Greater Montreal

For other metropolitan Montreal topics, see Montreal Metro (disambiguation).

Greater Montreal
Grand Montréal (French)
Metropolitan area
Interactive Map of Greater Montreal[1]
CountryCanada
ProvinceQuébec
Area
[2]
 • Total
4,739.04 km2 (1,829.75 sq mi)
 • Land4,258.31 km2 (1,644.14 sq mi)
Population
 (2021)[3]
 • Total
4,291,732
 • Estimate 
(2025)[4]
4,597,837
 • Density1,007.85/km2 (2,610.3/sq mi)
GDP (nominal, 2022)
 • TotalCA$279 billion[5]
Time zoneUTC−5 (EST)
 • Summer (DST)UTC−4 (EDT)
Postal code prefixes
H, J
Area codes263, 354, 438, 450, 514, 579

Greater Montreal shown in light blue, with the City of Montreal proper in dark blue.

Greater Montreal (French: Grand Montréal, [ɡʁɑ̃ mɔ̃ʁeal]) is the most populous metropolitan area in Quebec and the second most populous in Canada after Greater Toronto. In 2015, Statistics Canada identified Montreal's Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) as 4,258.31 square kilometres (1,644.14 mi2) with a population of 4,027,100,[6] almost 50% of the province.

A smaller area of 3,838 square kilometres (1,482 mi2) is governed by the Montreal Metropolitan Community (MMC; French: Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal, CMM). This level of government is headed by a president (currently Montreal mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada).

The inner ring is composed of densely populated municipalities located in close proximity to Downtown Montreal. It includes the entire Island of Montreal, Laval, and the Urban Agglomeration of Longueuil. Due to their proximity to Montreal's downtown core, some additional suburbs on the South Shore (Brossard, Saint-Lambert, and Boucherville) are usually included in the inner ring, despite their location on the mainland.

The outer ring is composed of low-density municipalities located on the fringe of Metropolitan Montreal. Most of these cities and towns are semi-rural. Specifically, the term banlieues hors de l'île (off-island suburbs) refers to those suburbs that are located on the North Shore of the Mille-Îles River, those on the South Shore that were never included in the megacity of Longueuil, and those on the Vaudreuil-Soulanges Peninsula.

Largest cities

The largest cities in Greater Montreal[7]
Rank City Region Population (2021) Land Area Population Density
km2 mi2 /km2 /mi2
1 Montreal Montreal 1,762,949 364.74 140.83 4,833.5 12,519
2 Laval Laval 438,366 246.13 95.03 1,781.0 4,613
3 Longueuil Montérégie 254,483 115.77 44.70 2,198.2 5,693
4 Terrebonne Lanaudière 119,944 153.76 59.37 780.1 2,020
5 Brossard Montérégie 91,525 45.19 17.45 2,025.3 5,246
6 Repentigny Lanaudière 86,100 61.52 23.75 1,399.6 3,625
7 Saint-Jérôme Laurentides 80,213 90.18 34.82 889.5 2,304
8 Blainville Laurentides 59,819 54.97 21.22 1,088.2 2,818
9 Mirabel Laurentides 61,108 484.09 186.91 126.2 327
10 Dollard-des-Ormeaux Montreal 48,403 14.98 5.78 3,230.2 8,366

Cities and towns

  • Montreal
  • Laval
  • Longueuil
Municipalities in the Montreal Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) and the Montreal Metropolitan Community (MMC)
Area Regional county municipality Municipality In CMA In MMC
Urban agglomeration of Montreal Baie-d'Urfé Y Y
Beaconsfield Y Y
Côte Saint-Luc Y Y
Dollard-des-Ormeaux Y Y
Dorval Y Y
Hampstead Y Y
Kirkland Y Y
L'Île-Dorval Y Y
Montreal[a 1] Y Y
Montréal-Est Y Y
Montreal West Y Y
Mount Royal Y Y
Pointe-Claire Y Y
Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue Y Y
Senneville Y Y
Westmount Y Y
Laval Y Y
Urban agglomeration of Longueuil Boucherville Y Y
Brossard Y Y
Longueuil[a 2] Y Y
Saint-Lambert Y Y
Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville Y Y
Laurentides Deux-Montagnes[b 1] Deux-Montagnes Y Y
Oka Y Y
Pointe-Calumet Y Y
Saint-Eustache Y Y
Saint-Joseph-du-Lac Y Y
Sainte-Marthe-sur-le-Lac Y Y
Saint-Placide Y N
Thérèse-De Blainville Blainville Y Y
Bois-des-Filion Y Y
Boisbriand Y Y
Lorraine Y Y
Rosemère Y Y
Sainte-Anne-des-Plaines Y Y
Sainte-Thérèse Y Y
[d 1] Mirabel Y Y
Argenteuil Gore Y N
La Rivière-du-Nord Saint-Colomban Y N
Saint-Jérôme[c 1] Y N
Lanaudière L'Assomption[b 1] Charlemagne Y Y
L'Assomption Y Y
L'Épiphanie Y N
Repentigny Y Y
Saint-Sulpice Y Y
Les Moulins Mascouche Y Y
Terrebonne Y Y
Joliette Joliette

