Greater Montreal (, ) 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 with a population of 4,027,100, almost 50% of the province.
A smaller area of is governed by the Montreal Metropolitan Community (MMC; , 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
{| class="wikitable"
|-
|+The largest cities in Greater Montreal
|-
! rowspan=2|Rank
! rowspan=2|City
! rowspan=2|Region
! rowspan=2|Population (2021)
! colspan=2|Land Area
! colspan=2|Population Density
|-
! km<sup>2</sup>
! mi<sup>2</sup>
! /km<sup>2</sup>
! /mi<sup>2</sup>
|-
| 1
| Montreal
| Montreal
| style="text-align:right;"|1,762,949
|
|
|-
| 2
| Laval
| Laval
| style="text-align:right;"|438,366
|
|
|-
| 3
| Longueuil
| Montérégie
| style="text-align:right;"|254,483
|
|
|-
| 4
| Terrebonne
| Lanaudière
| style="text-align:right;"|119,944
|
|
|-
| 5
| Brossard
| Montérégie
| style="text-align:right;"|91,525
|
|
|-
| 6
| Repentigny
| Lanaudière
| style="text-align:right;"|86,100
|
|
|-
| 7
| Saint-Jérôme
| Laurentides
| style="text-align:right;"|80,213
|
|
|-
| 8
| Blainville
| Laurentides
| style="text-align:right;"|59,819
|
|
|-
| 9
| Mirabel
| Laurentides
| style="text-align:right;"|61,108
|
|
|-
| 10
| Dollard-des-Ormeaux
| Montreal
| style="text-align:right;"|48,403
|
|
|-
|}
Cities and towns
<gallery class="center" widths="200">
File:Montreal-canada-parc-urban.jpg|Montreal
File:Tour Triomphe II, Laval, Québec.jpg|Laval
File:Longueuil centre-ville - 010.jpg|Longueuil
</gallery>
thumb|200px|Logo of the Montreal Metropolitan Community
thumb|200px|Greater Montreal Territorial Evolution
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Municipalities in the Montreal Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) and the Montreal Metropolitan Community (MMC)
|-
! Area !! Regional county municipality !! Municipality !! In CMA !! In MMC
|-
| colspan="2" rowspan="16" | Urban agglomeration of Montreal || Baie-d'Urfé || ||
|-
| Beaconsfield || ||
|-
| Côte Saint-Luc || ||
|-
| Dollard-des-Ormeaux || ||
|-
| Dorval || ||
|-
| Hampstead || ||
|-
| Kirkland || ||
|-
| L'Île-Dorval || ||
|-
| Montreal || ||
|-
| Montréal-Est || ||
|-
| Montreal West || ||
|-
| Mount Royal || ||
|-
| Pointe-Claire || ||
|-
| Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue || ||
|-
| Senneville || ||
|-
| Westmount || ||
|-
| colspan="3" | Laval || ||
|-
| colspan="2" rowspan="5" | Urban agglomeration of Longueuil || Boucherville || ||
|-
| Brossard || ||
|-
| Longueuil || ||
|-
| Saint-Lambert || ||
|-
| Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville || ||
|-
| rowspan="18" style="background-color:lightgray;" | Laurentides
| rowspan="7" style="background-color:lightgray;" | Deux-Montagnes || Deux-Montagnes || ||
|-
| Oka || ||
|-
| Pointe-Calumet || ||
|-
| Saint-Eustache || ||
|-
| Saint-Joseph-du-Lac || ||
|-
| Sainte-Marthe-sur-le-Lac || ||
|-
| Saint-Placide || ||
|-
| rowspan="7" | Thérèse-De Blainville || Blainville || ||
|-
| Bois-des-Filion || ||
|-
| Boisbriand || ||
|-
| Lorraine || ||
|-
| Rosemère || ||
|-
| Sainte-Anne-des-Plaines || ||
|-
| Sainte-Thérèse || ||
|-
| || Mirabel || ||
|-
| style="background-color:lightgray;" | Argenteuil || Gore || ||
|-
| rowspan="2" | La Rivière-du-Nord || Saint-Colomban || ||
|-
| Saint-Jérôme || ||
|-
| rowspan="10" style="background-color:lightgray;" | Lanaudière
| rowspan="5" style="background-color:lightgray;" | L'Assomption || Saint-Lin–Laurentides || ||
|-
| rowspan="44" style="background-color:lightgray;" | Montérégie || style="background-color:lightgray;" |Beauharnois-Salaberry<br>
Kanesatake and Kahnawake are not included in the previous counts.
