This is very disingenuous in my opinion, California is the most populous state. Most of Canada is not populated. Most Canadians live within the Quebec City-Windsor Corridor [1]. Its a fairly small (densely-populated) area compared to the total area of Canada and especially compared to California.

For example, If southern Ontario were a state then it would be the 6th most populous state [2] [3] (between Illinois and Pennsylvania in population) and also more dense than Illinois.

I feel like Americans don't really appreciate how most Canadian cities are so close to the border.

[1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quebec_City%E2%80%93Windsor_Co...

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_and_territ...

[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Ontario

How does this make "Canada has a smaller population than California" disingenuous?

California is the most populous state. Most Americans treat Canada like it's some uninhabited wasteland, which is somewhat untrue. There are parts of Canada which are less populated but there are also densely populated parts which are comparable to the USA.

Anyway, Americans will say "How can Canada become an education superpower when California has the same population?" to which I say, that's a disingenuous comparison. How can Boston become an education superpower if China has 500x the population? To which Americans will say "MIT and Harvard", To which I will say "Waterloo, Toronto, and McGill."

Obviously I'm being slightly facetious, I'm just trying to illustrate how population != educational excellence.

They meant an actual superpower, not just an educational one. Also in this case population density is irrelevant. The mere fact that the total population is still quite small precludes the possibility of Canada becoming a superpower. It can still be a shining example and an awesome place to live in, of course.

This subthread was not about educational excellence, the message you replied to was a response to "I think Canada is well poised to be the next big super power, replacing the USA".