According to a new report published by Bloomberg, Toronto is about to become a lot more crowded.

The report estimates that Toronto’s population will grow to 6,682,061 by 2025. That means the city’s population will increase by 59.2% in a single generation. As a result, the amount of people living per square mile in this city will grow to 7,567—in contrast, Toronto had a population density of 4,753 people per square mile in 1995.

To put those numbers into perspective, according to this report Toronto will be the third most crowded city in North America, third only to Mexico City and Montreal and ahead of American metropolis like Los Angeles (27th), San Francisco (28th) and New York (30th).

My colleague at blogTO, Derek Flack, put what this will mean for the city best: “Now consider our transit infrastructure. The most optimistic projections for the construction of a Yonge Relief Line put it at 15 years from opening, and that’s if we can somehow manage a way to get it funded, which is anything but a sure thing given the dithering that’s taken place at city hall over transit expansion. If ever there was urgency to agree on a plan—and an aggressive one at that—it should be now.”

Beyond transit, there are a host of other issues that will need to be addressed, including public housing, education and health. Toronto is currently regarded as one of the most livable cities in the world, but it will need adapt and it will to do so quickly if it intends to keep that designation. [Source: Bloomberg. Via: blogTO]

Update: This article mistakenly said Toronto would be the second most crowded city in North America. That honour goes to Montreal, which is behind Mexico City.

Image via Flickr user Joey Gannon.
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Igor Bonifacic is the managing editor of Toronto Standard. Follow him on Twitter.

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