If you find yourself moving to Montreal or relocating to Montreal, Quebec you are about to experience a modern city with a style all its own. Rich in old world charm and yet very ‘today’, Montreal is a city full of joie de vivre. From award-winning restaurants to ethnic food stores; from skiing to cycling; from jazz to opera; from the pastoral to the exciting; from French to English…it’s all here in Montreal, Quebec.
Montreal is Canada’s second largest city and it is the largest city in the province of Quebec with a population of approximately 1,585,000 people. The Greater Montreal Area has an estimated population of 3,636,000 making this region one of the largest French-speaking metropolitan areas in the world. French is the most common language spoken in the city, however Montreal has a substantial Anglophone population and many residents are bilingual. Montreal is located in the southwestern corner of Quebec 270 kilometres southwest of Quebec City, the provincial capital, and 190 kilometres east of Ottawa, the federal capital. The city sits on the Island of Montreal and is surrounded by the St.-Lawrence River.
Montreal, Quebec sits at a junction of many climatic regions and because of this the weather in Montreal is subject to rapid change…month-to-month, season-to-season and even day-to-day. Winters are cold and snowy with an average snowfall of 2.15 metres per year. Summers are hot, and humid with July being the warmest and sunniest month. Spring and autumn are the transition seasons. Snow is not an uncommon feature of either and you can certainly expect some kind of regular precipitation. In spring be sure to enjoy a visit to a Maple sugar shack and in autumn enjoy the stunning spectacle of colour that the Sugar Maple trees will display.
Montreal is a vibrant center for commerce, industry, culture, finance and world affairs. Industries include pharmaceuticals, high tech, textile and clothing manufacturing, higher education, electronic goods, software engineering, building and city engineering, transportation devices, and tobacco. Montreal, Quebec is one of the world’s top aerospace industry centers.
It has been said that Montreal is the only city in the world where and entire airplane can be built - from the design to the last decal. Montreal is also a popular filming location as the city can easily substitute as a European or American backdrop.
Montreal, Quebec has the highest concentration of post-secondary students of all major cities in North America. Montreal is home to four highly regarded universities; McGill University, Concordia University, Universite de Montreal and Universite du Quebec. A fifth university, Universite de Sherbrooke has a large campus in Longueuil, a suburb of Montreal. Add to the academic appeal a vibrant multi-cultural and nightlife scene and you can see that Montreal is a natural destination for students.
Montreal is also renowned for its churches. It has been nicknamed ‘the city of saints’ and Mark Twain once described it as a place where you ‘couldn’t throw a brick without breaking a church window’. Montreal has four Roman Catholic basilicas, most notably Saint Joseph’s Oratory. The Oratory is the largest church in Canada and it has the largest dome of its kind in the world after that of Saint Peter’s in Rome.
If you are moving to Montreal or are relocating to Montreal, Quebec you will love the unbridled enchantment of this vibrant city.
