LEADER OF FRENCH-SPEAKING COUNTRIES

As the only province in Canada whose population is mainly French-speaking, Quebec stands out in North America for its unique culture. Seen as a preferred, warm place, Quebec is located at the crossroads of European and North-American cultures and stands out for its exceptional quality of life. It has the second largest population in Canada, i.e., 7,7 million inhabitants.

In the region of the City of Montreal, there are 1,574,000 people whose mother tongue is French, 17% with English as a mother tongue, and 29% with another language. Some 57% of Montrealers speak both French and English, which makes Montreal the largest bilingual area in Canada. Slightly over one Montrealer in four is an immigrant. The largest cultural communities, in order of size, are Italian, Irish, English, Scottish, Haitian, Chinese and Greek.

As the second largest French city in the world and a city of knowledge, Montreal is home to the first Regional Centre for Expertise on education for sustainable development in the world, which offers services and activities in both French and English. With the diversity of the Montreal community and unique character of its population, the Montreal RCE will undeniably play a leadership role among French-speaking countries. With its budding French network, the Montreal RCE will also become a showcase for studies, research and other reference documents to share with partners and other French speakers.


Montreal on the international scene

Montreal has a unique international character. It brings together nearly 60 international organizations, 17,000 foreign students, 85 consulates, over 70 ethnocultural communities, 14 foreign bank headquarters and 70 international organization headquarters, more than all the other Canadian provinces combined. In the area of the environment and sustainable development, several international bodies have their headquarters in Montreal, the best-known being the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Secretariat of the Multilateral Fund for the Implementation of the Montreal Protocol, the Commission for Environmental Cooperation and Planet'ERE.

Also active internationally, Montreal is a member of the Mayors for Peace and the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI), and serves as vice-president for the United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG), the Association internationale des maires francophones (AIMF) and the World Mayors Council on Climate Change (WMCCC).