Montréal

The six series are comparable with each other because they come from one table with one definition and one price basis. The metropolitan totals sum, together with the areas outside metropolitan areas, to the provincial totals in the same table, which is why the provincial share above is exact for the reference year; the Statistics Canada footnote notes that there may be a lag between the metropolitan figures and the latest available provincial measures.

Evidence: Statistics Canada: Table 36-10-0468-01: Gross domestic product (GDP) at basic prices, by census metropolitan area (CMA)

CMHC's rental report says vacancy in Greater Montréal rose for the second year in a row, that the increase in completions resulting from record housing starts contributed to rental market easing, and that the slowdown in rental demand is mainly due to the decline in non-permanent residents, including temporary workers and international students; it adds that rent growth nevertheless accelerated in 2025 and that the Tribunal administratif du logement recommended a record-high annual rent increase of 5.9%, which was applied to renewed leases.

Evidence: Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation: Rental Market Report 2025: major centres (web edition)

The Tribunal's own rent-setting table, published in French, gives a base percentage of 4.5 per cent for leases starting between April 2025 and April 2026 and 3.1 per cent for leases starting between April 2026 and April 2027, and notes that the calculation method was revisited this year; the two figures differ and may measure different things, so they are not reconciled here.

Evidence: Gouvernement du Québec / Tribunal administratif du logement: Le calcul de l'ajustement des loyers en 2026 (communiqué)

Statistics Canada reports that Montréal's population growth slowed to 0.5 per cent in the year to July 2025 from 2.4 per cent a year earlier, mainly because of much lower increases in the number of non-permanent residents, and that the Montréal area also lost population in exchanges with other provinces and with the rest of Quebec. The components are in the population section: net non-permanent residents were 18 thousand in the latest demographic year against 99 thousand a year earlier.

Evidence: Statistics Canada: The Daily: Canada's population estimates: Subprovincial areas, 2025

The Government of Quebec's 2026-2029 immigration plan, published in French in November 2025 by the previous government, aims to admit about 45 000 permanent residents a year, sets maximum numbers of foreign-worker and foreign-student permit holders for 2029, and says the lower thresholds will reduce pressure on public services, housing, French and integration services; it also states a goal of reducing non-permanent residents in Quebec to 200 000.

Evidence: Gouvernement du Québec, ministère de l'Immigration, de la Francisation et de l'Intégration: Planification pluriannuelle et plan d'immigration 2026 - Québec baisse ses seuils d'immigration; Gouvernement du Québec, Cabinet du premier ministre: Le premier ministre du Québec dévoile son Conseil des ministres (21 octobre 2026)

CMHC's fall 2026 Housing Supply Report says Montréal's housing supply gap remains wide and has widened, that price growth has reduced affordability more than supply growth has improved it, that Montréal's cost-to-income ratio rose from 34% to 48% since 2019, its highest since the 1990s, that rental units accounted for a record 86% of starts in the first half of 2026, and that new condominium prices are as much as 40% above comparable resale units.

Evidence: Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation: Fall 2026 Housing Supply Report

Statistics Canada reports that the share of Quebec's new immigrants settling in the Montréal area fell from 83.1 per cent in 2019-20 to 65.3 per cent in 2024-25, while the Québec area more than doubled its share.

Evidence: Statistics Canada: The Daily: Canada's population estimates: Subprovincial areas, 2025

Statistics Canada's October 2026 Labour Force Survey reports that employment in Quebec held steady in October, after a cumulative decline of 68,000 in August and September, and was 106,000 lower than a year earlier; the September release had put the decline since January at 130,000. The provincial unemployment rate fell to 5.7% in October but was 0.4 percentage points higher than a year earlier.

Evidence: Statistics Canada: Labour Force Survey, October 2026 (The Daily); Statistics Canada: The Daily: Labour Force Survey, September 2026

The Institut de la statistique du Québec reports that Quebec's real GDP in the first seven months of 2026 was 0.3 per cent higher than a year earlier, with real estate, finance and insurance, and transportation contributing most to the increase and manufacturing and public administration contributing negatively, against growth of 1.1 per cent for Canada. Montréal's own unemployment rate is 6.9%, against 7.1% in Toronto.