Crabtree Notre-Dame-des-Prairies Saint-Charles-Borromée

Y
D'Autray Lavaltrie Y N
Montcalm[b 2] Saint-Lin–Laurentides Y N
Montérégie Beauharnois-Salaberry[b 1] Beauharnois Y Y
La Vallée-du-Richelieu[b 1] Beloeil Y Y
Carignan Y Y
Chambly Y Y
McMasterville Y Y
Mont-Saint-Hilaire Y Y
Otterburn Park Y Y
Saint-Basile-le-Grand Y Y
Saint-Jean-Baptiste N Y
Saint-Mathieu-de-Beloeil Y Y
Marguerite-D'Youville Calixa-Lavallée N Y
Contrecœur N Y
Saint-Amable Y Y
Sainte-Julie Y Y
Varennes Y Y
Verchères Y Y
Roussillon Candiac Y Y
Châteauguay Y Y
Delson Y Y
La Prairie Y Y
Léry Y Y
Mercier Y Y
Sainte-Catherine Y Y
Saint-Constant Y Y
Saint-Isidore Y Y
Saint-Mathieu Y Y
Saint-Philippe Y Y
Rouville[b 1] Richelieu Y Y
Saint-Mathias-sur-Richelieu Y Y
Vaudreuil-Soulanges[b 1] Coteau-du-Lac Y N
Hudson Y Y
Les Cèdres Y Y
Les Coteaux Y N
L'Île-Cadieux Y Y
L'Île-Perrot Y Y
Notre-Dame-de-l'Île-Perrot Y Y
Pincourt Y Y
Pointe-des-Cascades Y Y
Saint-Lazare Y Y
Saint-Zotique Y N
Terrasse-Vaudreuil Y Y
Vaudreuil-Dorion Y Y
Vaudreuil-sur-le-Lac Y Y
Le Haut-Richelieu[b 2] Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu Y N
  1. ^ subdivided into nineteen boroughs
  2. ^ subdivided into the boroughs of Le Vieux-Longueuil, Saint-Hubert and Greenfield Park.

Only a portion of the municipalities and MRC's located in geographical entities highlighted in light gray are part of the CMM/CMA.
There are 82 municipalities that are part of the MMC and 91 municipalities that are part of the CMA.
There are 79 municipalities that overlap between the two, with 3 municipalities being part of the MMC but not the CMA, and 12 municipalities being part of the CMA but not the MMC.[8][9]
Kanesatake and Kahnawake are not included in the previous counts.

Demographics

Main article: Demographics of Montreal
Historical populations
YearPop.±%
1871174,090—    
1881223,512+28.4%
1891308,169+37.9%
1901393,665+27.7%
1911594,812+51.1%
1921774,330+30.2%
19311,064,448+37.5%
19411,192,235+12.0%
19511,539,308+29.1%
19561,745,001+13.4%
19612,110,679+21.0%
19662,570,985+21.8%
19712,743,208+6.7%
19762,802,485+2.2%
19812,862,286+2.1%
19862,921,357+2.1%
19913,208,970+9.8%
19963,326,510+3.7%
20013,426,350+3.0%
20063,635,571+6.1%
20113,824,221+5.2%
20164,098,927+7.2%
20214,291,732+4.7%
[10]

