According to Statistics Canada, at the 2006 Canadian census the city of Montreal proper had 1,620,693 inhabitants. However, 3,635,571 lived in the Montreal Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) at the same 2006 census, up from 3,451,027 at the 2001 census (within 2006 CMA boundaries), which means a population growth of +1.05% per year between 2001 and 2006. In the 2001 census, children under 14 years of age (618,855) constituted 18.0 percent, while inhabitants over 65 years of age (442,720) numbered 12.9 percent of the total population. Some 13.6 percent of the population are member of a visible minority (non-white) group. Canadians of African descent contribute to the largest visible minority group in greater Montreal, numbering some 160,000 (4.5% of Montreal inhabitants), which is the second-largest community of African-origin people in Canada, after Toronto. Other groups, such as Arabs, Latin American, South Asian, and Chinese are also large in number.

In terms of first language learned (in infancy), the 2001 census reported that on the island of Montreal itself, 53% spoke French as a first language, followed by English at 18%. The remaining 29% percentage is made up of many languages including Italian (3.6%), Arabic (2.1%), Spanish (1.9%), Chinese (1.2%), Greek (1.21%), Creole (predominantly of Haitian origin) (1.0%), Portuguese (0.9%), Romanian (0.7%), Vietnamese (0.6%), and Polish (0.4%). In terms of additional languages spoken, a unique feature of Montreal throughout Canada, noted by Statistics Canada, is the working knowledge of both French and English by most of its residents. For this reason, it is sometimes considered a bilingual city rather than a French speaking city.

The city of Montreal is overwhelmingly Roman Catholic, however, church attendance in Quebec is among the lowest in Canada. Historically Montreal has been a centre of Catholicism in North America with its numerous seminaries and churches, including the Notre-Dame Basilica, the Cathedrale Marie-Reine-du-Monde, and Saint Joseph's Oratory. Some 84.6 percent of the total population is Christian, largely Roman Catholic (74.5%), which is largely due to French, Irish, and Italian origins. Protestants which include Anglican, United Church, Lutheran and other denominations number 7.0%, with a further 3.0% consisting mostly of Orthodox Christians, fuelled by a large Greek population. Due to the large number of non-European cultures, there is a diversity of non-Christian religions. Islam is the largest non-Christian group, with some 100,000 members, the second-largest concentration of Muslims in Canada, constituting 3.0%. The Jewish community in Montreal has a population of 93,000. In cities such as Cote St. Luc and Hampstead, Jewish people constitute the majority, or a substantial part of the population. As recently as the 1960s the Jewish community was as high as 130,000. Political and economic uncertainties led many to leave Montreal and the province of Quebec.

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02/14/08 by visitEarth
Tags: Montreal, demographics, English, French, Canada, Quebec