Evidence: Institut de la statistique du Québec: PIB réel du Québec : baisse de 0,1 % en juillet 2026 (communiqué, 27 octobre 2026)

The City of Montréal's 2026 budget and capital plan, in French, put infrastructure investment for 2026-2035 at 25.9 billion dollars, mostly for environment and underground infrastructure and roads, and limit the rise in controllable property taxes to the observed metropolitan inflation rate.

Evidence: Ville de Montréal: Budget 2026 et PDI 2026-2035 de Montréal

The regional transit authority ARTM describes the Blue Line extension as a project adding five stations over almost six kilometres from Saint-Michel to Anjou and says it is in its implementation phase.

Evidence: Autorité régionale de transport métropolitain (ARTM): Prolongement de la ligne bleue du métro

The province's March 2026 budget, the previous government's, set its infrastructure plan at 167 billion dollars across the province.

Evidence: Gouvernement du Québec, ministère des Finances: Budget 2026-2027 - Press release no. 1 of 3 - A responsible budget with targeted measures for Quebecers

The March budget said a new context of rising economic protectionism and heightened geopolitical tensions was emerging.

Evidence: Gouvernement du Québec, ministère des Finances: Budget 2026-2027 - Press release no. 1 of 3 - A responsible budget with targeted measures for Quebecers

It set aside more than 365 million dollars to help the forestry sector, whose difficulty it said stems mainly from the intensification of the softwood lumber dispute with the United States.

Evidence: Gouvernement du Québec, ministère des Finances: Budget 2026-2027 - Press release no. 3 of 3 - More than $1.7 billion to accelerate Québec's economic transformation

The province's August 2026 pre-election report, in French, puts the 2026-27 accounting deficit at 5.2 billion dollars, below the March budget's 6.3 billion, and keeps the path to a balanced budget by 2029-2030. Both are the previous government's figures; a new government was sworn in on 21 October 2026.

Evidence: Gouvernement du Québec, ministère des Finances: Publication du rapport préélectoral sur l'état des finances publiques du Québec (communiqué, 2026-08-17); Gouvernement du Québec, ministère des Finances: Budget 2026-2027 - Press release no. 1 of 3 - A responsible budget with targeted measures for Quebecers; Gouvernement du Québec, Cabinet du premier ministre: Le premier ministre du Québec dévoile son Conseil des ministres (21 octobre 2026)

The March 2026 Quebec budget expected real GDP growth of 1.1 per cent in 2026 and 1.4 per cent in 2027; growth in the first seven months of 2026, above, was slower than that.

Evidence: Gouvernement du Québec, ministère des Finances: Budget 2026-2027 - Press release no. 1 of 3 - A responsible budget with targeted measures for Quebecers

CMHC's July 2026 outlook says Quebec housing starts will decline from recent peaks and that Central Canada is more affected by trade risks and is likely to lag. These are the publishers' forecasts, not Northline's. Statistics Canada's Labour Force Survey and population estimates, CMHC's starts and the autumn Rental Market Survey (release calendar) show how the year is unfolding.

Evidence: CMHC: Summer Update: 2026 Housing Market Outlook

The single-month estimate (Table 8) shows the unemployment rate falling from 7.4 per cent in September to 6.9 per cent in October, 1.1 percentage points higher than a year earlier, and employment 44.4 thousand (1.8 per cent) lower than a year earlier.

Evidence: Statistics Canada: Labour Force Survey, October 2026, Table 8: labour force characteristics by Montréal, Toronto and Vancouver census metropolitan areas, monthly, seasonally adjusted

Montréal International, the region's investment-attraction agency, counts more than 37,000 aerospace workers in its promotional profile of the region; the figure is undated and the agency's own compilation, so it is not treated as an official count.

Evidence: Montréal International: Why should you invest in Greater Montréal?

The Government of Quebec announced financing for Bombardier's manufacturing campus in Dorval in January 2026: a project estimated at more than $100 million, including a repayable government loan of $35 million, with the company planning to create more than 330 jobs in the Montréal region and committing to keep its plant in Quebec. The release also notes a federal defence contract of $753 million for six aircraft, some of whose assembly and finishing will take place in Montréal. The release is French; the amounts are the government's, and the jobs are plans, not outcomes.

