Montreal's secondary "city/low cost" airport.

Quebec:
- Reaches 9 million people in the metro area.
- Autoroute 35 and 85 are finally fully twinned.

[yaletown_fella]

Originally Posted by manny_santos

particularly after the NDP win the 2022 provincial election and scrap the Ontario Line in favour of starting over building the Relief Line as originally planned, and then getting stalled following the win of the Liberals in 2026.

The Ontario Line should be well into construction before 2022, so it'd make little sense to scrap it. Not to mention the original plan is inferior as it dosent go north of Danforth.

The only part of the Ontario Line that should be scrapped is the contrived section west of the University Line.

[manny_santos]

Originally Posted by yaletown_fella

The Ontario Line should be well into construction before 2022, so it'd make little sense to scrap it. Not to mention the original plan is inferior as it dosent go north of Danforth.

The only part of the Ontario Line that should be scrapped is the contrived section west of the University Line.

I agree with scrapping it west of University as it’s currently planned, but I do believe it should run along Queen west all the way to at least Roncesvalles. If not all the way along Lake Shore to Long Branch.