[ska]

One thing missing in the analysis is the fact that something approaching a fifth of the countries total population lives in and near one city (Toronto) that is nearly at the southernmost point of the country.

Ontario in total has nearly 40% of the population, and most of that is pretty far south relative to much of the rest of the country.

[shawn-furyan]

I'm not sure it's exactly missing so much as not explicitly stated in that way. The author does partially attribute the misunderstanding to the mostly uninhabited northern territory of Canada. The author also says that Canada populates it's northern regions less than Russia does. So, the focus is more on people not being in the north than the fact that they are mostly in the south, but one conclusion casually follows from the other.

As I was reading it, I looked at the map, and concluded that a bunch of the population was likely in the Toronto area which juts well below the mean longitude of Canada's southern border.

[ska]

But it's not simply North/South, it is very specifically almost Toronto and surroundings, vs everywhere else.

For example, in BC the population centers are on the southern border (thanks to a) the Fraser river, and b) politics). But in Alberta they really are not. Nor Saskatchewan. Manitoba sort of is, by geography. So if you were to do this analysis on western Canada, it wouldn't be nearly as clear cut.

Most of "the south" of Canada doesn't have much similarity with south western Ontario, for that matter.