Why So Few Canadians Live In This HUGE Area In The Middle Of Canada 

People have tried. They died from blood loss from the mosquitoes.

Geoff usually doesn’t explain “why” in his videos, but rather repeats the basic premise (e.g., what is the Canadian Shield) throughout his video.

Northern Ontarian here, I would very much like to clarify that the area surrounding Thunder Bay has MASSIVE tracts of farmland and local agriculture sees significant profits. The soil isn't nearly as bad as it's made out to be here, the real limiting factor tends to be the temperature variance from 36c to -36c which limits the timeframe for certain crops.

I live there… didn’t know it was called the empty belt. Honestly with how Canada is turning out these days I’m happy to live away from all the craziness.

I like how the "densely populated east" includes mostly sparsely populated Atlantic Canada and the vast emptiness of Quebec.

Just a note. Sudbury, Ontario is pronounced SUD-bury with a soft U, as in soap suds.

My wife's family vacationed in Northern Ontario from Toledo, Ohio every summer for almost 50 years. I remember being blown away by how remote it could get the first time they took me with them when my wife and I were dating. They went to a camp called Poplar Point on Long Point Lake between Elk Lake and Gowganda. The whole area has a unique feel to it and my favorite part of the trip up there was the drive along the top of Lake Huron on route 17 before we would turn north just before Sudbury. We lost our standing reservation at the camp when the borders were closed for Covid, and my wife's parents are now old enough that they can't travel that far anymore without major difficulty. I hope to go back someday, my daughter learned how to walk there the last summer we went, and I'd like her to see it when she gets older.

I grew up in Northern Ontario, and still camp there every summer. It is the most beautiful place in the world - the lakes cannot be beat, and I miss the rocks so much when I am not there. I plan to retire there. The people are wonderful too. I agree - it is completely different, not just geographically but culturally from Southern Ontario.

You can describe northern Manitoba and Quebec in the same way, too. Northern Quebec is best known for forestry, mineral extraction and the massive dams of Hydro Quebec. It's only in southern Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta that you get the type of farmland commonly seen in the northern states of the continental USA.

Originally from California, Retired in 2012. I moved to Northwestern Ontario, to the City of Kenora (Lake of the Woods). I remarried, became a permanent resident in 2016, and a Canadian Citizen in 2020. I am PROUD to call this area HOME!

I actually have a unique experience here. I have gone on two canoe trips that exceed 900 miles over 5.5 weeks in 2008 and 2009. In 2008 we were dropped off at Pickle lake and went on a trip all the way up the winisk river to peawanuck. The land is absolutely untouched. How untouched? The guy who lead us did the same trip multiple times going back to the 80’s. One night we stayed in an area where his firewood was untouched from 25 years prior. In 2009 we were dropped off at windigo lake and went all the way up the Severn river to fort Severn. I believe fort Severn is the most northern community in Ontario. The mosquitoes up there are worse than you can imagine. I remember one time it was so bad I was inhaling them. The terrain is ridiculously thick forest with Canadian Shield. As you go up further, it’s swamp. We traveled 5.5 weeks and the only other people we saw were at wunnimin lake during the winisk trip. I believe it was webeque. It was a reservation that had one northern store. Ontario’s motto is “yours to discover.” Boy is that well said. The province is massive and 95% of it is forest that many people will never see. I remember being out in the woods one night and thinking it’s likely I’m standing in a spot where nobody will ever stand again.

Canada is so much divided into two halves that there is only one road connecting them. The Nipigon Bridge is the only road link between Eastern and Western Canada. If anything ever happened to that bridge, it would be literally impossible to drive a truck between Toronto and Winnipeg without going through the United States.

When my grandfather came to Canada from England in the first decade of the 20th century, he remarked as he was travelling to western Canada by train that northern Ontario was an endless expanse of "bloody rocks and Christmas trees".

I grew up in Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec, a major copper-gold-lead-zinc mining centre in NW Quebec near the Ontario border. It grew from a copper mining town founded in 1927 to present day population 70,000 regional centre for commerce, education, and governmental services. My grandfather was a blacksmith's son from Nova Scotia. He immigrated to Cobalt, Ontario around 1910 when silver was discovered there, and later moved to other mining settlements as one mine petered out and other mines were discovered. Many more mineral discoveries were made after Cobalt --gold in Porcupine (Timmins), gold in Kirkland Lake, etc. Railroads and roads were built to enable the building of mines and transport of milled minerals to the south, and they became towns. This mineral wealth is what built Toronto as a leading world center for mining. I remember my first trip to the south IE Hamilton, Ontario when I was 16. I couldn't believe I was in the same country. I guess Siberians feel the same way when they visit Moscow!

