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:

50% cost savings compared to New York City and generous incentive programs.

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. »

120,000+

employed in the financial services industry
in Greater Montréal

164,500

IT-related workers

21,700

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 4.2 million that is growing steadily (3X the growth rate of NYC, >2X Paris, 2008‒2018).
(OECD Data 2019)
Over 45,000 immigrants per year in the Greater Montréal region. The province of Québec 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 Québec 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 (2023)

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

Québec 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 Québec over the years.

A fast-growing fintech industry

226 FinTech companies based in Québec
The annual growth of the number of fintech companies in Québec has been greater than 15% since 2015
Nearly 22,000 people in Canada, and more than 70,000 outside the country, employed by Québec’s fintech sector
A total of C$691 million raised by fintech startups based in Québec, in 38 funding rounds

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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 Québec 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