Montreal's economy is the second largest of all cities in Canada[1] and the first in Quebec.[2]Montreal is a centre of commerce, industry, technology, culture, finance, and world affairs. In 2022, Metropolitan Montreal was responsible for $233 Billion CDN of Quebec's $425 Billion CDN GDP,[3] with a population of 4.37 million people.[4] Montreal's economy, therefore, comprises approximately 54.8% of Quebec's overall GDP.
Montreal's unemployment rate increased to 6.3% in the fourth-quarter of 2023, compared to 5.7%, the three-month moving average in 2022.[5] In 2020, Montreal's per capita disposable income was $34,019 CDN,[6] marking an increase of 8.4% from 2019. This indicator measures the net income available for consumption of goods and services after current transfers and taxes have been subtracted. Per capita disposable income has increased throughout all of Quebec's administrative regions due to federal policy responses to the COVID-19 pandemic.[6]
History
North American Fur Trade
. Over the course of the 19th century Montreal grew to become the economic centre of Canada as well as its most populous city.
During the 1980s and early 1990s, Montreal experienced a slower rate of
ring road
around the island. The city also attracted several international organizations towards moving their secretariats into Montreal's Quartier International.
In the 21st century Montréal has adopted new strategies to develop its economy. The city invests largely in sustainable urban planning. In addition, Montréal plans on further integration with its surrounding municipalities. [8] The 2018-2022 strategy plans on particularly promoting the knowledge and culture industry as well as the digital and bio-technological sector. Montréal's universities are at the forefront of Canada's growing research and development sector.[9] .
Economic Challenges
The
region, the Québec government plans to increase tuition for out-of-province students. The obtained surplus is used to bolster francophone educational institutions. English speaking universities, primarily McGill and Concordia
, have asked to review the plans. As of November 2023 the Québec government does not plan on changing their plans.
Underground Economy
The black market, or underground economy, involves the illicit production and exchange and goods and services outside government-sanctioned channels.[12] In 2021, Quebec comprised $15.5 Billion CDN of Canada's $68.5 Billion CDN GDP[13] for underground economic activity. In the province of Quebec, particularly in Montreal, the primary black market is for dyed fuel and diesel oil.[12] Dyed fuel is prohibited for use in motor vehicles, and restricted for use exclusively by farmers and fisherman.[12] Other underground markets pervasive in Montreal are related to tobacco, gambling, and prostitution.[12] In Quebec, approximately 40% of cigarettes consumed are illegally sourced.[14] This is largely attributed to the high tobacco tax, which reached $37.80 CDN per cigarette carton as of February 2023.[15] Studies conducted in 2007[12] indicate a positive correlation between the tax burden imposed and the prevalence of the underground economy. Consequently, high tax rates create a risk premium that justifies engaging in illicit market activities, leading some dealers in Montreal to openly advertise their services.[12] Another example of an endemic underground market in Montreal is construction. Organized crime, notably associated with Nicolo Rizzuto, the founder of the Montreal-based Sicilian Mafia group known as the Rizzuto crime family, has reportedly infiltrated the Quebec Federation of Labor.[16] This has resulted in the Rizzuto family obtaining various public construction contracts in Montreal. Their construction company, Grand Royal Asphalt Paving, won four municipal park contracts from 1963 to 1966, worth a reported $350,000 CDN.[17]
History
Montreal Mafia Bonanno Decina
Montreal's organised crime dates back to the early 1920s, when Vincenzo Cotroni immigrated to Montreal, Quebec. The Cotroni family were the first established Italian crime family in Montreal, and forged a strong connection during the 1950s with the Bonanno crime family. The Bonanno and Cotroni families worked together to oversee all of Montreal's drug trade.[18] In 1973, an internal power struggle between the Sicilian and Calabrian factions of the family broke out and started the mafia war in Montreal. This war pitted the Rizzuto family against the Cotroni, and lasted for a decade. The war lasted for a decade, ending with the deaths of Paolo Violi and his brothers in the late 1970s. From the 1980s onwards, the Rizzuto family became the leading crime family of Montreal.
Much of the reason behind organised crime in Montreal stem from the city's large seaport. Montreal's port represents a place where crime and economic activity intertwine. Illegal economy is part of international economic exchanges, meaning that all international hubs are of interest for crime families.[19] Montreal's organised crime activity encompasses drug trafficking, illegal gambling, murder, loan sharking, extortion, racketeering and weapons trafficking.
A report by the Canadian anti-corruption squad also linked organise crime to Montreal's construction industry and political parties.[20] One of the UPAC showed that a "large number of Quebec construction businesses maintain links with criminal organisations", it additionally found that "it is impossible to evaluate the extent [...] we can suspect how much the mafia exerts a presence and its influence in the construction industry.".[20]
Rizzuto Crime Family
After overtaking the Cotroni family in the mid-1970s, the Rizutto family has become the main crime family in Montreal. They exert influence over Quebec territory, as well as the province of Ontario.
Nicolo Rizzuto immigrated to Montreal in 1954 from Sicily. He joined the Cotroni crime family, as the Sicilian faction of the organisation. Nicolo led the Sicilian faction during the 1970s mafia war and ousted the Cotroni family from power in 1980. However, in 1974 Nicolo had to flee to Venezuela after being asked to testify at CECO hearings. He appointed his son, Vito Rizzuto to take charge of the family's operations in Montreal. During the tensions between the two Montreal based families, Vito Rizzuto went to ask the approval of "The Commission" for the killing of Paolo Violi, a high-ranked member of the Cotroni crew.
After the killings of many Cotroni members, and the murder of Violi in 1978, the Rizzuto family claimed their place as the leading organise crime family in Montreal. They consolidated ties with other crime groups across Canadian territory. The family was dubbed the Sixth Family, acknowledging their dominance and influence in Canadian, as well as their affiliation with the Five Families of Cosa Nostra in New York. Nicolo Rizzuto continued his illegal activities in Venezuela[21] and expanded his family's allies internationally. He returned to Canada where he faced many charges and did time in prison, before being shot dead in 2010.[22] Since, the Rizzuto crime family remains active in Quebec and Ontario, led by Nicolo's descendants.
Growing alongside Montreal's AI industry is a cloud computing sector which takes advantage of the city's IT talent pool, lower electricity rates, and proximity to the US. Google opened a cloud data center in Montreal in 2017, its first in Canada, following the steps of Amazon, IBM, and Bell.[30] Locally headquartered, middle-market cloud computing businesses also flourish in Montreal—like Ormuco Inc., a former cloud managed service provider[31] which now also develops platforms for 5G mobile app development, reflecting a wider regional industry shift towards edge computing.[32]
The video game industry is also growing rapidly in Montreal since 1997, coinciding with the opening of
Artificial Mind and Movement, BioWare, and 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.[34] According to the economic development organization Montréal International, Montreal is now ranked 5th in the world for video games.[35]
Arts and Culture
Montreal is also a centre of film and television production. 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.[36][37][38] 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.[39]
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