Montreal This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (February 2008) For other uses, see Montreal (disambiguation). <td colspan="2" align="center" style="width:100%; font-size: 1.25em; white-space: nowrap;">Montreal</td> </tr> <tr class="mergedtoprow"> <td colspan="2" style="text-align:center;background:#cddeff;">—  City  — </td> </tr><tr class="mergedtoprow"> <td colspan="2" style="text-align:center;">Ville de Montréal</td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2" style="text-align: center; padding: 0.7em 0.8em 0.7em 0.8em;;"> Montreal skyline, January 2003 </td> </tr> <tr class="mergedtoprow"> <td class="maptable" colspan="2" align="center" style="padding: 0.4em 0 0.4em 0;"> Flag Coat of arms </td> </tr> <tr class="mergedrow"> <td colspan="2" align="center">Nickname: 5-1-4, MTL, City of Saints</td> </tr> <tr class="mergedrow"> <td colspan="2" align="center">Motto: Concordia Salus ("well-being through harmony")</td> </tr> <tr class="mergedrow"> <td colspan="2" align="center"> Location of Montreal in Quebec </td> </tr> <tr class="mergedbottomrow"> <th colspan="2" style="text-align: center; font-size: smaller; padding-bottom: 0.7em;">Coordinates: 45°30′N 73°40′W / 45.5, -73.667</th> </tr> <tr class="mergedtoprow"> <th>Country <th class="adr">Canada </tr><tr class="mergedrow"> <th>Province <th class="adr">Quebec </tr><tr class="mergedrow"> <th>Region <th>Montréal </tr> <tr class="mergedrow"> <th>Founded</th> <td>1642</td> </tr><tr class="mergedrow"> <th>Established</th> <td>1832</td> </tr> <tr class="mergedtoprow"> <td colspan="2">Government </td> </tr> <tr class="mergedrow"> <th> - Mayor <td>Gérald Tremblay </td> </tr><tr class="mergedrow"> <th> - Language <td>French (official) </td> </tr> <tr class="mergedtoprow"> <td colspan="2">Area [1][2][3]</td> </tr> <tr class="mergedrow"> <th>  - City </th> <td>365.13 km² (140.98 sq mi)</td> </tr></td> </tr><tr class="mergedrow"> <th> - Urban</th> <td>1,677 km² (647 sq mi)</td> </tr><tr class="mergedrow"> <th> - Metro</th> <td>4,259 km² (1,644 sq mi)</td> </tr> <tr class="mergedtoprow"> <th>Highest elevation</th> <td>233 m (764 ft)</td> </tr><tr class="mergedbottomrow"> <th>Lowest elevation</th> <td>6 m (20 ft)</td> </tr> <tr class="mergedtoprow"> <td colspan="2">Population (2006)[1][2][3]</td> </tr> <tr class="mergedrow"> <th> - City</th> <td>1,854,442 (Ranked 2nd)</td> </tr><tr class="mergedrow"> <th> - Density</th> <td>4,439/km² (11,496/sq mi)</td> </tr><tr class="mergedrow"> <th> - Urban</th> <td>3,316,615</td> </tr><tr class="mergedrow"> <th> - Metro</th> <td>3,635,571</td> </tr><tr class="mergedrow"> <th> - Demonym</th> <td>Montrealer (English), Montréalais / Montréalaise (French)</td> </tr> <tr class="mergedtoprow"> <th>Time zone</th> <td>Eastern (EST) (UTC-5) </tr> <tr class="mergedbottomrow"> <th style="white-space: nowrap;"> - Summer (DST)</th> <td>EDT (UTC-4)</td> </tr> <tr class="mergedtoprow"> <th>Postal code span</th> <td class="adr">H </tr> <tr class="mergedrow"> <th>Area code(s)</th> <td>(514) and (438)</td> </tr>

Website: Ville de Montréal

Montreal, or Montréal in French,^[4] (pronounced /ˌmɒ̃ʀeˈal/ (help·info) in Quebec French, pronounced /ˌmʌntriːˈɑːl/ (help·info) in Canadian English, and /ˌmɔ̃ʀeˈal/ (help·info) in European French) was the largest city in Canada up until the 1970's and is now the second-largest city in Canada and the largest city in the province of Quebec. Originally called Ville-Marie ('City of Mary'), some historians think the city takes its present name from the Mont Réal (as it was pronounced in Middle French,^[5] or Mont Royal / Mount Royal in present French), the three-head hill at the heart of the city, whose name was also initially given to the island on which the city is located.^[6][7]