Evidence: Gouvernement du Québec (Ministère de l’Économie, de l’Innovation et de l’Énergie): Accroître la capacité de production de l'industrie aérospatiale - Québec soutient la construction d'une nouvelle usine de Bombardier (15 janvier 2026)

Montréal International says Greater Montréal is among the top 10 life sciences and health technologies hubs in North America, that its private companies employ more than 55,000 people in Québec (the figure is for the province, not the region), and that 85 per cent of the ecosystem is based in Greater Montréal. The page does not say what the share measures, and the two figures use different geographies; both are promotional.

Evidence: Montréal International: Life sciences and health technologies sector page

Montréal International describes Greater Montréal as having long been recognized as one of the world's most dynamic AI hubs, offering cutting-edge research, highly skilled talent and a collaborative business environment; this is the agency's description, not a measurement.

Evidence: Montréal International: Artificial intelligence sector page

The City of Montréal's May 2026 announcement of new funding for Montréal International (in French) includes creating a cell to prospect for applied artificial intelligence projects and support for companies recruiting international talent to address labour-shortage issues.

Evidence: Ville de Montréal: Soutien financier de plus de 6 M$ à Montréal International (communiqué, 8 mai 2026)

The Government of Quebec's November 2025 immigration measures ended, as planned on January 1, 2026, three permanent-immigration pilot programs, one of which covered workers in the artificial intelligence, information technologies and visual effects sectors.

Evidence: Gouvernement du Québec (Immigration et Intégration): Tabling of orientations on immigration for 2026–2029 and of the Immigration Plan for 2026 and complementary measures

The province's March 2026 budget, the previous government's, included initiatives totalling more than $429 million over five years to address challenges in the audiovisual sector, and measures to encourage the adoption of artificial intelligence and quantum technologies. The budget release does not name video games, so no video-game-specific provincial figure is given here.

Evidence: Gouvernement du Québec, ministère des Finances: Budget 2026-2027 - Press release no. 3 of 3 - More than $1.7 billion to accelerate Québec's economic transformation

The Institut de la statistique du Québec lists finance and insurance among the industries that contributed positively to Quebec's real GDP in the first seven months of 2026, even as manufacturing and public administration pulled it down; this describes the province.

Evidence: Institut de la statistique du Québec: PIB réel du Québec : baisse de 0,1 % en juillet 2026 (communiqué, 27 octobre 2026)

La Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, which lists Montréal first among its offices, reports net assets of $552 billion at June 30, 2026. That is a fund-size figure; it says nothing about local employment, and no Montréal finance-sector employment or wage series is held.

Evidence: Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec: Snapshot of La Caisse

The City of Montréal said in August 2025 (in French) that the metropolitan region represents more than 50 per cent of Quebec's GDP, jobs and exports, and that 75 per cent of its exports go to the United States, which it called a particularly vulnerable position; it committed $1.35 million to seven projects to help firms become more resilient. The City's own definition of "metropolitan region" is not stated on the page.

Evidence: Ville de Montréal: Contexte de crise tarifaire: Montréal déploie une stratégie d’autonomie économique pour ses entreprises (communiqué, 7 août 2025)

For the province, the Institut reports that manufacturing, down 1.9 per cent, was one of the two sectors that held back real GDP in the first seven months of 2026, when it was 0.3 per cent higher than a year earlier. Montréal's metropolitan manufacturing shipments, a Statistics Canada series, were C$9.8 billion in August 2026, 16.1% on a year earlier.

Evidence: Institut de la statistique du Québec: PIB réel du Québec : baisse de 0,1 % en juillet 2026 (communiqué, 27 octobre 2026)

The Bank of Canada's third-quarter 2026 Business Outlook Survey, a national survey of about 100 firms, says some firms are reducing investment in Canada or shifting it abroad to limit exposure to tariffs, especially in the steel and auto sectors, that some steel firms are expanding domestically with federal procurement and defence spending, and that many businesses characterized the adjustments as temporary because they expect tariffs to eventually be removed or amended. It does not report Quebec or Montréal separately.

