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September/October 2000 issue

What is North?
Two geographers define Canada’s true North
By Mary Vincent and Steven Fick

WE ALL KNOW that Canada has a North, but where exactly is it? Until now, no one has really sketched out where Canada's South ends and the North begins. To solve this cartographic brainteaser, geographers Chuck McNiven and Henry Puderer of Statistics Canada defined "northness" using 16 characteristics, such as how often you have to flick on the furnace; the limits of permafrost, boreal forest, railways and all-season roads; number of agricultural growing days; climate; and accessibility to urban centres.

This map is based on all these factors and it shows there is no single line that divides the real South from the true North. Instead, McNiven and Puderer say their data revealed four distinct zones.

So while Torontonians may think Thunder Bay is yonder north, the two cities actually share some of the same southerly characteristics, such as a not-so-bad climate and a lower cost of goods than the North. And in Canada, it seems, it's better to be on top of the country than in the middle. The North has huge hydroelectric facilities in Quebec and Labrador, extensive mining and jobs in territorial capitals and is less reliant on government sources of personal income than is any other part of the country. The Northern transition zone, on the other hand, emerges as Canada's hidden have-not region, an area with few resources or urban centres.

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