Map of the Week: Military recruiting
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| REUTERS |
This week, we look at military recruiting in the GTA, using 2007 enlistment data.
Reporter Allan Woods looked at recruiting a few days ago:
While the rest of the country trembles in fear of layoffs and unemployment numbers soar, the demand for soldiers, technicians and other specialists in the Canadian Forces outpaced actual growth for yet another year, the Department of National Defence said in an annual report to Parliament. The military has tempered force projections and launched massive recruiting drives but it still can't increase its numbers enough to meet repeated government pledges, a new report finds.
The first thing to say is that recruiting rates in central Ontario are very low by the standards of some other parts of the country. A0A in eastern Newfoundland, for example, had 55 residents join the regular force in 2007, for a rate per 1,000 of 1.15. B1H, in New Waterford, N.S., had a rate of 1.7 per 1,000, and B1P, in Sydney, had a rate of 0.93 per 1,000.
The GTA's highest rate, on the other hand, was in M3K (0.54 per 1,000), which is perhaps a special case, since it contains the former Downsview military base. (Most were reservists transferring to the regular force).
Other than Downsview, the area's highest rate was in Aldershot (L7T) with eight regular force recruits (0.49 per 1,000).
I will admit that the regular force enrolment map did not look at all like what I expected.
Leaving Durham aside for a moment, regular force enrolments in the GTA are concentrated in high-income neighbourhoods more than anywhere else.
In the 416, after Downsview, the highest postal codes are:
M5N, northwest of Avenue Rd. and Eglinton M8W, in southwest Etobicoke M4P, north of Eglinton and Mount Pleasant M4S, south of Eglinton and Mount Pleasant M8X, the Kingsway M6P, High Park and the Junction
In the 905, excluding Durham, the highest postal codes are:
L7T, Aldershot L7J, Acton L7N, south-central Burlington L6K, south Oakville L3Y, Newmarket
By regional standards, regular force recruiting is stronger in Durham, with rates over 0.2 in Whitby, Oshawa and rural areas to the north.
Toronto recruits seem strongly concentrated in the combat arms. M5N's six recruits, for example, were three combat engineers, an infantryman, a supply technician and a logistics officer. A0A's recruits, on the other hand, included 11 truck drivers, four cooks, eight vehicle technicians, six combat engineers and two infantrymen.
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| TORONTO STAR FILE |
Leaving aside low-population L0H and L1Y with their one recruit each, reserve recruiting is highest in:
M5S, University of Toronto downtown campus L9N, Holland Landing L0B, Scugog L7T, Aldershot L3Y, Newmarket L7S, central Burlington M3C, Flemingdon Park L7L, Burlington along Appleby Line L4B, Richmond Hill M4E, the Beaches L1T, north Ajax L5H, lakeshore Mississauga west of Mississauga Rd.
I would love to see a traffic ticket map. The tax service...er I mean the police have been in at it my area all year.
Posted by: Andrew | February 12, 2009 at 08:01 PM
moderate comment or not you get atrue picture of who is canadien and who come here for a good time joe bigeau you can use my name thank you
Posted by: joe bigeau | February 15, 2009 at 09:26 AM
I am an immigrant to Canada. My son is a vet in the US. This map does not surprise me. These maps shows many of the Canadian Defence forces are coming from upper to to middle income families. In the US you get a wide cross section of people who enlist. In Canada it is maily white people. Which I find disturbing. That immigrants and non whites do not feel so readily inclined to protect Canada says something to me. They either feel not loyalty to the nation, and today a young man who holds Canadian citizenship is now the PM of Somalia. As I post this the US is once again courting some temp legal immigrants, ie students, work permit holders etc to enlist and fast track to US citizenship. BTW I want detailed crime maps for all of Ontario or at least by region and county not just the GTA.
Posted by: Cat | February 15, 2009 at 02:38 PM
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to put where you think best
Check out this rotating World-at-Night satellite view / say hello at the Guestbook please ;
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Posted by: End of Suburbia | February 15, 2009 at 03:46 PM
I agree with these posts quite greatly. I just cannot understand why government support for demanding that new immigrants not be loyal to Canada and maintain as much of their support for their old life and country as possible is viewed by so many as the most wonderful aspect of our country. I bet if some major disaster were ever to occur and the future of our high standard of living was in trouble, the population would shrink by a few million in a month. Disdain for the military runs pretty strong among a certain segment of the population. I remember a couple years ago calls that the Toronto Air Show be banned because the sounds of planes will remind immigrants of war! Give me a break.
The military isn't some chump, low paying career as so many liberals would argue, After five years of service, the salary of an enlisted soldier is $50 000/year. That in addition to having practically free accomodations, I recall a friend in the regular force saying he paid something like $80/month to live in the barracks. It is a solid career with many opportunities and I these map statistics do say something about who really does care enough to want to serve their country.
Posted by: Sandy Jacobs | February 16, 2009 at 06:41 PM
Let's superimpose a map of economic wellbeing/income levels over the recruiting map to see what such socio-economic sector analysis might reveal!
Posted by: Canadian George | November 21, 2009 at 01:53 PM