The official language of Montreal is French as defined by the city's charter.^[8][9] It is among the five largest French-speaking cities in the world. As of the 2006 Canadian Census, 1,620,693 people resided in the city of Montreal proper.^[1] The population of the Montreal Census Metropolitan Area (also known as Greater Montreal Area) was 3,635,571 at the same 2006 census. In the census metropolitan area, French is the language most spoken at home by 70.5% of the population (as of 2006 census).^[10] In 2007, Forbes Magazine ranked Montreal as the 10th cleanest city in the world.^[11]

[edit] History

Main article: History of Montreal

Map of Hochelaga

There is archaeological evidence of various nomadic native peoples occupying the island of Montreal for at least 2,000 years before the arrival of Europeans.^[12] The St. Lawrence Iroquoians established the village of Hochelaga at the foot of Mount Royal.^[13] The French explorer Jacques Cartier visited Hochelaga on October 2, 1535, claiming the St. Lawrence Valley for France.^[14] He estimated the population to be "over a thousand"^[13].

Seventy years later, French explorer Samuel de Champlain reported that the St. Lawrence Iroquoians and their settlements had disappeared altogether from the St. Lawrence valley, likely due to inter-tribal wars, European diseases and out-migration.^[13] Champlain established in 1611 a fur trading post on the Island of Montreal, on a site initially named La Place Royale, at the confluence of Saint-Pierre river and St-Lawrence river, where present-day Pointe-à-Callière stands.^[15]. In 1639, Jérôme Le Royer de La Dauversière obtained the Seigneurial title to the Island of Montreal in the name of the Société de Notre-Dame de Montréal to establish a Roman Catholic mission for evangelizing natives. Paul Chomedey de Maisonneuve was the governor of the colony.

Ville-Marie became a centre for the fur trade and a base for further French exploration in North America. It remained a French colony until 1760, when it was surrendered to Great Britain.

Industrialized city, 1889

Montreal was incorporated as a city in 1832. The opening of the Lachine Canal permitted ships to bypass the unnavigable Lachine Rapids, while the construction of the Victoria Bridge established Montreal as a major railway hub. By 1860, it was the largest city in British North America and the undisputed economic and cultural centre of Canada.

Montreal was the capital of the Province of Canada from 1844 to 1849, but lost its status when a Tory mob burnt down the Parliament building to protest passage of the Rebellion Losses Bill. ^[16]

After World War I, the Prohibition movement in the United States turned Montreal into a haven for Americans looking for alcohol. Unemployment remained high in the city, and was exacerbated by the Stock Market Crash of 1929 and the Great Depression. Canada began to recover from the Great Depression in the mid-1930s, when skyscrapers such as the Sun Life Building began to appear.

During World War II, Mayor Camillien Houde protested against conscription and urged Montrealers to disobey the federal government's registry of all men and women. Ottawa was furious over Houde's insubordination and held him in a prison camp until 1944, when the government was forced to institute conscription (see Conscription Crisis of 1944).

Montreal, 1959

Montreal's population surpassed one million in the early 1950s. The Saint Lawrence Seaway opened in 1959, allowing vessels to bypass Montreal: a development that would in time help to spell the end of the city's economic dominance. However, the 1960s saw continued growth, including Expo 67, the construction of Canada's tallest skyscrapers, new expressways and the Montreal Metro system.

The 1970s ushered in a period of wide-ranging social and political changes, stemming in large part from the concerns of the French-Canadian majority about the conservation of their culture and language, given the traditional predominance of the English-Canadian minority in the business arena. The October Crisis and the election of the separatist political party, the Parti Québécois, resulted in major political, ethnic and linguistic shifts. Despite hosting the 1976 Summer Olympics, Montreal lost its title of Canada's largest and most influential city to Toronto.

During the 1980s and early 1990s, Montreal experienced a slower rate of economic growth than many other major Canadian cities. By the late 1990s, however, Montreal's economic climate had improved, as new firms and institutions began to fill the traditional business and financial niches.

