Prism Geo · city intelligence · pilot
Montreal · image via Wikimedia Commons
Prism Geo · Canada · Quebec · Montreal

Montreal

Quebec, Canada · 45.51°N -73.56°E · updated 2026-08-07

Montreal is a deep technology and research city with heavyweight employers, a lively startup pipeline and an economy broader than software. Its civic mood is less settled: strikes, campus protests and infrastructure trouble are taking more space, while crime remains the largest chronic concern. Outbreak coverage is easing, government money spans transit, housing and welfare, and the news is mostly not negative.

Montreal · image via Wikimedia Commons
news reported (civic)
9,114
companies + mapped places
8,181 + 319
research works (est.)
≈169,848
govt money announcements
600
The city at a glance
economic fabric

What is Montreal made of?

💻 Technology
10/10
🏭 Manufacturing
9/10
🛍 Retail
9/10
🏥 Healthcare
9/10
🏟 Sports
9/10
🌱 Sustainability
8/10
🚛 Logistics
8/10
🎓 Education
8/10
🛕 Religion & tourism
7/10
🌾 Agriculture
5/10

news coverage + 3×registered companies + 2×mapped places, log-scaled vs strongest sector

momentum

What the city turned toward · Jan–Apr 2026

Each topic's share of news attention, January–April 2026 against September–December 2025 — news ingestion paused in May, so this is the latest complete window.

Policing Law Enforcement

13 → 36 news reports
▲101%

Employment

49 → 19 news reports
▼72%

Corruption

15 → 7 news reports
▼66%

Infrastructure & housing

16 → 30 news reports
▲36%

Healthcare

8 → 15 news reports
▲36%

Crime

103 → 170 news reports
▲20%

Accidents

41 → 46 news reports
▼19%

Protest

8 → 12 news reports
▲9%

Governance

36 → 46 news reports
▼7%

Legal Judicial

15 → 22 news reports
▲6%

a rising share means the city's attention is turning toward it — not necessarily more incidents

top city themes

What Montreal's news is about

Themes across the city's entire news coverage — ≈111.6K located reports — with each theme's momentum, its most specific keywords, and how the coverage feels. A CRITICAL badge means most of that theme's coverage is extremely negative.

Business

▼7.0% declining
Earnings Report · International Flights · Regional Air Routes · Financial Report
88% positive coverage

Sports

▲20.8% growing
Nhl Point Totals · World Cup of Hockey · F1 World Championship · Hockey Superstitions
74% positive coverage

Technology

▲20.0% growing
Next-generation Ev Platforms · Innovative Product · Ai Infrastructure Financing · Neural Network Ventures
95% positive coverage

Finance

▼20.6% declining
Initial Public Offering · Earnings Report · Cash Dividend · Public Offering
89% positive coverage

Politics

▲20.6% growing
Emergency Management · Emergency Planning · Conservation Status · Ecosystem Services
76% negative coverage

Football

▲36.8% growing
College Playoffs · Women's Hockey Finals · Campus Sports · Nhl Point Totals
70% positive coverage

Transportation

▲66.7% growing
Roadwork Updates · Faa Investigation · Bike Infrastructure · Urban Bike Lanes
63% positive coverage

Government

▲7.1% growing
Emergency Management · Emergency Planning · Emergency Management Center · Emergency Communication
60% positive coverage

Healthcare

steady coverage
Emergency Care Facility · Life Sciences Seed Funding · Therapeutic Development Funding · Vaccine Trials
92% positive coverage

momentum window: Jan–Apr 2026 vs Sep–Dec 2025 · sentiment is a property of the news coverage, not a city rating

city signals

The character of Montreal

  • ✓Technology sets the pace— Technology scores 10/10 across coverage, companies and mapped places
  • ✓Research anchors the city— Local institutions produced 24264 papers in the partial record
  • ✓Startup energy with churn— 2257 companies formed since 2018 amid a 12.5% shutdown rate
  • ✓Corporate heavyweights matter— GardaWorld, Couche-Tard, Metro and Bell carry huge workforces
  • ✓Hiring crosses sectors— Banks, CGI, Vention and Ubisoft rank among leading recruiters
  • ✓Public money runs deep— Welfare, transit, health, housing and industry receive major packages
  • ✓Civic pressure is shifting— Strikes, protests and infrastructure trouble gained local attention
  • ✓Economy stretches beyond software— Manufacturing, retail, healthcare and sports each score 9/10
everyday life

