Greater Montreal

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, 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 Cities and towns 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. Kanesatake and Kahnawake are not included in the previous counts. Demographics Ethnicity Note: Totals greater than 100% due to multiple origin responses. Language 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. 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". 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. 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. 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. Rail transportation Rail history in Canada began in the Montreal area with its first rail line between Saint-Jean and LaPrairie in 1836.. 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 Montreal metro with four lines that extends into Longueuil and Laval The Réseau express métropolitain (REM), a separate regional light metro network, serving Brossard on the South Shore, central and western island of Montreal, western Laval, and Sainte-Dorothée on the North Shore Exo commuter rail with five radial lines that extend from the city centre to outlying suburban communities, primarily operating during rush hour on weekends Bus and paratransit service across the area: Exo, Réseau de transport de Longueuil, Société de transport de Montréal and Société de transport de Laval. The Autorité régionale de transport métropolitain (ARTM, English: Regional Authority of Metropolitan Transportation) plans, integrates, funds and coordinates public transport across Greater Montreal. The ARTM manages the integrated fare structure and Opus fare payment system. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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 (In Montreal, except where otherwise noted.) See also Montreal Urban Community Notes Group 1 Group 2 Group 3 References External links (in French) Metropolitan Community of Montreal website Act respecting the Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal (provincial statute) Greater Montreal Area Restaurants (in French) Greater Montreal Area map in .pdf