Montreal was merged with the 27 surrounding municipalities on the Island of Montreal on January 1, 2002. The merger created a unified city of Montreal which covered the entire island of Montreal. This move proved unpopular, and several former municipalities, totalling 13% of the population of the island, voted to leave the newly unified city in separate referendums in June 2004. The demerger took place on January 1, 2006, leaving 15 municipalities on the island, including Montreal.

[edit] Geography

A street in Montreal after a snowstorm.

Montreal is located in the southwest of the province of Quebec, approximately 275 kilometres (168 miles) southwest of Quebec City, the provincial capital, and 167 kilometres (104 mi) east of Ottawa, the federal capital. It also lies 502 kilometres (312 mi) northeast of Toronto, 407 kilometres (253 mi) northwest of Boston and 530 kilometres (329 mi) directly north of New York City.^[17]

The city is located on the central and eastern portions of the Island of Montreal at the confluence of the Saint Lawrence and Ottawa Rivers. The port of Montreal lies at one end of the Saint Lawrence Seaway, which is the river gateway that stretches from the Great Lakes into the Atlantic Ocean.^[18] Montreal is defined by its location in between the St. Lawrence river on its south, and by the Rivière des Prairies on its north. The city is named after the most prominent geographical feature on the island, a three-head hill called Mount Royal.^[19]

Montreal is at the centre of the Montreal Metropolitan Community, and is bordered by the city of Laval to the north, Longueuil to the south, Repentigny to the east and the West Island municipalities to the west. The anglophone enclaves of Westmount, Montreal West, Hampstead, Côte Saint-Luc, the Town of Mount Royal and the francophone enclave Montreal East are all entirely surrounded by the city of Montreal.^[20]

Thick fog.

Many people visit the city in the autumn for the foliage.

A lion in winter: Mount Royal.

[edit] Climate

Montreal lies at the confluence of several climatic regions. Usually, the climate is classified as humid continental or hemiboreal (Köppen climate classification Dfb).

Precipitation is abundant with an average snowfall of 2.25 metres (84 in) per year in the winter. Regular rainfall throughout the year averages 900 mm (35.3 in). Summer is the wettest season statistically, but it is also the sunniest.^{[citation needed]}

The coldest month of the year is January which has a daily average temperature of −10.4 °C (13 °F) — averaging a daily low of −14.9 °C (5.2 °F), colder than either Moscow (-10 °C) or Saint Petersburg (-6 °C).^{[citation needed]} Due to wind chill, the perceived temperature can be much lower than the actual temperature, and wind chill factor is often included in Montreal weather forecasts. The warmest month is July which has an average daily high of 26.3 °C (79.3 °F); lower nighttime temperatures make an average of 20.9 °C (69.6 °F) thus air exchangers often achieve the same result as air conditioners. The lowest temperature ever recorded was −37.8 °C (−36.0 °F) on 15 January 1957 and the highest temperature ever was 37.6 °C (99.7 °F) on 1 August 1975.^[21] High humidity is common in the summer which makes the perceived temperature higher than the actual temperature. In spring and autumn, rainfall averages between 55 and 94 millimetres (2.2 and 3.7 in) a month. Some snow in spring and autumn is normal. Similarly, late heat waves as well as "Indian summers" are a regular feature of the climate.^[22]

2006 was noted as the only year in the history of Montreal when there was more rain than there was snow.^{[citation needed]} There were 122.3 cm (48.1 in) of snow, and there were 122.5 cm (48.2 in) of rain. That year, Montreal received more rain than Vancouver, British Columbia.^[23][24]

[edit] Cityscape

A panorama of Place d'Armes in Old Montreal

A panorama taken from the Chalet du Mont Royal at the top of Mount Royal

[edit] Architecture

Main article: Architecture of Montreal

Montreal City Hall

For over a century and a half, Montreal was the industrial and financial centre of Canada.^{[citation needed]} The variety of buildings included factories, elevators, warehouses, mills, and refineries which today provide a legacy of historic and architectural interest, especially in the downtown area and the Old Port area.^{[citation needed]}

Today there are also many historical buildings in Old Montreal still in their original form: Notre-Dame de Montréal Basilica, Bonsecours Market, and the impressive 19th-century headquarters of all major Canadian banks on Saint Jacques Street (formerly Saint James Street).^{[citation needed]} Saint Joseph's Oratory, completed in 1934, Ernest Cormier's Art Deco Université de Montréal main building, the landmark Place Ville Marie office tower, the controversial Olympic Stadium and surrounding structures, are but a few notable examples of 20th century architecture.