Having just moved into Northern Ontario due to aligning opportunity and a fear of the ever encroaching reach of Toronto, I'm never going back south, I love every bit of it.

It was 1975 with first baby just born and sent by company to North Bay. Apartments were very well constructed for the cold that I saw 40 below Fahrenheit for first-time with that haze that settles in air when extremely cold. Less than 6 months we were back to southern Ontario spouse was so depressed she was ready for breakdown.

Politically, southern Ontario has also been treating northern Ontario like a resource colony for decades

Lived in this area for almost 25 years. The correct actual term for this area is the Mid-Canada Corridor which stretches from northern Quebec to the Yukon territory. It denotes an area north of the main population centres, but south of the tree line where there is immense wealth of timber and minerals. Another city in Northern Ontario that deserves mention is Timmins, pop 45,000 and where Shania Twain grew up.

The best fishing in Canada is in Northern Ontario. Lakes in abundance with few people are great.

Just a couple of comments, the Canadian Pacific railroad you showed was actually the Canadian National Railway. The bottom right corner of your Northern Ontario map, showing Lake Nipissing and North Bay are actually in Northern Ontario. North Bay is called the “Gateway to the North “. Pretty good presentation though.

If he made the same points about the damn Canadian Shield one more time I was going to throw my phone against the wall. Canadian Shield: Forest, lakes, minerals; no farming. Got it the first 7 times.

Rockies aside, northern Ontario was definitely my favorite part of my recent cross-Canada drive. The road winds through infinite lakes and trees

I learned a lot from the comments on this video. The actual video, though, had a lot of repetition and padding (even repetition of the same stock footage). I know that a longer runtime can mean more ad revenue, but I think you would get more subscribers if you cut a video like this down to about 6-7 minutes. I don't think you would need to leave much out. Also, you didn't give as many reasons as some of the commenters. I get that the Canadian Shield's composition is a major reason, but there are others they mentioned that you did not. Finally, as others have said, I don't think that northern Quebec should be included in the "densely populated east". It's just as unpopulated as this region, I believe. I hope you can take this as constructive criticism. I think the premise of this video, and this channel, is a good one, and I would like to see more videos in the future that are more concise.

Hundreds of undisturbed lakes....that's a vast understatement. More like a hundred thousand

I am a proud resident of northern Ontario. And it's 27 degrees on October 2 here. It's not cold any more. In fact, it's ridiculously warm!

I did work North of Nipigon a couple weeks ago. If you ever want to see a proper night sky, northern Ontario is the place to go. I saw the both the milky way and aurora borealis for the first time, in one day.

I've travelled to many different countries, and met thousands and thousands of people. The people from this region of Canada are the nicest people I've ever met anywhere. I don't just have 1 or 2 good experiences with people who live in this area but every experience I had with everyone in this area was amazing. I'm not talking just being nice to be nice, I mean genuinely nice. But the closer you get to Montreal, if you don't speak French, forget it. I had to give up and head back to the US.

I grew up in Northen Ontario. I actually love it there but life was different. For example, I’ve Trick-or-treated in snow more than once. My village is so remote that my Mom would warm me to watch out for bears every time I went out. The bugs are insane in june. All the kids would go to school with bug spray to survive recess! Lol good times!

I was born in Northern Ontario, in a town far to the north of the three main population centres. I'm well travelled in, and very familiar with most of this region. Yes, Northern and Southern Ontario are experienced as different provinces. For me, the culture-shock in moving from the North to my present home in Toronto was probably just as great as for someone immigrating to Toronto from another country. Even language is different ---- Northern Ontario has a very large number of French-speakers, and a few towns are majority francophone. One fairly large town (by Northern standards) is 95% francophone. I grew up going to French-language schools. As well as that, First Nations are a significant portion of the population, and the Cree and Ojibway languages are spoken. Virtually nothing that you see in your daily life looks like it does in Southern Ontario --- and the forests and lakes, as well as the very cold climate, dominate every aspect of life. On the other hand, life and people in neighbouring north-western Quebec and northern Manitoba are very similar, and generally thought of as being in the same "us". When discussing the wildlife, this video failed to mention polar bears, of which the region has the greatest concentration.

