[DougB]

Edmonton's has a different reliance on oil and gas, not necessarily less. Calgary depends on expansion and profitability of the industry while Edmonton is more linked to operations and the provincial royalty take. Alberta's oil industry fundamentally changed when the Iranian Revolution boosted prices in the late 70's to the point that unconventional reserves became economic. Those reserves require significantly more capital investment and engineering work, which tipped the focus more towards Calgary..

 

[Garceyues]

Calgary will slowly pull away, but I think they will always be similar baring any huge swings. Calgary is just more attractive and has more eyes on it. Calgary is starting to have a more "Metropolitan" feel than just a city like before.

I'm curious about Halifax, as it has a lot going for it and it seems very trendy the last couple of years. Also being the only big east coast city. Could see it joining the Winnipeg, Quebec City, and Hamilton tier decently soon

Just visited Halifax and I am a bit surprised that the population is not larger. It is one of Canada's older cities, and even with events like the Halifax Explosion I would have expected a larger mass of people to be present. For one, there are only so many cities with Canada that have access to the ocean (or a large body of water at least) which is a big draw both economically and in terms of lifestyle. Perhaps the maritime economic effects are subdued by the fact that Montreal's port is larger and it presumably makes more sense to ship there for any cargo intended to be further inland.

As for the Calgary vs Edmonton population discussion, I agree with most users in this post that Edmonton will not overtake Calgary in size for the foreseeable future. Montreal was once bigger than Toronto however, but that did not last forever. There would have to be some sort of huge economic shift for Edmonton to overtake Calgary, and even then it would still take time.