Calgary hits 1 million people

Canada has a lot of square miles, but not as many people. Until recently, only two Canadian cities had a million people: Toronto and Montréal. Now we can add Calgary to the list.

When you count the metropolitan areas, you can add Vancouver, Ottawa-Hull, and Edmonton.

Calgary has grown dramatically due to the nearby oil sands. The area is crying for workers, and plenty of Canadians are flocking to Calgary. The 1,000,000th Canadian officially was a baby boy named Dashiell Waite. For the honor, his parents won gift certificates, airline tickets, and a spa weekend.

Calgary is also seen as a governmental power source since Prime Minister Stephen Harper is a MP from Calgary.

Canada does its census in years that end in 6. Calgary's population in 1996 (city) was 768,082. The top metro areas in Canada as of 2001, according to Statistics Canada, are Toronto 4,682,897; Montréal 3,426,350; Vancouver 1,986,965; and Ottawa-Hull 1,063,664. Calgary's metro area in 2001 was listed as 951,395, but its suburbs add very little to the mix.