Ethnicity

Panethnic groups in Metro Montreal (2001−2021)
Panethnic
group 		2021[11][12] 2016[13] 2011[14] 2006[15] 2001[16]
Pop. % Pop. % Pop. % Pop. % Pop. %
European[a] 3,059,895 72.74% 3,070,210 76.57% 2,963,860 78.98% 2,980,280 83.05% 2,911,230 86.11%
African 340,140 8.09% 270,940 6.76% 216,310 5.76% 169,065 4.71% 139,305 4.12%
Middle Eastern[b] 285,615 6.79% 220,055 5.49% 172,345 4.59% 113,405 3.16% 79,410 2.35%
Latin American 137,850 3.28% 110,195 2.75% 98,010 2.61% 75,400 2.1% 53,155 1.57%
South Asian 121,260 2.88% 85,925 2.14% 79,540 2.12% 70,615 1.97% 57,935 1.71%
East Asian[c] 116,820 2.78% 100,265 2.5% 83,420 2.22% 79,665 2.22% 58,165 1.72%
Southeast Asian[d] 101,560 2.41% 88,755 2.21% 89,645 2.39% 68,475 1.91% 57,460 1.7%
Indigenous 46,085 1.1% 34,745 0.87% 26,285 0.7% 17,865 0.5% 11,085 0.33%
Other[e] 40,565 0.96% 28,710 0.72% 23,060 0.61% 13,755 0.38% 12,900 0.38%
Total responses 4,206,455 98.01% 4,009,795 97.83% 3,752,470 98.12% 3,588,520 98.71% 3,380,645 98.67%
Total population 4,291,732 100% 4,098,927 100% 3,824,221 100% 3,635,571 100% 3,426,350 100%
  • Note: Totals greater than 100% due to multiple origin responses.

Language

Mother tongue (2011)[17]
Language Greater Montreal Quebec Canada
French 65.9% 79.1% 21.4%
English 13.2% 8.9% 58.1%
Arabic 4.5% 2.1% 1.1%
Spanish 3.2% 1.8% 1.3%
Italian 2.7% 1.6% 1.3%
Creole 1.5% 0.8% 0.2%
Mandarin 1.0% 0.1% 1.8%
Greek 1.0% 0.5% 0.4%
Romanian 0.8% 0.4% 0.3%
Portuguese 0.8% 0.5% 0.7%
Russian 0.7% 0.3% 0.5%
Vietnamese 0.7% 0.4% 0.5%
Persian (Farsi) 0.6% 0.3% 0.5%
Cantonese 0.6% 0.1% 1.7%
Tagalog (Filipino) 0.5% 0.2% 1.2%
Armenian 0.4% 0.2% 0.1%
Tamil 0.4% 0.2% 0.4%
Punjabi (Panjabi) 0.3% 0.2% 1.4%
Polish 0.3% 0.2% 0.6%
Bengali 0.3% 0.1% 0.2%
German 0.3% 0.2% 1.3%
Urdu 0.3% 0.1% 0.6%
Yiddish 0.2% 0.1% <0.1%
Cambodian (Khmer) 0.2% 0.1% <0.1%
Turkish 0.2% 0.1% 0.1%
Gujarati 0.2% 0.1% 0.3%
Hungarian 0.2% 0.1% 0.2%
Bulgarian 0.2% 0.1% 0.1%
Berber (Kabyle) 0.2% 0.1% <0.1%
Unspecified Chinese <0.1% 0.1% 0.1%

Transportation

Water transportation

Montreal's development as a transportation and commercial centre has been closely linked to its location on the St. Lawrence River at the Lachine Rapids, which prevented vessels from navigating farther upstream. The rapids made Montreal a natural point for the transfer of goods and passengers between river traffic and overland transportation routes, contributing to the city's emergence as one of North America's main inland ports.[18][19]

The opening of the Lachine Canal in 1825 provided a navigable route around the rapids and established a continuous waterway between Montreal and the Great Lakes, stimulating industrialization and becoming Canada's "cradle of industry".[20][21] The canal's commercial role was later supplanted by the St. Lawrence Seaway, opened in 1959, whose locks and channels allow oceangoing vessels to bypass the rapids and travel between the Atlantic Ocean and the Great Lakes.[22]

The Port of Montreal remains one of Canada's largest ports and the principal container port on the Seaway, handling more than 34 million tonnes of cargo and approximately 1.5 million TEUs of container traffic annually.[23] It operates along the east end of Montreal Island and in the South Shore community of Contrecoeur. A cruise terminal operates in the Old Port near downtown Montreal with more than 40 calls per year.[24][25]

Rail transportation

Rail history in Canada began in the Montreal area with its first rail line between Saint-Jean and LaPrairie in 1836.[26]. Montreal hosts major intermodal hubs for both Canadian National (CN) and Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) railways, as well as head offices for CN and Via Rail.

Public transportation

Montreal has an extensive public transit network with multiple modes of transport:

The Autorité régionale de transport métropolitain (ARTM, English: Regional Authority of Metropolitan Transportation) plans, integrates, funds and coordinates public transport across Greater Montreal.[27] The ARTM manages the integrated fare structure and Opus fare payment system.[28][29][30] It owns major reserved bus lanes, metropolitan bus terminuses and park-and-ride lots, and oversees major transit projects. The ARTM budget ($248 million in 2026) provides funding to transit agencies for operations.[31]

For intercity travel, Montreal Central Station serves as a main hub in Via Rail's Quebec City–Windsor Corridor and a terminus for Amtrak's Adirondack service to New York City. Other stations served by intercity passenger rail include Saint-Lambert, Sauvé, Anjou, Dorval and Coteau. Gare d'autocars de Montréal is the main intercity coach station.

