Montreal

Montreal, city, Quebec province, southeastern Canada. Montreal is the second most-populous city in Canada and the principal metropolis of the province of Quebec. The city of Montreal occupies about three-fourths of Montreal Island (Île de Montréal), the largest of the 234 islands of the Hochelaga Archipelago, one of three archipelagoes near the confluence of the Ottawa and St. Lawrence rivers. Area 141 square miles (365 square km); metro. area, 1,644 square miles (4,259 square km). Pop. (2011) 1,649,519; metro. area, 3,934,078; (2021) 1,762,949; metro. area, 4,342,213.

Character of the city

Montreal is a city with considerable French colonial history dating back to the 16th century. It began as a missionary settlement but soon became a fur-trading centre, a role that was enhanced after the conquest of New France by the British in 1763. Montreal’s location on the St. Lawrence proved to be a major advantage in its development as a transportation, manufacturing, and financial centre. From the time of the confederation of Canada (1867), Montreal was the largest metropolitan centre in the country until it was overtaken by Toronto in the 1970s. French Canadians are the majority population in Montreal, which is often said to be the second largest French-speaking city in the world (after Paris), though the accuracy of that statement is sometimes questioned (principally by those who make the same claim for Kinshasa and Algiers). Montreal’s economy, however, was long dominated by an Anglophone minority. The city has been a destination for many immigrants and is widely considered to be one of North America’s most cosmopolitan cities. Montreal remains a city of great charm, vivacity, and gaiety, as well as one of unquestioned modernity.

Just walking the streets of Montreal is an experience, especially the historic centre known as Old Montreal (Vieux-Montréal), which provides a window into the city’s rich history with its cobblestone streets and architectural styles ranging from the 16th century to the present.

Discover the fascinating events that shaped the world, straight from our editors.

SIGN UP

By clicking “Sign Up”, you consent to the Britannica Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

City site

At the end of the last ice age, some 11,700 years ago, the lower St. Lawrence was a large sea (Champlain Sea) that eventually drained, leaving the fertile sedimentary St. Lawrence River valley, which is shaped like a funnel—narrow at the Quebec city end and considerably wider upriver at Montreal. Those physical conditions eventually translated into a settlement pattern with more farms and people in and around Montreal than around Quebec city. Moreover, Montreal’s location farther south and in closer proximity to the modifying effects of the Great Lakes than Quebec city gave the region’s farmers a distinct advantage in increased frost-free days over those who lived downriver.

The St. Lawrence River, draining the Great Lakes, provided a natural waterway and transportation corridor to the heart of the North American continent. From the 1600s to the early 1800s, rivers and lakes acted as highways for the lucrative fur trade, and Montreal became an ideal entrepôt site to facilitate that trade. Its location at the confluence of the St. Lawrence and Ottawa rivers made it an important staging centre for a fur trade to the west and north as far as the Hudson Bay. While the Lachine Rapids on the St. Lawrence (just west of the city) prohibited some larger vessels from continuing upriver, fur traders were nevertheless able to follow the river to the Great Lakes and, via Lake Michigan, on to the largest river system in North America—the Mississippi-Missouri rivers. Long after the fur trade had ended, technologies that improved water-based travel, such as dredging and canals, only enhanced Montreal’s status as a transportation centre. (The Lachine Canal National Historic Site preserves the path of the ship canal at the southern end of Montreal Island that was used to bypass the rapids until the seaway was constructed.)

Britannica Quiz

Guess the City by Its River Quiz

The need for defense was a major influence in siting Montreal (Ville-Marie) on Montreal Island, near the confluence of the Ottawa and St. Lawrence rivers. The city is built around and up Mont Royal (Mount Royal), which rises to 763 feet (233 metres).

Climate

Montreal has a continental climate, but its proximity to the Great Lakes, in combination with prevailing westerly winds, modifies temperatures for both winter and summer. The average temperature for January is in the mid-teens F (about –9 °C), but the windchill factor can decrease that temperature considerably. The average July temperature is in the low 70s F (about 22 °C); however, it is not unusual to have summer days in which the temperature exceeds the mid-80s F (about 30 °C) and humidity is 100 percent. The prevailing winds and Great Lakes also influence precipitation, which is relatively even year-round amounting to approximately 41 inches (1,050 mm) annually. In winter, though, that precipitation is mainly in the form of snow, and totals often exceed 7 feet (about 2.2 metres); a major hazard for the region is freezing rain in the winter. A memorable ice storm in 1998 took a number of lives, made travel on roads impossible, and caused major damage to hydroelectric transmission lines and trees.