I'm surprised that you didn't mention that Thunder Bay and Sault Ste. Marie are larger because of the lakes. Thunder Bay is one of the largest inland ports for ocean going ships, if not the largest, Sault Ste. Marie sits on the Soo Canal linking Superior to Huron.

Canada is in many ways a handful of different countries. The Windsor-Quebec corridor is one country, the Atlantic is another, the prairies is another, BC is another (extension of US west coast), and everywhere else is another with prominent but isolated Indigenous populations. It’s so big that there’s really no connection between these regions

I've driven 8.5 hours north to Moonbean to camp, it wasn't even halfway up Ontario. What a beautiful place and would recommend people try to explore it, I think it'd take a life time to see it all. The Polar Bear Sanctuary in Cochrane is neat too, one of the big boys pushed over a big tree, roots snapped like dry spaghetti noodles.

Honestly the question shouldn’t be why nobody lives in northern Ontario, but instead why anybody does live in Edmonton or Winnipeg. The winters are brutal AF. Not worth it.

I moved south to northern ontario from living in edmonton (and working in NWT at the time). Absolutely love it! Shorter winters, longer summers, and not nearly as many people as southern ontario or edmonton. A little slice of heaven up here. Also, Soodbury gave me a chuckle.

My father's favorite vacation spot was up north of the Sault...where we could camp all alone. The night sky on a clear night was spectacular.

Northern Ontario is beautiful. I'm one of the few people who genuinely is considering moving up there, I've been up there before and love it. Because it's so sparsely populated nature up there is incredibly untouched, most of the waters are clean and rich in fish, the air is pure, and the land is cheap (you just have to be willing to actually make something of that land).

When I was younger, in 1986, my parents and I drove from NY state across Canada, including Northern Ontario, via the Trans Canada highway to EXPO 86 in Vancouver, BC, and back down to US in Seattle and east for a 3 week trip of 7,000 miles. 😊 It was very empty up in Northern Ontario, as stated. I remember the Algoma region, and the small town of Wawa, with Canadian Geese statues on the roof of some buildings. Winnipeg was very flat, and so it was until the Canadian Rockies, west of Calgary near Banff. There are many more highlights from this exciting trip across Canada and back through the US, such as Devil's Tower, Custers Battlefield, Yellowstone, Mt Rushmore and the US Air Force Academy. 😀

I live on the cadillac fault on the quebec side. I like the fact that everyone thinks it's an inhospitable area..everytime I go back to mtl to visit friends and family I'm amaze how people are able to live in traffic jams and have to wait in line everywhere. City center is a 5 min bike ride, mtb trails are 1km away, it never rains in winter and there are plenty of lakes to go swimming in the summer!

Thank you for your videos. You repeat information so much it becomes difficult to continue to hang in there with you

Your map of the trans-Canada railline is the C.N.R., not the C.P.R. as you claim. The C.P. runs south of the C.N. and clings to the shore of Lake Superior for the most part.

Outside of Winnipeg, all of Manitoba has only 500,000. That must be similarly empty to N. Ontario with 800,000.

One of the problems is that the governments of Ontario and Canada have spent very little money on infrastructure in Northern Ontario. The fact that you can't drive across Canada without crossing a single bridge in Northern Ontario or crossing into the US is weird.

a note on the railway map; the CPR went east to west south through Calgary; your map makes it look like it passes through Edmonton, which is the (later and more northerly) CN line.

Thank you so much for your vids - a real person providing real content- becoming increasingly rare up here

Northern Quebec is also very sparsely populated

I was born in this area 59 years ago and spent my first 10 years there. It was a wonderful childhood playing in the woods and natural areas, but spent the summer time covered with pink dots of calmine lotion all over my body. The winter time I spent wrapped in swaths of clothing, snowsuits and scarfs. A challenging environment to be sure.