Evidence: Bank of Canada: Business Outlook Survey - Third Quarter of 2026

The federal Major Projects Office describes the Port of Montreal as the largest container port in Central and Eastern Canada. Its page on the Contrecoeur terminal says the project would expand the port's container capacity by approximately 60 per cent, support up to 8,000 direct and indirect jobs during construction and provide about $140 million a year in economic spin-offs once operational; these are the government's estimates.

Evidence: Major Projects Office (Government of Canada): Contrecoeur Container Terminal Project

The same page says the Port Authority announced the start of in-water construction on August 14, 2026, that financing details were finalized with the Canada Infrastructure Bank in April 2026, and that dredging activities are expected to begin in 2027. The page does not give an opening date.

Evidence: Major Projects Office (Government of Canada): Contrecoeur Container Terminal Project

Montréal International's profile calls the port the second largest in Canada, with a cargo figure for 2022 that is now dated. No 2025 port volumes are held.

Evidence: Montréal International: Why should you invest in Greater Montréal?

Aéroports de Montréal reports in its 2025 results release that 22.4 million passengers passed through Montréal-Trudeau airport in 2025, slightly fewer than in 2024, with the transborder (US) sector down 9.5 per cent, and that capital investments were $696.5 million. The figures are from the release as republished by Skies Magazine.

Evidence: Aéroports de Montréal (press release republished by Skies Magazine): ADM announces its financial results for 2025

The Réseau express métropolitain's developer, CDPQ Infra, calls it the largest public transit project undertaken in Québec in the last 50 years, with a total construction cost of $8.34 billion, 89 per cent of construction expenses incurred in Québec, and a last commissioning in 2027 that will extend the network to the airport; the full network would be 67 kilometres.

Evidence: CDPQ Infra: REM - Fact sheet

The REM's own site lists 23 stations in service today, fewer than the full network's total in the developer's fact sheet, so the system is part-built.

Evidence: Réseau express métropolitain (REM): REM home page

The regional transit authority describes the Blue Line extension as five stations over almost six kilometres in the implementation phase, with a maximum budget of 7.6 billion dollars in the provincial infrastructure plan (French). The City's 2026 budget and capital plan put its own 2026-2035 infrastructure investments at 25.9 billion dollars.

Evidence: Autorité régionale de transport métropolitain (ARTM): Prolongement de la ligne bleue du métro

The City's Plan économique 2030 (a French communiqué of June 2025) sets a budget of 255 million dollars over five years, subject to council adoption, and names artificial intelligence, creativity, sustainable finance, life sciences, aerospace and the social and circular economy as the metropolis's established strengths.

Evidence: Ville de Montréal: Montréal se dote du Plan économique 2030 (communiqué, 23 juin 2025)

The City says the tariff-resilience projects were carried out under the Joint Economic Planning arrangement between the Government of Quebec and the City.

Evidence: Ville de Montréal: Contexte de crise tarifaire: Montréal déploie une stratégie d’autonomie économique pour ses entreprises (communiqué, 7 août 2025)

In May 2026 the City announced new support of more than $6 million to Montréal International, to attract foreign direct investment, together with a recurring $515 000 for attracting international organizations in 2026.

Evidence: Ville de Montréal: Soutien financier de plus de 6 M$ à Montréal International (communiqué, 8 mai 2026)

The March budget set aside $693 million to help businesses adapt, including $410 million to promote investment projects in promising sectors, and said a bill would give major projects a simpler and more predictable approval process.

Evidence: Gouvernement du Québec, ministère des Finances: Budget 2026-2027 - Press release no. 3 of 3 - More than $1.7 billion to accelerate Québec's economic transformation

Statistics Canada reports that the Montréal CMA's population growth slowed to 0.5 per cent in the year to July 2025, from 2.4 per cent a year earlier, mainly because of much lower increases in the number of non-permanent residents.

Evidence: Statistics Canada: The Daily: Canada's population estimates: Subprovincial areas, 2025

The Quebec budget says the province's real GDP per capita gap with Ontario fell from 15.9 per cent in 2018 to 10.2 per cent in 2024; this is a provincial productivity measure, not a Montréal one.

Evidence: Gouvernement du Québec, ministère des Finances: Budget 2026-2027 - Press release no. 1 of 3 - A responsible budget with targeted measures for Quebecers

Montréal International says its region is home to 15 university institutions and over 90 colleges, and that Montréal holds the top spot in Canada for university research funding, securing $1.6 billion annually; the figure is promotional and undated.

