Greater Montreal (french: Grand Montréal) is the most populous

metropolitan area A metropolitan area or metro is a region that consists of a densely populated urban agglomeration and its surrounding territories sharing industries, commercial areas, transport network, infrastructures and housing. A metro area usually ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirte ...

and the second most populous in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

after Greater Toronto. In 2015,

Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; french: Statistique Canada), formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and cultu ...

identified

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple- ...

Census Metropolitan Area The census geographic units of Canada are the census subdivisions defined and used by Canada's federal government statistics bureau Statistics Canada to conduct the country's quinquennial census. These areas exist solely for the purposes of stat ...

(CMA) as with a population of 4,027,100, almost half that of the province. A smaller area of is governed by the Montreal Metropolitan Community (MMC) (french: Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal, CMM). This level of government is headed by a president (currently Montreal mayor Valérie Plante). The inner ring is composed of densely populated municipalities located in close proximity to

Downtown Montreal Downtown Montreal (French: ''Centre-Ville de Montréal'') is the central business district of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The district is situated on the southernmost slope of Mount Royal, and occupies the western portion of the borough of Ville ...

. It includes the entire

Island of Montreal The Island of Montreal (french: Île de Montréal) is a large island in southwestern Quebec, Canada, that is the site of a number of municipalities including most of the city of Montreal and is the most populous island in Canada. It is the main ...

, Laval, and the Urban Agglomeration of

Longueuil Longueuil () is a city in the province of Quebec, Canada. It is the seat of the Montérégie administrative region and the central city of the urban agglomeration of Longueuil. It sits on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River directly ac ...

. Due to their proximity to Montreal's downtown core, some additional suburbs on the South Shore (

Brossard Brossard (, , ) is a municipality in the Montérégie region of Quebec, Canada and is part of the Greater Montreal area. According to the 2021 census, Brossard's population was 91,525. It shares powers with the urban agglomeration of Longueuil ...

, Saint-Lambert, and

Boucherville Boucherville is a city in the Montérégie region in Quebec, Canada. It is a suburb of Montreal on the South shore of the Saint Lawrence River. Boucherville is part of both the urban agglomeration of Longueuil and Montreal Metropolitan Commu ...

) are usually included in the inner ring, despite their location on the mainland. The outer ring is composed of low-density municipalities located on the fringe of Metropolitan Montreal. Most of these cities and towns are semi-rural. Specifically, the term ''off-island suburbs'' refers to those suburbs that are located on the North Shore of the Mille-Îles River, those on the South Shore that were never included in the megacity of

, and those on the Vaudreuil-Soulanges Peninsula. Montreal Greater Evolution

Largest cities

Cities and towns

File:Montreal-canada-parc-urban.jpg, Montreal File:Tour Triomphe II, Laval, Québec.jpg, Laval File:Longueuil centre-ville - 010.jpg, Longueuil Only a portion of the municipalities and MRC's located in geographical entities highlighted in light gray are part of the CMM/CMA.
There are 82 municipalities that are part of the MMC and 91 municipalities that are part of the CMA.
There are 79 municipalities that overlap between the two, with 3 municipalities being part of the MMC but not the CMA, and 12 municipalities being part of the CMA but not the MMC.
Kanesatake and

Kahnawake The Kahnawake Mohawk Territory (french: Territoire Mohawk de Kahnawake, in the Mohawk language, ''Kahnawáˀkye'' in Tuscarora) is a First Nations reserve of the Mohawks of Kahnawá:ke on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River in Queb ...

are not included in the previous counts.

Demographics

Transportation

Exo operates the region's commuter rail and metropolitan bus services, and is the second busiest such system in Canada after Toronto's GO Transit. Established in June 2007, Exo's

commuter rail Commuter rail, or suburban rail, is a passenger rail transport service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting commuters to a central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter towns. Generally commuter rail systems are con ...

system has six lines linking the downtown core with communities as far west as Hudson, as Far south as Mont-Saint-Hilaire, as far east as

Mascouche Mascouche () is an off-island suburb of Montreal, in southern Quebec, Canada. The city is located on the Mascouche River within the Les Moulins Regional County Municipality and has a population of 51,183, ranking 20th among Quebec municipaliti ...

, and as far north as

Saint-Jérôme Saint-Jérôme () ( 2021 population 80,213) is a suburban city located about northwest of Montreal on the Rivière du Nord. It is part of the Montreal of Greater Montreal. It is a gateway to the Laurentian Mountains and its resorts via the ...

. Along with Exo, a sister agency, the

Autorité régionale de transport métropolitain The Autorité régionale de transport métropolitain (ARTM; en, Metropolitan Regional Transportation Authority) is an umbrella organization that manages and integrates road transport and public transport in Greater Montreal in Quebec, Canada. ...

(ARTM) plans, integrates, and coordinates

public transport Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typi ...

across Greater Montreal, including the

, Laval ( Île Jésus), and communities along both the north shore of the

Rivière des Mille-Îles Rivière, La Rivière, or Les Rivières (French for "river") may refer to: Places Belgium * Rivière, Profondeville, a village Canada * La Rivière, Manitoba, a community * Les Rivières (Quebec City), a borough France * La Rivière, Gironde ...

and the south shore of the

Saint Lawrence River The St. Lawrence River (french: Fleuve Saint-Laurent, ) is a large river in the middle latitudes of North America. Its headwaters begin flowing from Lake Ontario in a (roughly) northeasterly direction, into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, connecting ...

. The ARTM's mandate also includes the management of reserved

High-occupancy vehicle lane A high-occupancy vehicle lane (also known as an HOV lane, carpool lane, diamond lane, 2+ lane, and transit lane or T2 or T3 lanes) is a restricted traffic lane reserved for the exclusive use of vehicles with a driver and one or more passengers, i ...

s, metropolitan bus terminuses, park-and-ride lots, and a budget of $163 million, which is shared amongst the transit corporations and inter-municipal public transit organizations. The Exo/ARTM's territory spans 63 municipalities and one native reserve, 13 regional county municipalities, and 21 transit authorities. It serves a population of approximately 3.7 million people who make more than 750,000 trips daily. The major transit commissions under the ARTM are: *

Société de transport de Montréal The Société de transport de Montréal (STM; en, Montreal Transit Corporation) is a public transport agency that operates transit bus and rapid transit services in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Established in 1861 as the "Montreal City Passenge ...

( en, Montreal Transit Corporation), serving the Island of Montreal *

Société de transport de Laval Société de transport de Laval (STL) is the public transit system in the city of Laval, Quebec, Canada. It was founded in June 1971 as the ''Commission de transport de la Ville de Laval (CTL)''. STL came about in 1984. It serves the growing sub ...

( en, Laval Transit Corporation), serving the city of Laval *

Réseau de transport de Longueuil Réseau de transport de Longueuil (RTL) ( en, Longueuil Transit Network) is a public transit system in the city of Longueuil, Quebec, Canada, and nearby communities on the South Shore of Montreal. The RTL had an annual ridership of 34,447,686 in ...

( en, Longueuil Transit Network), serving the Urban agglomeration of Longueuil

Education

(In Montreal, except where otherwise noted.)

Notes

;Group 1 ;Group 2 ;Group 3

References

External links

*
Metropolitan Community of Montreal website

Act respecting the Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal
(provincial statute)
Greater Montreal Area Restaurants
*
Greater Montreal Area map
in .pdf {{coord, 45.56, N, 73.66, W, display=title Municipal government of Montreal Metropolitan areas of Quebec