Been there, enjoyed my travels as a kid back in the 60’s and 70’s. That area starts at Huntsville Ont and goes north from there. You also get into the permafrost areas and the Canadian Rail Road is always working on their tracks to keep them straight and level. Roads up there are just as iffy. The fire danger is at times horrendous with the pines going up like matches!!! Their sap is turpentine and very flammable. The changes in weather caused by global temperatures warming and lower rain fall has not helped. I live on the shores of Lake Erie in NY so I understand. I will say that Montreal is not in Ontario and Sudbury is pronounced with a very short U like in suds!!!! Even as an American who lives along the border knows are Canadian friends want to hear their cities name right.

My dad sold his cabin near Kenora a couple years ago. I didnt go often, but it's an amazing area, especially since the cabin is only accessible by train, boat or float plane! People from Winnipeg used to ride the "camper's special" train every weekend, but I believe that ended in '91. It's about 2 hours by car, then 20 min by boat across the big lake. I envy those who have been going out all their lives. Winnipeg isn't a "big" city, but getting away nearly every weekend has always been my dream... 😥

One major thing missed about Northern Ontario in this video (which I can’t blame you for since most Canadians don’t even know about it) is that Northern Ontario does actually have a section of arable land despite the presence of the Shield - it is called the Clay Belt. It is a massive tract of fertile land that runs from Val-d’Or in Quebec to approximately Hearst in Ontario. While it was never determined to be as feasible for farming as the land in SW Ontario or the Prairies, it was still determined to be adequate for basic grains and cattle ranching. The reason it never truly developed is due to multiple reasons - the growing season was significantly shorter than that of SW Ontario, Southern Quebec, or the Prairies (between harsh, early winters and unpredictable rain patterns) and the mining and logging industries were significantly more financially lucrative compared to farming here. There was a big push to settle immigrants in this area around WWI, but most immigration stopped here in the 1930s. Climate change, however, is likely to improve the suitability of this land for farming over the next 50 years. In combination with modern technology (greenhouses, automation, and availability of fertilizer) and modern infrastructure investments in the Northern Ontario highway system as a result of the EV minerals push, it is likely that this area will eventually see new development in the future.

I grew up in Timmins, Ontario in the 1970s. Here, you're surrounded by millions of square kilometers of spruce and moose.

I've lived in northern Ontario for a decade. It's beautiful. You cannot beat a northern Ontario summer. Winter's are real winters. The people are great and the communities are fun places. You need to like small town life. Yet in a small town or city you are someone. TVO has a great video, Borealis, that is worth watching

The rail route shown is actually for the CNR not the CPR. the CPR line went South along Lake Superior to Thunder Bay, nee Fort William. Then turned West to Winnipeg.

its not called empty belt, its called The Great Canadian Shield and is the real reason the Russians will never even tried to invade us. If it didn't exist, the Soviets would definitely have tried invading us to attack the US from the north. To give you an idea, Finland lasted so long because of its thousands of lakes, well the Great Canadian Shield has over a million lakes, even more solid rock hills and the whole thing is covered with trees.

I am from Prince Edward Island. With 180K residents, it's by far the most densely populated province at approx. 31 people per square kilometer. If you want to wrap your head around how much bigger the USA is in terms of population, if PEI was an American state, it would only be the 35th most densely populated, in between Missouri and West Virginia. After spending time in Florida, it made me realize how much I enjoy living in a place that is "sparsely populated".

I lived in Northern Ontario as a child and teen... despite the sparsity of the population, Northern Ontario in its entirety is rich in history, especially the early mining days of Timmins (and Porcupine), Kirkland Lake/Larder Lake, Cobalt, Sudbury, Kapuskasing and so many other smaller towns that dotted the North Eastern Ontario region in the early 1910's. While there is very little agriculture, there does exist in some areas former lakebed farming in the great clay belt (around Timmins and towards Lake Abitibi) and the little clay belt (South of Kirkland Lake, centered mostly around New Liskeard, Earlton and around Lake Temiskaming).... So, in reality, there actually is some agriculture in Northern Ontario (at least in the North Eastern Ontario region that I know of).

The Canadian Shield, also called the Laurentian Plateau, is a large area of exposed Precambrian igneous and high-grade metamorphic rocks forming the North American Craton (or Laurentia), the ancient geologic core of the North American continent. Glaciation has left the area with only a thin layer of soil, which stretches north from the Great Lakes to the Arctic Ocean and it is sitting there being useful photosynthesizing.