Evidence: Montréal International: Why should you invest in Greater Montréal?

CMHC's rental report says that while the total number of students at Quebec universities increased, international student enrolment fell in 2025.

Evidence: Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation: Rental Market Report 2025: major centres (web edition)

The previous government's 2026-2029 immigration plan, in French, sets a maximum of 110 000 study-permit holders and 65 000 temporary-foreign-worker permit holders. The current number of holders is not given here, so neither is the distance to those maximums.

Evidence: Gouvernement du Québec, ministère de l'Immigration, de la Francisation et de l'Intégration: Planification pluriannuelle et plan d'immigration 2026 - Québec baisse ses seuils d'immigration

The previous Government of Quebec said in November 2025, before the new government was sworn in on 21 October 2026, that its 2026-2029 planning seeks to limit the overall volume of temporary and permanent immigration to reduce the pressure on its capacity to receive and integrate immigrants, with a goal of permanently admitting 45,000 immigrants and temporary admissions of 84,900 to 124,200 people in 2026 under the two programs where its consent is required.

Evidence: Gouvernement du Québec (Immigration et Intégration): Tabling of orientations on immigration for 2026–2029 and of the Immigration Plan for 2026 and complementary measures; Gouvernement du Québec, Cabinet du premier ministre: Le premier ministre du Québec dévoile son Conseil des ministres (21 octobre 2026)

It extended to December 31, 2026 the suspension of some low-wage LMIA applications for jobs in the Montréal and Laval regions, which it says responds to the orientation to reduce non-permanent residents in the context of an economic slowdown and to promote the recruitment of workers already in Québec.

Evidence: Gouvernement du Québec (Immigration et Intégration): Tabling of orientations on immigration for 2026–2029 and of the Immigration Plan for 2026 and complementary measures

The federal employment department confirms the refusal to process applies until December 31, 2026 to low-wage positions in the economic regions of Montréal and Laval, and says that if the unemployment rate in the Montréal CMA is 6 per cent or higher, the separate federal rule for such areas determines whether applications are processed.

Evidence: Employment and Social Development Canada: Hiring temporary foreign workers in the province of Quebec

The measures also add a spoken-French requirement for temporary foreign workers seeking a further acceptance certificate after three years in Québec. This is an immigration regulation; no source cited here states what Bill 96 has done to Montréal's economy, so none is claimed.

Evidence: Gouvernement du Québec (Immigration et Intégration): Tabling of orientations on immigration for 2026–2029 and of the Immigration Plan for 2026 and complementary measures

CMHC's rental report says the vacancy rate in Greater Montréal rose for the second year in a row, that the slowdown is mainly due to fewer non-permanent residents, and that higher provincial rent guidelines helped drive rent growth in 2025, when the Tribunal administratif du logement recommended a record increase of 5.9%. The 2026 guideline is in the Montréal story section and is not repeated here.

Evidence: Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation: Rental Market Report 2025: major centres (web edition)

CMHC's fall 2026 supply report says Montréal's cost-to-income ratio rose from 34 per cent to 48 per cent and that its housing supply gap remains wide.

Evidence: Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation: Fall 2026 Housing Supply Report

Statistics Canada reports that employment in Quebec held steady in October 2026, after a cumulative decline of 68,000 in August and September, and was 106,000 lower than a year earlier. Montréal's employment, in the metropolitan readings above, was also lower than a year earlier.

Evidence: Statistics Canada: Labour Force Survey, October 2026 (The Daily)

The March budget said a new context of rising economic protectionism and heightened geopolitical tensions was emerging.

Evidence: Gouvernement du Québec, ministère des Finances: Budget 2026-2027 - Press release no. 1 of 3 - A responsible budget with targeted measures for Quebecers

The province's pre-election report of August 2026 (in French) keeps the path to a balanced budget by 2029-2030; it is the previous government's, and a new government was sworn in on 21 October 2026.