Road transportation

Greater Montreal is home of the first highways in colonial Canada: Chambly Road (French: chemin de Chambly) between Longueuil and Chambly, and the Chemin du Roy from Repentigny along the North Shore to Quebec City. The local road network grew out of French: rangs (French: côtes on the island of Montreal) and French: montées from the Seigneurial system.[32]

Greater Montreal has an network of more than 1,700 kilometres (1,100 mi) of controlled-access highways (French: autoroutes) that connect to Toronto, Ottawa, Eastern Townships, Quebec City and the Maritime Provinces.[33] Two branches of the Trans-Canada Highway from Ontario to the west converge in Montreal before crossing the Louis-Hippolyte-La Fontaine Bridge–Tunnel on its way east toward New Brunswick.

The Saint Lawrence and Ottawa Rivers present obstacles to the road network. Four bridges and one tunnel are the only arteries from the South Shore to the island of Montreal, Laval and the North shore. Two highways — Autoroute 640 on the North Shore and Autoroute 30 on the South Shore — allow east-west traffic to bypass the city, but neither connect to form a ring road.

A study found local drivers lose 63 hours every year in rush hour traffic, resulting in Montreal having the worst traffic in Canada and 28th worst on a global list of metropolitain cities.[34]

Two autoroute bridges are tolled: on Autoroute 30 crossing the St. Lawrence, and Autoroute 25 crossing the Des Prairies River; all other roads are free to use.

Air transportation

Greater Montreal has three main airports. Montréal–Trudeau International Airport (YUL) in Dorval received 22.4 million passengers through domestic, US trans-border and overseas international flights.[35] Montréal–Mirabel International Airport (YMX) was previously open to passenger travel but since October 2004 has been focused on cargo. Montreal Metropolitan Airport (YHU, branded MET) in the St-Hubert borough of Longueuil focuses on regional flights.

Education

Postsecondary educational institutions in the Greater Montreal Area
Universities CEGEPs and other colleges Other schools

(In Montreal, except where otherwise noted.)

See also

Notes

  1. ^ 2001-2016: Statistic includes all persons that did not make up part of a visible minority or an indigenous identity.

    2021: Statistic includes all persons belonging to the non-indigenous and non-visible minority "White" population group.
  2. ^ Statistic includes total responses of "West Asian" and "Arab" under visible minority section on census.
  3. ^ Statistic includes total responses of "Chinese", "Korean", and "Japanese" under visible minority section on census.
  4. ^ Statistic includes total responses of "Filipino" and "Southeast Asian" under visible minority section on census.
  5. ^ Statistic includes total responses of "Visible minority, n.i.e." and "Multiple visible minorities" under visible minority section on census.
Group 1
  1. ^ a b c d e f Only a portion of municipalities in the MRC are included in the MMC.
  2. ^ a b Only a portion of municipalities in the MRC are included in the CMA.
Group 2
  1. ^ classified as an equivalent territory
Group 3
  1. ^ in area served by the Réseau de transport métropolitain