Its actually Northwestern Ontario, the part of Ontario that's included in eastern Canada is divided into northern Ontario and southern Ontario. For reference, Thunder bay is Northwestern Ontario while Sudbury is in Northern Ontario while Kitchener is Southern Ontario

James Bay is the polar bears southern range, that's all you need to know about the climate. The pioneers thought northern Wisconsin would be a good place to farm also, but the rocks pushing up constantly wrecked their plows, so back to forest it went.

I grew up on the north shore of Lake superior, stunningly, beautiful, and in the middle of nowhere. short cool summers, long cold winters, 3 Hour drive to Thunder Bay. In the summer, the blackflies and mosquitoes are so bad you literally can’t go outside without being bitten hundreds of times. One single highway on the North Shore of Lake superior is mostly white knuckle driving, hitting moose is a common occurrence. Everything is overpriced , $1.80 for a litre of gas. On the other hand, you can buy a nice house for $150,000 and work in the mill and get paid 40 bucks an hour with all benefits and pension.

Canada's population just hit 40 million this summer. There's record breaking growth right now.

Over 80% of Canada's population lives in a relatively small number of cities. Just to give you an idea, British Columbia, the westernmost province, is roughly the same physical size as France and Germany together. British Columbia has a population of 5 million, while the combined populatoin of France and Germany is roughly 155 million. Nearly 3/5 of British Columbia's population lives in Metro Vancouver, which covers about 1/300 of the province's area. Almost all the rest of the province is uninhabited. The same is true for most provines in Canada. 2 or 3 cities where the bulk of the population lives, and a whole lot of empty space. On top of that, almost all of Canada's populatoin lives within 50 kms of the USA border. Huddled there for warmth, apparently.

I like these videos about the more desolate places in North America. I was always curious about some of these places but they are often times difficult to visit due to lack of tourist support elements like major airports, highways with frequent areas to stop for services, etc.

11:23 was neat to see as at first glance I bet that it was Timmins ON, and after finding the logging mill next to the bridge on the right hand of frame I was able to confirm it is. I had droned over said mill for an upcoming documentary about the forestry industry in that specific region and others across Canada. 🌲🇨🇦

Thanks for an instructive and interesting YT clip, will return to the channel.

As a Canadian and Ontario resident, this has really frustrated me. We're officially one country but in all intents and purposes, we are at least two countries. Having driven around Lake Superior, is such a beautiful drive but it's long, and largely empty. It's 7.5 hours from Sault St Marie to Thunder Bay, the only cities on the route. It's another 4 hours to Dryden, the next city. It's a growling drive. I used to think we needed highway 17 made into 4 lanes, but that would be ridiculously costly. It'd be better to make 11, a more straight route, the main 4 lane highway. Once you get to the prairies, it feels like a different world.

Took a trip across the northern shore of Lake Superior about 10 years ago. Such an amazing place. Having no people doesn't hurt it's cause.

The empty belt is where it gets real cold during winter.

A railway between the Dominion of Canada (then just eastern provinces) and a pacific port was a qualifying term for the colony of British Columbia to agree to join in 1871. The CPR was built in both directions, eastward from Port Moody and westward from Bonfield, Ontario. Manitoba was but a smallish patch around Winnipeg, the rest of the prairies were all the Northwest Territories. The prairies were indeed opened up by the CPR, but Saskatchewan and Alberta were not provinces until 1905. For nearly two decades the CPR went through the NWT.

😅Just a note, your map of the Canadian Pacific Railway was actually the route of the Canadian National Railway built decades later.

I lived in Duluth, MN for 5 years and have always wanted to explore this part of Canada

No mention of Kenora? It's a great place! I live in Winnipeg but drive out to places like Kenora, Thunder Bay, Ear Falls, regularly. I love the area, it's vastness forests and rocks. It's so nice to be near someplace that still seems so wild and hasn't been ruined by humans yet. :-) Not sure i agree with his characterization that "nobody lives here". Everyone from Toronto thinks that anything west of that city is a vast wasteland where nothing happens.

I grew up in Thunder Bay. I worked at one of the lumber mills in 2004-2007. But I got in with a short line railway in northern Manitoba, and call that home now. I still go back to visit, as a bit of my family still live there.

Fun fact, there are some stretches of road in that region between Nipigon and Thunder Bay that if for some reason any are closed, road traffic going from one side of Canada to the other side needs to go through at least Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan as there are no other way to get around. Last time I know it happened was in 2016.

