Québec at a glance

Montréal: cosmopolitan and cost-effective

Quick facts:
Province: Québec
Population: 3.6 million (first quarter 2009 – Conference Board of Canada)

Creative, multilingual and lively, Montréal is the cultural heart of Canada and an exciting place to do business. For investors seeking both substance and style, the city caters to hard work and a playful spirit. Montréal’s gross domestic product of $121 billion is nearly half of provincial GDP. Québec’s largest city boasts world-class industry clusters, 11 institutions of higher learning, a well-connected, well-educated and stable workforce and exceptionally competitive costs.

Key advantages

• Home to one of the world's leading clusters in life sciences, with the largest concentration of biotech R&D in Canada.
• Served by two airports: Mirabel and Montréal-Trudeau providing direct connections to more than 150 domestic and international destinations in North America, Europe and Asia; the Montréal-Trudeau airport is less than 20 minutes from downtown.
• One of the three world hubs for aerospace—more than 20 industry leaders and suppliers who are responsible for 70% of Canadian R&D in aerospace and about 60% of Canadian sales in this advanced manufacturing sector.
• Globally recognized universities including McGill (among top 25 in the world), Concordia, Université de Montréal and Université de Québec à Montréal; Concordia University is home to the internationally renowned Institute for Aerospace Design and Innovation and the Centre for Studies in Behavioural Neurobiology.
• Port of Montréal is one of the busiest inland ports in the world and a key transfer point for transatlantic cargo at the doorstep of North America’s industrial heartland, offering year-round the fastest, most direct and most economical access to major U.S. markets.
• United Nations city, through the presence of the International Civil Aviation Organization, a UN agency.
• Host to more than 40 annual festivals, including international film and jazz festivals, attracting two million visitors each year.

Sector strengths

• Aerospace
• Life sciences
• Information and communications technologies
• Manufacturing
• Agri-food

Distances from Montréal:

New York – 329 miles

Boston – 253 miles

Chicago – 749 miles

Atlanta – 993 miles

Los Angeles – 3,963 miles

Paris – 3,665 miles

London – 3,243 miles