References

  1. ^ "Population and dwelling counts: Census metropolitan areas, census agglomerations and census subdivisions (municipalities)". Canada 2021 Census. Statistics Canada. 2022. Retrieved 4 May 2024.
  2. ^ "Census Profile - Montreal Census Metropolitan Area". Canada 2011 Census. Statistics Canada. 8 February 2012. Archived from the original on 15 January 2016. Retrieved 9 February 2012.
  3. ^ "Population and dwelling counts, for census metropolitan areas, 2016 and 2011 censuses – 100% data". Statistics Canada. Government of Canada. 8 February 2017. Archived from the original on 11 February 2017. Retrieved 14 February 2017.
  4. ^ "Population estimates, July 1, by census metropolitan area and census agglomeration, 2021 boundaries". Statistics Canada. 14 January 2026. Retrieved 7 April 2026.
  5. ^ "Statistics Canada. Table 36-10-0468-01 Gross domestic product (GDP) at basic prices, by census metropolitan area (CMA) (x 1,000,000)". Statistics Canada.
  6. ^ "Grand Montréal: maintenant 4 millions de personnes". journalmetro.com. 12 February 2015. Archived from the original on 20 October 2017. Retrieved 30 April 2018.
  7. ^ "Census Profile, 2021 Census of Population". 9 February 2022.
  8. ^ "Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal" (PDF).
  9. ^ "La CMM et les MRC périmétropolitaines" (PDF).
  10. ^ "Évolution de la population de Montréal, 1660 à nos jours". Ville de Montréal. Archived from the original on 11 November 2012. Retrieved 19 November 2013.
  11. ^ Government of Canada, Statistics Canada (21 September 2022). "Indigenous identity by Registered or Treaty Indian status: Canada, provinces and territories, census metropolitan areas and census agglomerations with parts". www12.statcan.gc.ca. Retrieved 10 January 2023.
  12. ^ Government of Canada, Statistics Canada (26 October 2022). "Visible minority and population group by generation status: Canada, provinces and territories, census metropolitan areas and census agglomerations with parts". www12.statcan.gc.ca. Retrieved 10 January 2023.
  13. ^ Government of Canada, Statistics Canada (27 October 2021). "Census Profile, 2016 Census". www12.statcan.gc.ca. Retrieved 10 January 2023.
  14. ^ Government of Canada, Statistics Canada (27 November 2015). "NHS Profile". www12.statcan.gc.ca. Retrieved 10 January 2023.
  15. ^ Government of Canada, Statistics Canada (20 August 2019). "2006 Community Profiles". www12.statcan.gc.ca. Retrieved 10 January 2023.
  16. ^ Government of Canada, Statistics Canada (2 July 2019). "2001 Community Profiles". www12.statcan.gc.ca. Retrieved 10 January 2023.
  17. ^ "Montréal, CMA, Quebec". Canada 2011 Census. Statistics Canada. 4 August 2017. Retrieved 11 December 2019.
  18. ^ "Lachine Rapids National Historic Event". Parks Canada. 19 November 1982. Retrieved 7 June 2026.
  19. ^ Paul-André Linteau (7 April 2009). Young Elaine; Ma Clay (eds.). "Montreal". Retrieved 7 June 2026.
  20. ^ Maura Forrest (2 January 2025). "From industrial highway to developer's paradise, Montreal's Lachine Canal turns 200". Canadian Press. Retrieved 7 June 2026.
  21. ^ "The cradle of industrialization". Parks Canada. 27 February 2025. Retrieved 7 June 2026.
  22. ^ "The St. Lawrence Seaway: A Vital Waterway". Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway System. Retrieved 7 June 2026.
  23. ^ "Port of Montreal reports 3% total traffic decline and increased container cargo in 2025". Maritime Magazine. 23 January 2026. Retrieved 7 June 2026.
  24. ^ "Refurbished cruise ship terminal now open to the public in Montreal's Old Port". CBC News. 4 June 2018. Retrieved 7 June 2026.
  25. ^ "Cruise traffic 2021-2025". Montreal Port Authority. Retrieved 7 June 2026.
  26. ^ "First Railroad in Canada National Historic Event". Parks Canada. Retrieved 7 June 2026.
  27. ^ "À propos" [About] (in French). Autorité régionale de transport métropolitain. Retrieved 3 June 2026.
  28. ^ "Transit fares". Autorité régionale de transport métropolitain. Retrieved 3 June 2026.
  29. ^ "Refonte tarifaire" [Fare reform] (in French). Autorité régionale de transport métropolitain. Retrieved 3 June 2026.
  30. ^ "Le projet Concerto" [The Concerto project] (in French). Autorité régionale de transport métropolitain. Retrieved 3 June 2026.
  31. ^ "Optimiser le potentiel du transport collectif: Budget 2026" [Optimizing the potential of public transit: 2026 Budget] (PDF) (in French). Retrieved 3 June 2026.
  32. ^ Ludger Beauregard (1984). Département de géographie de l'Université Laval (ed.). "Géographie historique des côtes de l'île de Montréal". Cahiers de géographie du Québec. 28 (73-74 ed.). ISSN 1708-8968. Retrieved 7 June 2026.
  33. ^ "Région métropolitaine de Montréal". Ministère des Transports et de la Mobilité durable. Retrieved 7 June 2026.
  34. ^ Jessica Barile; Corinne Boyer (5 December 2025). "Montreal highest traffic delays in Canada: 63 hours lost per driver each year". CityNews. Retrieved 7 June 2026.
  35. ^ Canadian Press (30 March 2026). "Montreal airport passenger traffic similar in 2025 and 2024, U.S. trips decline". Retrieved 7 June 2026.

45°34′N 73°40′W / 45.56°N 73.66°W / 45.56; -73.66

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