Invest in Montréal

Montréal, a financial
center focused on
the future

Discover the best city
in North America
for a financial services
company

More and more international financial companies are choosing Montréal to
establish and grow their operations, service centers, centers
of excellence, innovation labs, and more.

When you choose
to do business in
Montréal, your financial
company will:

Statistiques sur le bassin de talents à Montréal

Enjoy privileged access to a large pool of experienced and qualified talent in specialized roles (including CFA, ESG, quantitative methods, risk, AI and IT).

Become part of North America’s most proactive ecosystem for ESG and sustainable finance, with numerous university programs producing the next generation in sustainable finance.

Leverage an extensive network of young university graduates with international backgrounds.

Benefit from strong geographical and cultural connections with New York, Boston, London, Paris and Toronto.

Thrive in a world-class technology ecosystem with capabilities in data/artificial intelligence, blockchain, fintech, cybersecurity and more.

Operate from a world-class destination that attracts Europeans, Americans, millennials and foreign skilled workers.

Last updated May 2023

Diverse and
abundant talent

"Our talent pool has a very
high concentration of CPAs, CFAs
and PRMIAs."

140,000

employed in the financial services industry
in Greater Montréal

170,000

IT-related workers

37,000

Professionals involved at all stages
of applied AI/data science projects

21,600

IT professionals currently working for
financial institutions

"When compared to New York or Chicago, Montréal has the highest concentration of new experts in AI, data and quantitative methods."

A magnet for attracting and retaining the best international talent

Montréal is known as the best student city in the Americas and Canada’s university capital with its 11 universities and institutions and 60 colleges with 320,000 post-secondary students, including more than 200,000 university students.

Bilingual population of 4.4 million that is growing steadily (6X the growth rate of NYC, >2X Paris, 2010‒2019).
(Statistics Canada & OECD Data 2019)
Over 40,000 immigrants per year in the Greater Montréal region. The province of Quebec had 346,000 non-permanent residents on January 1, 2023, nearly three times more than in 2017.
(Institut de la Statistique du Québec, 2023)
Most affordable major metro area in North America for students, young professionals and families.
79% of the foreign-born between the ages of 25 and 64 in Quebec have pursued higher education (42% in NY State).
(OECD Data 2019).
International graduate students can obtain a three-year open visa upon completion of their studies.
Several programs are available to facilitate and accelerate international mobility and the recruitment of specialized foreign workers.

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Lowest operating costs in
North America

Thanks to reasonable living costs, a favorable exchange rate and highly targeted and generous incentive programs, Montréal offers the lowest operating costs among the major cities in North America.

Annual back office operating costs in USD
in the financial services sector

Annual back office operating costs chart

Based on a model of a 150 FTE financial services back office in a 30,000 square feet Class- B office space U.S. dollars = 1.34 Canadian dollars, .,92 Eurozone euro, .81 British pound Source: The Boyd Company, Site Location Group, Princeton, NJ (2024)

A hotspot for innovation that’s home to Canada’s largest fintech hub

Quebec is 1st in Canada for its R&D investments as a percentage of GDP. It offers a well-developed ecosystem of agencies that facilitate business collaboration and research, including MITACS, FIN ML and CyberEco. It’s not surprising that numerous large international IT consulting and outsourcing firms have chosen to set up their companies in Quebec over the years.

A fast-growing fintech industry

Quebec is home to 257 fintech companies, among which 80% are headquartered in Montréal, solidifying the city as a fintech hub
In recent years, Quebec's fintech ecosystem has experienced healthy growth, with 21% of Quebec fintechs founded post 2020
These 257 fintechs in Quebec employ approximately 19,900 individuals in Canada, and a total of more than 86,000 employees worldwide (including Canada)
In the first half of 2024, six Quebec-headquartered fintechs secured a total of US$63.9 million in funding, and six acquisition deals involving Quebec-based FinTechs were announced
The AI & Data sector has become the second-largest fintech sector in Quebec in 2023, jumping from the eighth spot in 2022.

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A man and a woman sitting in chairs at a Finance Montréal event

A hub for ESG and sustainable finance in North America

The proportion of ESG assets under management in Quebec and Canada is exceptional, demonstrating the market's openness to this type of product.

Montréal has a large pool of existing and emerging ESG specialists who have graduated from university programs dedicated to ESG, RI and FSI.

ISSB has chosen Montréal as its Americas headquarters, making Montréal a center of expertise in ESG standards.

Strong ecosystem of research agencies, tech companies and fintechs with ESG modeling and data capabilities.

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Montréal, a location
facilitating global
operations

Same time zone as NYC, Boston and Toronto
Multiple daily direct flights to and from NYC, London, Paris, Miami, Chicago, etc.
A favorable regulatory environment for servicing the US market or the rest of the world out of Montréal (data protection, regulation harmonization, etc.)
A city embracing diversity, inclusion and sustainability