Explore Britannica Premium!

The trusted destination for professionals, college students, and lifelong learners.

SUBSCRIBE

City layout

The rapid economic growth of Montreal following World War II was accompanied by administrators intent upon grand designs. One component of the grand design was a successful bid to host the 1967 World’s Fair in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of Canadian Confederation. Expo 67 (Man and His World) involved massive construction and was located on two islands in the St. Lawrence—the existing Île Sainte-Hélène and the nearby, entirely man-made Île Notre-Dame.

Another significant change to the cityscape was Place Ville-Marie (1962), which comprises a cruciform building more than 40 stories tall and many underground shops, restaurants, and theatres, linked to which are nearby skyscrapers with similar underground complexes. Together they form a downtown area that provides the metropolis with an underground commercial, culinary, and artistic answer to New York City’s Rockefeller Center. While the Place Ville-Marie remained an important landmark, taller buildings were constructed at the end of the 1990s. In 1992 the skyscraper commonly referred to by its address, the 1000 de la Gauchetière, became the tallest building in the city (without antenna) at 617 feet (188 metres). The 1250 René-Levesque Ouest (originally named the IBM-Marathon building) was also completed in 1992 and ranks second in terms of rooftop height, but its antenna reaches to 756 feet (230 metres).

While visitors often note the European flavour of Montreal, downtown Montreal is definitely North American in style. In the summer months the area called the Quartiers des Spectacles hosts several of Montreal’s best-known festivals, including the Just for Laughs Festival, the International Jazz Festival, and the Francofolies (dedicated to Francophone music).

Montreal’s neighbourhoods have a distinct character and appeal. Since the 1980s formerly working-class neighbourhoods such as the Plateau Mont-Royal—which is east of Mont Royal and north of the city’s central core—have developed into trendy areas. At the center of “the Plateau,” the 400,000-square-metre (40-hectare) Lafontaine Park offers a bucolic setting with large trees, two ponds, an open-air theatre, and bike paths. Southeast of the Plateau is another of Montreal’s distinctive neighbourhoods, the Latin Quarter, where students have congregated since the 18th century. Adjacent to the Latin Quarter is the Village, or Gay Village, the focus of Montreal’s gay community.

Characteristic of the architecture of many of Montreal’s residential neighbourhoods is the prevalence of three-story town houses, which are typically divided into three or five apartments accessed by distinctive curving or spiral exterior staircases. Montreal’s residents benefit from four large farmers’ markets. Particularly popular is the Jean-Talon market, which hosts hundreds of vendors in summer months. Offering an abundance of haute-cuisine restaurants and art galleries, Old Montreal is popular with tourists and locals alike.

Some of the city’s most-affluent areas are located near Mont Royal. On its flank are found many of the largest mansions of the administratively separate community of Westmont, which consistently ranks among Canada’s wealthiest towns. Northwest of Mont Royal is Outremont, which merged with Montreal City in 2001 and has long been home to the Francophone elite. At the beginning of the 21st century, Outremont was also home to the second largest Hasidic Jewish community in North America (after the one in New York City).

Mark Twain once described Montreal as “a city where you couldn’t throw a brick without breaking a church window.” Indeed, Quebec’s Roman Catholic heritage is reflected in the city’s countless churches. In what was once Montreal’s commercial centre, the Place d’Armes, stands the magnificent Neo-Gothic Notre-Dame Basilica (founded in 1683 and rebuilt in 1829). Also noteworthy is the monumental St. Joseph’s Oratory, situated on Mont Royal, near the University of Montreal. The renaissance-style oratory is easily recognizable with its large white dome surmounted by a cross that marks the highest point in Montreal (856 feet [260 metres] above sea level). It is a common ritual for pious pilgrims to climb its 99 front stairs on their knees.