Demographics
Ethnicity
{| class="wikitable collapsible sortable"
|+ Panethnic groups in Metro Montreal (2001−2021)
! rowspan="2" |Panethnic<br>group
! colspan="2" |2021
! colspan="2" |2016
! colspan="2" |2011
! colspan="2" |2006
! colspan="2" |2001
|-
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
|-
| European
| 3,059,895
|
| 3,070,210
|
| 2,963,860
|
| 2,980,280
|
| 2,911,230
|
|-
| African
| 340,140
|
| 270,940
|
| 216,310
|
| 169,065
|
| 139,305
|
|-
| Middle Eastern
| 285,615
|
| 220,055
|
| 172,345
|
| 113,405
|
| 79,410
|
|-
| Latin American
| 137,850
|
| 110,195
|
| 98,010
|
| 75,400
|
| 53,155
|
|-
| South Asian
| 121,260
|
| 85,925
|
| 79,540
|
| 70,615
|
| 57,935
|
|-
| East Asian
| 116,820
|
| 100,265
|
| 83,420
|
| 79,665
|
| 58,165
|
|-
| Southeast Asian
| 101,560
|
| 88,755
|
| 89,645
|
| 68,475
|
| 57,460
|
|-
| Indigenous
| 46,085
|
| 34,745
|
| 26,285
|
| 17,865
|
| 11,085
|
|-
| Other
| 40,565
|
| 28,710
|
| 23,060
|
| 13,755
|
| 12,900
|
|-
! Total responses
! 4,206,455
!
! 4,009,795
!
! 3,752,470
!
! 3,588,520
!
! 3,380,645
!
|-
! Total population
! 4,291,732
!
! 4,098,927
!
! 3,824,221
!
! 3,635,571
!
! 3,426,350
!
|}
- Note: Totals greater than 100% due to multiple origin responses.
Language
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="margin:auto; line-height:0.9em; border:1px #000; margin-left:1em; text-align:right;"
|+ Mother tongue (2011)
|-
! style="width:40px;"| Language
! style="width:40px;"| Greater Montreal
! style="width:40px;"| Quebec
! style="width:40px;"| Canada
|- style="line-height: 1.1em"
|align=left |French
|65.9%
|79.1%
|21.4%
|- style="line-height: 1.1em"
|align=left |English
|13.2%
|8.9%
|58.1%
|- style="line-height: 1.1em"
|align=left |Arabic
|4.5%
|2.1%
|1.1%
|- style="line-height: 1.1em"
|align=left |Spanish
|3.2%
|1.8%
|1.3%
|- style="line-height: 1.1em"
|align=left |Italian
|2.7%
|1.6%
|1.3%
|- style="line-height: 1.1em"
|align=left |Creole
|1.5%
|0.8%
|0.2%
|- style="line-height: 1.1em"
|align=left |Mandarin
|1.0%
|0.1%
|1.8%
|- style="line-height: 1.1em"
|align=left |Greek
|1.0%
|0.5%
|0.4%
|- style="line-height: 1.1em"
|align=left |Romanian
|0.8%
|0.4%
|0.3%
|- style="line-height: 1.1em"
|align=left |Portuguese
|0.8%
|0.5%
|0.7%
|- style="line-height: 1.1em"
|align=left |Russian
|0.7%
|0.3%
|0.5%
|- style="line-height: 1.1em"
|align=left |Vietnamese
|0.7%
|0.4%
|0.5%
|- style="line-height: 1.1em"
|align=left |Persian (Farsi)
|0.6%
|0.3%
|0.5%
|- style="line-height: 1.1em"
|align=left |Cantonese
|0.6%
|0.1%
|1.7%
|- style="line-height: 1.1em"
|align=left |Tagalog (Filipino)
|0.5%
|0.2%
|1.2%
|- style="line-height: 1.1em"
|align=left |Armenian
|0.4%
|0.2%
|0.1%
|- style="line-height: 1.1em"
|align=left |Tamil
|0.4%
|0.2%
|0.4%
|- style="line-height: 1.1em"
|align=left |Punjabi (Panjabi)
|0.3%
|0.2%
|1.4%
|- style="line-height: 1.1em"
|align=left |Polish
|0.3%
|0.2%
|0.6%
|- style="line-height: 1.1em"
|align=left |Bengali
|0.3%
|0.1%
|0.2%
|- style="line-height: 1.1em"
|align=left |German
|0.3%
|0.2%
|1.3%
|- style="line-height: 1.1em"
|align=left |Urdu
|0.3%
|0.1%
|0.6%
|- style="line-height: 1.1em"
|align=left |Yiddish
|0.2%
|0.1%
|<0.1%
|- style="line-height: 1.1em"
|align=left |Cambodian (Khmer)
|0.2%
|0.1%
|<0.1%
|- style="line-height: 1.1em"
|align=left |Turkish
|0.2%
|0.1%
|0.1%
|- style="line-height: 1.1em"
|align=left |Gujarati
|0.2%
|0.1%
|0.3%
|- style="line-height: 1.1em"
|align=left |Hungarian
|0.2%
|0.1%
|0.2%
|- style="line-height: 1.1em"