Pavilions designed for the 1967 International and Universal Exposition, popularly known as Expo 67, featured a wide range of architectural designs. Though most pavilions were temporary structures, several remaining structures have become Montreal landmarks, including the geodesic dome US Pavilion, now the Montreal Biosphère, as well as Moshe Safdie's striking Habitat 67 apartment complex.^{[citation needed]}

The Montreal Metro is filled with a profusion of public artwork by some of the biggest names in Quebec culture. The design and ornamentation of each station in the Metro system is unique.^{[citation needed]}

In 2006, the city was recognized by the international design community as a UNESCO City of Design, one of the three world design capitals.^[25]

[edit] Neighbourhoods

Chinatown in Montreal

Main article: List of neighbourhoods in Montreal

[edit] Downtown Montreal

Main article: Downtown Montreal

Evening skyline

Downtown Montreal lies at the foot of Mount Royal, most of which is a major urban park, and extends toward the St Lawrence River. It is located entirely within the Ville Marie borough. The Downtown area contains dozens of notable skyscrapers — which bylaws restrict to the height of Mount Royal — including the aforementioned 1000 de La Gauchetière and 1250 René-Lévesque.^{[citation needed]} The Tour de la Bourse (Stock Exchange Tower) is also another significant building in Montreal, and is home to the Montreal Exchange, which trades in derivatives such as futures contracts and options. The Montreal Exchange was the first stock exchange in Canada.^{[citation needed]} In 1999 all stock trades were transferred to Toronto in exchange for exclusivity in derivatives trading.^{[citation needed]}

Place Ville-Marie, an I. M. Pei-designed cruciform office tower built in 1962, sits atop an underground shopping mall that forms the nexus of Montreal's underground city, the world's largest, with indoor access to over 1,600 shops, restaurants, offices, businesses, museums and universities, as well as metro stations, train stations, bus terminals, and tunnels extending all over downtown.^{[citation needed]} The central axis for downtown is Saint Catherine Street, Canada's busiest commercial artery.^{[citation needed]} Other major streets include Sherbrooke, René Lévesque, Peel, de la Montagne, de Maisonneuve and Crescent. The downtown Ville-Marie borough includes two islands, Île Ste. Hélène and Île Notre-Dame. The man-made Notre Dame island hosts the Canadian Grand Prix Formula One auto race, as well as a NASCAR race.^{[citation needed]} La Ronde, the sole amusement park in the Montreal area, is located on Île Sainte-Hélène and is home to the Montreal Fireworks Festival in the summer.

[edit] Old Montreal

Main article: Old Montreal

Place d'Armes and Notre Dame Basilica in winter

Old Montreal (French: Vieux-Montréal) is a historic area located southeast of downtown containing many different attractions such as the Old Port of Montreal, Place Jacques-Cartier, Montreal City Hall, the Bonsecours Market, Place d'Armes, Pointe-à-Callière Museum, the Notre-Dame de Montréal Basilica, and the Montreal Science Centre.

Architecture and cobbled streets in Old Montreal have been maintained or restored and are frequented by horse-drawn calèches carrying tourists.^{[citation needed]} Old Montreal is accessible from the downtown core via the underground city and is served by several STM bus routes and metro stations, ferries to the South Shore and a network of bicycle paths.

Old Montreal was once a worldwide port, but shipping has been moved further east to a new larger site, leaving the Old Port as a historical area.^{[citation needed]} The newer port is now the biggest container port in North America.^{[citation needed]} The riverside area adjacent to Old Montreal is known as the Old Port. It is now a recreational and historical area maintained by Parks Canada.

