| Markets are places where goods and services are
bought and sold. The corporations that provide goods and services
to Canadian consumers visualize the country as a set of markets
of varying sizes, and with different characteristics. They know
that the major urban centres, defined by these corporations as market
areas (or service areas), contain most of the Canadian market, and
provide easy access to the remainder.
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Photograph of a market place in West Vancouver where fresh produce is being sold to pedestrians.
Characteristics of Markets
The most important characteristic of urban centres is the extraordinary
concentrations of human activity that they represent. The Toronto
metropolitan area includes almost one-fifth of Canada's population
and economic activity within an area less than one half of one percent
of the country's land area. Outside the cities, rural populations
are small and widely dispersed, with less than 25% of Canada's population
living in rural areas. Most of the goods and services consumed in
these rural areas are provided by nearby cities.
While the size of the market, as measured by population, is by
far the most important element in a city's attraction for commercial
services, such as retail, finance and recreation; two other economic
characteristics of markets can modify this attraction: the level
of income and the centrality. Centrality is the
location advantage enjoyed by a city which serves other nearby cities
or surrounding rural areas with goods or services. The commercial
activity index is a final summary measure of the varying
attraction of urban places as locations for commercial activity.
The index compares the actual commercial employment to the employment
predicted on the basis of population.
To properly interpret these maps, please consult the text Data
and Mapping Notes.
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![[D]](https://bac-lac.wayback.archive-it.org/web/20071125151131/http://atlas.nrcan.gc.ca/site/english/maps/economic/si/market.gif/image_longdesc_view){kind=link}