Evidence: Gouvernement du Québec, ministère des Finances: Publication du rapport préélectoral sur l'état des finances publiques du Québec (communiqué, 2026-08-17); Gouvernement du Québec, Cabinet du premier ministre: Le premier ministre du Québec dévoile son Conseil des ministres (21 octobre 2026)

The March 2026 budget expected real GDP growth of 1.1 per cent in 2026 and 1.4 per cent in 2027, against the Institut's finding of growth of 0.3 per cent in the first seven months of 2026 on a year earlier.

Evidence: Gouvernement du Québec, ministère des Finances: Budget 2026-2027 - Press release no. 1 of 3 - A responsible budget with targeted measures for Quebecers

CMHC's July 2026 outlook says Central Canada is more affected by trade risks and is likely to lag and that Quebec housing starts will decline from recent peaks; these are the publisher's forecasts.

Evidence: CMHC: Summer Update: 2026 Housing Market Outlook

Statistics Canada reports that in October employment fell in Alberta and Prince Edward Island, rose in British Columbia and Newfoundland and Labrador, and held steady in Quebec. That is the provincial picture and not a statement about Montréal.

Evidence: Statistics Canada: Labour Force Survey, October 2026 (The Daily)

Statistics Canada reports that national headline inflation accelerated in September, led by gasoline, and that excluding gasoline the CPI rose less. The city index is held here for all items only, so this report cannot say what lies behind Montréal's rate. Statistics Canada does note that shelter inflation was held down by falling mortgage interest cost and homeowners' replacement cost nationally, which is a national statement.

Evidence: Statistics Canada: The Daily: Consumer Price Index, September 2026

Statistics Canada reports that from July 1, 2025, to July 1, 2026, national population growth continued to slow to its lowest since 1944/1945, that the number of non-permanent residents fell by the largest annual amount on record with study-permit holders accounting for most of the decline, and that Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia, which receive the largest shares of international migrants, grew slowest among the provinces.

Evidence: Statistics Canada: The Daily: Canada's population estimates, second quarter 2026

Statistics Canada's January 2026 release on subprovincial estimates reports that the population growth rate from July 2024 to July 2025 was lower for all 41 census metropolitan areas than in the previous year. It reports that the Montréal and Vancouver areas saw significantly slower growth, mainly because of much lower increases in the number of non-permanent residents.

Evidence: Statistics Canada: The Daily: Canada's population estimates: Subprovincial areas, 2025

CMHC's Fall 2026 Housing Supply Report puts the additional housing starts needed in Montréal at 42,000 to 56,000 a year over the next decade, and reports that Montréal's cost-to-income ratio has moved from 34% to 48%.

Evidence: Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation: Fall 2026 Housing Supply Report

CMHC's 2025 Rental Market Report says that in Montréal there was strong growth in supply combined with slower demand, and that higher provincial rent guidelines helped drive rent growth in Montréal and Halifax. These are CMHC's stated reasons; the data held here do not test them.

Evidence: Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation: Rental Market Report 2025: major centres (web edition)

CMHC's deputy chief economist said a key risk for Canada is not building enough during this period of softening housing markets, and that affordability gains since 2023 will be difficult to sustain unless construction rises.

Evidence: Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation: Housing starts and construction data, September 2026

Statistics Canada reported that national exports rose in the second quarter, mainly passenger cars and light trucks as auto production rebounded.

Evidence: Statistics Canada: The Daily: Gross domestic product, income and expenditure, second quarter 2026

Its GDP-by-industry release for August, the month of the shipments above, says national manufacturing output rose, for the fifth time in seven months. These are national statements; the metropolitan series here are not broken down by industry, so this report cannot say how much of the change in Montréal's shipments is volume, price or a particular industry.

Evidence: Statistics Canada: The Daily: Gross domestic product by industry, August 2026

Statistics Canada notes that new US tariffs on a range of Canadian products took effect at the end of August and that imports of motor vehicles and parts fell. The exposure of Montréal's manufacturers to those tariffs is not measured here.

Evidence: Statistics Canada: The Daily: Canadian international merchandise trade, August 2026

The reference week was in May 2021, during public-health restrictions: Statistics Canada named retail trade, accommodation and food services, and information, culture and recreation among the industries most affected, and said working from home remained an important adaptation. The data are more than five years old and cannot show what has changed since.

Evidence: Statistics Canada: The Daily: Labour Force Survey, May 2021