[edit] Mount Royal

Main article: Mount Royal

Cross on top of Mount Royal, at night

The mountain is the site of Mount Royal Park (officially Parc du Mont-Royal), one of Montreal's largest greenspaces. The park, most of which is wooded, was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, who also designed New York's Central Park, and inaugurated in 1876.^{[citation needed]}

The park contains two belvederes, the more prominent of which is the Kondiaronk Belvedere, a semicircular plaza with a chalet, overlooking downtown Montreal. Other features of the park are Beaver Lake, a small man-made lake; a short ski slope; a sculpture garden; Smith House, an interpretive centre; and a well-known monument to Sir George-Étienne Cartier. The park hosts athletic, tourist, and cultural activities.

The mountain is also home to two major cemeteries, Notre-Dame-des-Neiges (founded in 1854) and Mount Royal (1852). Mount Royal Cemetery is a 165 acres (67 ha) terraced cemetery on the north slope of Mount Royal in the borough of Outremont. Cimetière Notre-Dame-des-Neiges is much larger, predominantly French-Canadian and officially Catholic^[26]. More than 900,000 people are buried there.^{[citation needed]}

Mount Royal Cemetery contains more than 162,000 graves and is the final resting place for a number of notable Canadians. It includes a veterans section with several soldiers who were awarded the British Empire's highest military honour, the Victoria Cross. In 1901 the Mount Royal Cemetery Company established the first crematorium in Canada.^{[citation needed]}

The name of the city of Montreal derives from mont Réal, an orthographic variant introduced either in French, or by an Italian map maker ("Mount Royal" is monte Reale in Italian). The name had been unofficially applied to the city, formerly Ville-Marie, by the 18th century.^{[citation needed]}

The first cross on the mountain was placed there in 1643 by Paul Chomedey de Maisonneuve, the founder of the city, in fulfilment of a vow he made to the Virgin Mary when praying to her to stop a disastrous flood.^{[citation needed]} Today, the mountain is crowned by a 31.4 m (103 ft) high illuminated cross, installed in 1924 by the Société Saint-Jean-Baptiste and now owned by the city.^{[citation needed]} It was converted to fibre-optic light in 1992.^{[citation needed]} The new system can turn the lights red, blue, or purple, the last of which is used as a sign of mourning between the death of the Pope and the election of the next.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Underground City

Halles de la gare, going from Gare centrale to Place Ville-Marie

Main article: Underground city, Montreal

Extending all over downtown is Montreal's Underground City (French: La ville souterraine), a set of pedestrian levels built to cross under streets, thereby connecting buildings to each other. It is also known as the indoor city (ville intérieure), as not all of it is underground.^{[citation needed]} The connections are considered tunnels architecturally and technically, but have conditioned air and good lighting as any building's liveable space does. Many tunnels are large enough to have shops on both sides of the passage. With over 32 kilometres (20 mi) of tunnels spread over more than twelve square kilometres (5 sq mi), connected areas include shopping malls, hotels, banks, offices, museums, universities, seven metro stations, two commuter train stations, a regional bus terminal and the Bell Centre amphitheatre and arena.^{[citation needed][citation needed]} There are more than 120 exterior access points to the underground city. Each access point is an entry point to one of 60 residential or commercial complexes comprising 3.6 square kilometres (1.4 sq mi) of floor space, including 80% of all office space and 35% of all commercial space in downtown Montreal.^{[citation needed]} In winter, some 500,000 people use the underground city every day.^{[citation needed]} Because of its Underground City, Montreal is often referred to as "Two Cities in One."^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Government

The Urban Agglomeration of Montreal

The head of the city government in Montreal is the mayor, who is first among equals in the City Council. The mayor is Gérald Tremblay, who is a member of the Union des citoyens et des citoyennes de l'Île de Montréal (English: Montreal Island Citizens Union). The city council is a democratically elected institution and is the final decision-making authority in the city, although much power is centralized in the executive committee. The Council consists of 73 members from all boroughs of the city.^{[citation needed]} The Council has jurisdiction over many matters, including public security, agreements with other governments, subsidy programs, the environment, urban planning, and a three-year capital expenditure program. The City Council is also required to supervise, standardize or approve certain decisions made by the borough councils.^{[citation needed]}

Reporting directly to the City Council, the executive committee exercises decision-making powers similar to that of the cabinet in a parliamentary system and is responsible for preparing various documents including budgets and by-laws, submitted to the City Council for approval. The decision-making powers of the executive committee cover, in particular, the awarding of contracts or grants, the management of human and financial resources, supplies and buildings. It may also be assigned further powers by the City Council.