|align=left |Bulgarian
|0.2%
|0.1%
|0.1%
|- style="line-height: 1.1em"
|align=left |Berber (Kabyle)
|0.2%
|0.1%
|<0.1%
|- style="line-height: 1.1em"
|align=left |Unspecified Chinese
|<0.1%
|0.1%
|0.1%
|}
Transportation
Exo operates the region's commuter rail and metropolitan bus services, and is the second busiest such system in Canada after Toronto's GO Transit. Established in June 2007, Exo's commuter rail system has six lines linking the downtown core with communities as far west as Hudson, as Far south as Mont-Saint-Hilaire, as far east as Mascouche, and as far north as Saint-Jérôme.
Along with Exo, a sister agency, the Autorité régionale de transport métropolitain (ARTM) plans, integrates, and coordinates public transport across Greater Montreal, including the Island of Montreal, Laval (Île Jésus), and communities along both the north shore of the Rivière des Mille-Îles and the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River. The ARTM's mandate also includes the management of reserved High-occupancy vehicle lanes, metropolitan bus terminuses, park-and-ride lots, and a budget of $163 million, which is shared amongst the transit corporations and inter-municipal public transit organizations.
The Exo/ARTM's territory spans 63 municipalities and one native reserve, 13 regional county municipalities, and 21 transit authorities. It serves a population of approximately 3.7 million people who make more than 750,000 trips daily.
The major transit commissions under the ARTM are:
- Société de transport de Montréal (), serving the Island of Montreal
- Société de transport de Laval (), serving the city of Laval
- Réseau de transport de Longueuil (), serving the Urban agglomeration of Longueuil
Education
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Postsecondary educational institutions in the Greater Montreal Area
|-
! Universities !! CEGEPs and other colleges !! Other schools
|- valign = "top"
|
- McGill University
- Concordia University
- Université de Montréal
- Université du Québec à Montréal
- Université de Sherbrooke (Longueuil)
- École de technologie supérieure
- École des hautes études commerciales
- École Polytechnique de Montréal
- Institut national de la recherche scientifique
|
- Cégep André-Laurendeau
- Cégep Marie-Victorin
- Cégep de Saint-Laurent
- Cégep du Vieux-Montréal
- Cégep régional de Lanaudière
- Champlain College Saint-Lambert (Saint-Lambert)
- Collège Ahuntsic
- Collège de Bois-de-Boulogne
- Collège Édouard-Montpetit (Longueuil)
- Collège Gérald-Godin (Sainte-Geneviève)
- Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf
- Collège Lionel-Groulx (Sainte-Thérèse)
- Collège de Maisonneuve
- College Montmorency (Laval)
- Collège de Rosemont
- Dawson College (Westmount)
- Herzing College
- John Abbott College (Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue)
- LaSalle College
- Marianopolis College (Westmount)
- Vanier College
- Collège de Valleyfield (Salaberry-de-Valleyfield)
|
- Lambda School of Music and Fine Arts
- National Theatre School of Canada
- Rabbinical College of Canada
- School of Italian Giovanni Pascoli
- L'Académie de sécurité IGS
|}
(In Montreal, except where otherwise noted.)
See also
- Montreal Urban Community
Notes
;Group 1
;Group 2
;Group 3
References
External links
- Metropolitan Community of Montreal website
- Act respecting the Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal (provincial statute)
- Greater Montreal Area Restaurants
- Greater Montreal Area map in .pdf