You can't really call it "Canada's empty belt". If you look at the northern part of any province (quebec and westward), it will be very sparsely populated

I’ve been here many times before. Fantastic Walleye fishing. I’m going again next summer, can’t wait.

Interesting that you didn't include Manitoulin Island in the "empty belt", but included St. Joseph Island.

There are over 40 million people in Canada now Geoff. Also, Sudbury is pronounced "SUD"bury like "MUD" not "SOOD"bury. Great video otherwise. Writing from Hamilton Ontario. Cheers!

Michigan could probably be classified in the same way in which the Upper Peninsula just south of Northern Ontario has a population of only 300k, but the state has a population of 10 million. Also a large portion of the population of Michigan lives in the South Eastern part of the state as well.

The rail route shown is the ‘Grand Trunk and Western Railway’ which was completed in 1912 (or so). The CP hugged the shore of Lake Superior and was completed in the 1880’s. And it’s pronounced ‘SUD berry’

Thanks for doing a video on Northern Ontario.

My company has an office in Sault Ste. Marie Ontario. My mum asked me where that was (we're from near Boston, MA) and I said that if the great lakes were like a bunch of bananas, SSM was where all the bananas came together.

WOW! I would never have thought to ask any of these questions about that part of Canada. GREAT video. THX

The railway shown in the graphics is the CN, not the CP.

The Nipissing district should be added to your Northern Ontario map. North Bay is known as the "gateway to the north" .

The CPR line you have is the current VIA Rail passenger route. The original rail line constructed in the 1880's goes far further south out west.

An early fall roadtrip between Toronto and Thunder-Bay on the 17 is one of the best empty drives in North America.

Correction : Northern Ontario has hundreds of thousands of freshwater bodies of water** In fact Canada has more fresh water than the rest of the world combined. Great video thanks !!

That Empty Belt Extends all the Way North in Quebec, and halfway up that belt all the way to the West and North.

I hope Canada keeps these areas undeveloped!

Before I even finish this video I want to say, I'm glad very few people live there, it's beautiful country and I'd like it to stay that way! I live an hour and a half west of the Ontario border, it's a great place to escape, for even a day.

grreat video, thank you

Born there. Lovely place. Mostly sunny all winter, cold, yes, but it's rare you don't see the sun shining and it's not windy or humid. Mosquitoes? You get immune to them very quickly. Timmins has extremely hot summers. I lived on the border between Québec and Ontario. Bears, wolves, ducks, beavers, maple syrup...the landscape is superb.

I live in Sault Ste Marie Michigan. There are lot of loud Canadians that come over to shop our retail stores and haggle with you because prices are insane in Canada right now, and there are a lot of shortages. Sault Ste Marie Canada feels like a massive metro to me. I have lived in NYC before and other big areas, so I know that it's not that big. I hear the trains and boats every night. The trains, I guess, bring up coal and other goods Canadians need. Ships bring coal from West Virginia too, because Algoma Steel is in Sault Ste Marie Canada. Then Duluth Minnesota exports a ton of iron ore along Lake Superior. It stops at the seaport in Sault Ste Marie and unloads some iron ore, which then gets combined with the coal and made into steel, which then usually gets shipped southward. The train that crosses into Canada goes north to Hearst, a timber town and the northernmost reach of roads, but still within the Canadian shield.

Interesting how there is just a single road and bridge separating Western Canada and Eastern Canada near Thunder Bay, ON.

Even more surprising, the northern 1/3 of Ontario is so sparsely populated that it makes the southern half of northern Ontario (the middle 1/3 of the province) seem like Tokyo by comparison. If you draw an imaginary line from Pickle Lake to Moosonee, the area north of that is about the size of Montana but has a population less than half that of the Faroe Islands.

Winters are cold...I live in Saguenay and it's can go down to -40, -50 degrees, if you can endure that, good luck. A lot of mosquitoes during the summer.

I love this empty region series. More like this please!

Most Canadians live within 200 miles of the U.S. - Canadian border. North of that is mostly uninhabited or only lightly inhabitated.

Additionally, with your assertion that the CPR unified Canada, the proper flag for Canada at the time was the red ensign. When the CPR was completed, the proper flag for the USA has 38 stars.

would love to see more about CANADA!