Standing committees are the council's prime instruments for public consultation. They are responsible for the public study of pending matters and for making the appropriate recommendations to the council. They also review the annual budget forecasts for departments under their jurisdiction. A public notice of meeting is published in both French and English daily newspapers at least seven days before each meeting. All meetings include a public question period. The standing committees, of which there are seven, have terms lasting two years. In addition, the City Council may decide to create special committees at any time. Each standing committee is made up of seven to nine members, including a chairman and a vice-chairman. The members are all elected municipal officers, with the exception of a representative of the government of Quebec on the public security committee.^{[citation needed]}

The city of Montreal is only one component of the larger Communauté Métropolitaine de Montréal (English: Montreal Metropolitan Community or MMC), which is in charge of planning, coordinating, and financing economic development, public transportation, garbage collection and waste management, etc., across the metropolitan area of Montreal. The president of the CMM is the mayor of Montreal. The CMM covers 3,839 square kilometres (1,482 sq mi), with 3,635,700 inhabitants in 2005.^{[citation needed]}

See also: Boroughs of Montreal and Montreal City Council

[edit] Economy

Montreal started out as the economic centre and largest city of Canada from the birth of the country up until the early 1970s when it was overcome by Toronto, due to political and economic crisis. Also, Toronto had been growing faster since the end of the Second World War.^{[citation needed]} The loss of many headquarters and a large anglophone business community of about 300,000 people lessened Montreal's economic and social importance, and it stayed in a decline for over 15 years.^{[citation needed]}

In the early 1990s, Montreal's economic recovery helped to place it as an important centre of commerce, industry, culture, finance, and world affairs.^{[citation needed]}

Tour de la Bourse (Stock Exchange Tower)

Looking up University Street

Montreal industries include aerospace, electronic goods, pharmaceuticals, printed goods, software engineering, telecommunications, textile and apparel manufacturing, tobacco and transportation. The service sector is also strong and includes civil, mechanical and process engineering, finance, higher education, and research and development. In 2002, Montreal ranked as the 4th largest centre in North America in terms of aerospace jobs.^[27]

The Port of Montreal is the largest inland port in the world.^{[citation needed]} As one of the most important ports in Canada, it remains a trans-shipment point for grain, sugar, petroleum products, machinery, and consumer goods. For this reason, Montreal is the railway hub of Canada and has always been an extremely important rail city; it is the eastern terminus of the Canadian Pacific Railway and home to the headquarters of the Canadian National Railway.^{[citation needed]}

The headquarters of the Canadian Space Agency are located in Longueuil, southeast of Montreal. Montreal also hosts the headquarters of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO, a United Nations body); the World Anti-Doping Agency (an Olympic body); the International Air Transport Association (IATA); the International Council of Graphic Design Associations (Icograda); the International Design Alliance (IDA); Gay and Lesbian International Chamber of Commerce, as well as some 60 other international organizations in various fields. It is also the leading Canadian city for its research output, fuelled in part by Montreal's four universities and numerous scientific research centres.^{[citation needed]}

Place Ville-Marie

Montreal is also a centre of film and television production. The headquarters of Alliance Atlantis and five studios of the Academy Award-winning documentary producer National Film Board of Canada can be found here, as well as the head offices of Telefilm Canada, the national feature-length film and television funding agency. Given its eclectic architecture and broad availability of film services and crew members, Montreal is a popular filming location for feature-length films, and sometimes stands in for European locations.^{[citation needed]} The city is also home to many recognized cultural, film and music festivals (Just For Laughs, Montreal Jazz Festival, and others), which contribute significantly to its economy. It is also home to one of the world's largest cultural enterprises, the Cirque du Soleil.^{[citation needed]}

The video game industry is also booming in Montreal since 1997, coinciding with the opening of Ubisoft Montreal.^{[citation needed]} Recently, the city has attracted world leading game developers and publishers studios such as Ubisoft, EA, Eidos Interactive, Artificial Mind and Movement, Strategy First, mainly because video games jobs have been heavily subsidized by the provincial government. Every year, this industry generates billions of dollars and thousands of jobs in the Montreal area.^{[citation needed]}

Rio Tinto Alcan, Bombardier, CN, CGI Group, Air Canada, CAE, Saputo, Cirque du Soleil, Quebecor, Power Corporation, Bell Canada, SNC-Lavalin, Hydro-Québec, Abitibi-Consolidated, National Bank of Canada, ABB Canada, and many other corporations are headquartered in the Greater Montreal Area.^{[citation needed]}

In 2006 Montreal was named a UNESCO City of Design, only one of three design capitals of the world (with the others being Berlin and Buenos Aires). This distinguished title recognizes Montreal's design community. Since 2005 the city is also a home for the International Design Alliance and the International Council of Graphic Design Associations (Icograda).^[28]

[edit] Demographics

Main article: Demographics of Montreal

According to Statistics Canada, at the 2006 Canadian census the city of Montreal proper had 1,620,693 inhabitants.^[1] However, 3,635,571 lived in the Montreal Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) at the same 2006 census, up from 3,451,027 at the 2001 census (within 2006 CMA boundaries), which means a population growth of +1.05% per year between 2001 and 2006.^[3] In the 2006 census, children under 14 years of age (621,695) constituted 17.1 percent, while inhabitants over 65 years of age (495,685) numbered 13.6 percent of the total population.^[1] People of European ethnicities formed the largest cluster of ethnic groups in Montreal, mostly of French, Italian, Irish, and English origins.^[29] Some 16.5 percent of the population of Greater Montreal are member of a visible minority (non-white) group.^[30] Canadians of African descent contribute to the largest visible minority group in greater Montreal, numbering some 169,065, which is the second-largest community of African-origin people in Canada, after Toronto.^[30] Other groups, such as Arabs, Latin American, South Asian, and Chinese are also large in number.

In terms of mother tongue language (first language learned), the 2006 census reported that in the Greater Montreal Area, 66.5% spoke French as a first language, followed by English at 13.2%, while 0.8% spoke both as a first language.^[37] The remaining 22.5% of Montreal-area residents are allophones, speaking languages including Italian (3.5%), Arabic (3.1%), Spanish (2.6%), Creole (predominantly of Haitian origin) (1.4%), Chinese (1.2%), Greek (1.2%), Portuguese (0.9%), Romanian (0.7%), Vietnamese (0.7%), and Russian (0.5%).^[37] In terms of additional languages spoken, a unique feature of Montreal throughout Canada, noted by Statistics Canada, is the working knowledge of both French and English by most of its residents.

The Greater Montreal Area is overwhelmingly Roman Catholic, however, church attendance in Quebec is among the lowest in Canada.^[38] Historically Montreal has been a centre of Catholicism in North America with its numerous seminaries and churches, including the Notre-Dame Basilica, the Cathédrale Marie-Reine-du-Monde, and Saint Joseph's Oratory. Some 84.6 percent of the total population is Christian,^[39] largely Roman Catholic (74.5%), which is largely due to French, Italian and Irish origins. Protestants which include Anglican, United Church, Lutheran and other denominations number 7.0%, with a further 3.0% consisting mostly of Orthodox Christians, fuelled by a large Greek population. Due to the large number of non-European cultures, there is a diversity of non-Christian religions. Islam is the largest non-Christian group, with some 100,185 members, the second-largest concentration of Muslims in Canada, constituting 3%.^[39] The Jewish community in Montreal has a population of 88,765.^[39] In cities such as Côte-Saint-Luc and Hampstead, Jewish people constitute the majority,^[40][41] or a substantial part of the population. As recently as 1971 the Jewish community in Greater Montreal was as high as 109,480.^[32] Political and economic uncertainties led many to leave Montreal and the province of Quebec.^[42]

[edit] Culture

Main article: Culture of Montreal

A view of Saint Catherine Street.

Montreal is the cultural centre of Quebec, and of French-speaking North America as a whole. The city is Canada's centre for French language television productions, radio, theatre, film, multimedia and print publishing. The Quartier Latin is a neighbourhood crowded with cafés animated by this literary and musical activity.^{[citation needed]} The local English-speaking artistic community nevertheless contributes dynamically to the culture of Montreal, and intense collaborations exist between all Montreal communities. The result is a dynamic musical scene, ignited by the presence of numerous musical festivals, that melds different musical styles and traditions. English theatre struggled but survived with the Centaur Theatre.