Living in Montreal means…

  • ✓French shapes daily life— The in-house gazetteer identifies French as residents' native language
  • ✓Universities feel close at hand— 25 public-university locations appear on the mapped street economy
  • ✓Protests are increasingly visible— Campus protests and demonstrations are among the fastest-growing concerns
  • ✓Outbreak anxiety is easing— Most outbreak signals in local news are receding
  • ✓Transit relies on public backing— A major government package supported metropolitan transit operations
  • ✓The mood is mostly steady— Only 26% of news coverage reads negative

read from the news record — not a survey

hidden depth

Things most people don't know

  • Montreal's partial institutional research record contains 24264 papers, led by McGill University with 10861.
  • Research studying Montreal itself focuses most often on dementia and cognitive impairment, ahead of identity, history and transport.
  • Montreal-based Opalia closed a $3.2 million seed round for its cell-based milk platform.
  • The mapped street economy identifies 67 software companies and 25 public-university locations.
  • Local coverage in July 2018 attributed 33–54 deaths to a heat wave.
The verdict & benchmarks — MontrealWhat the record is made of — MontrealJustice & accountability — MontrealEvents & specifics — MontrealThe civic record of MontrealWhat problems are increasing?What diseases are rising?What projects is my government investing in?What companies are hiring?What skills are in demand?Which industries dominate?The startup picture in MontrealIs this city good for manufacturing?What research is done in Montreal?What research studies Montreal?Who runs the political conversation?What is the news saying?
Safety & civic life
Civic intelligence · Prism engine

Where does Montreal stand against the developed world?

Six-nation developed-median report card (USA · UK · FR · DE · AU · CA) computed from the same data, like-for-like. ▼ worse than the norm, ▲ better.

Six-nation developed median (USA · UK · France · Germany · Australia · Canada) — ▼ worse than the norm, ▲ better

Fatality-linked News
9.9%here
15.3%benchmark
▲
Road-accident Accountability
2.6%here
5.8%benchmark
▼
Communal Politics
6.5%here
3.6%benchmark
▼
Enforcement Action
17.6%here
20.3%benchmark
▼
Corruption Load
3.7%here
1.8%benchmark
▼
Cases Concluded
7.0%here
5.5%benchmark
▲
Civic record homeBenchmarksThe recordJusticeEvents
Open the full data →

four chapters, plus the politics and money layers

Civic record

What problems are increasing?

protest civil unrest is taking the fastest-growing slice of the city's news (up 3.5 points), with labor employment next (up 3.3). Crime still leads in volume, but its share is shrinking.

Each problem's slice of city news — change in points, 2024–26 vs 2021–23
Protest Civil UnrestProtest Civil UnrestProtest Civil Unrest: +3.5 points of coverage share+3.5Labor EmploymentLabor EmploymentLabor Employment: +3.3 points of coverage share+3.3Infrastructure UtilitiesInfrastructure UtilitiesInfrastructure Utilities: +1.9 points of coverage share+1.9Public SafetyPublic SafetyPublic Safety: +1.1 points of coverage share+1.1Corruption FraudCorruption FraudCorruption Fraud: +0.7 points of coverage share+0.7Crime ViolenceCrime ViolenceCrime Violence: -1.7 points of coverage share-1.7Governance PolicyGovernance PolicyGovernance Policy: -2.8 points of coverage share-2.8Policing Law EnforcementPolicing Law EnforcementPolicing Law Enforcement: -3.0 points of coverage share-3.0Public HealthPublic HealthPublic Health: -3.2 points of coverage share-3.2
Fastest-rising specific problems
strike +2.8 ptsassault +1.4 ptscampus protest +1.2 ptsdemonstration +0.6 ptsarson +0.5 ptsenvironmental protest +0.4 ptstheft +0.4 ptswater main break +0.4 pts
Summary

The civic agenda is shifting from traditional enforcement stories toward organized disruption and basic systems. Protests and street unrest took a bigger slice of the city's news (up 3.5 points), labor and employment rose 3.3 points, and infrastructure and utilities rose 1.9 points; strikes and water-main breaks led the specific gains.

WATCH Watch whether strikes, campus protests and water-main breaks remain recurring features of local coverage.
Open the full data →

9,114 pieces of news reported

Health

What diseases are rising?

No disease signal is rising in 2024–26 — outbreak coverage is receding. disease outbreak is the most-covered signal.

SignalNews Reported2024–26 Trend
Disease Outbreak58▼ receding
Pandemic Outbreak27▼ receding
Vaccine Outbreak14▼ receding
Coronavirus Outbreak14— flat
Vaccine Preventable Disease Outbreak9▼ receding
Viral Outbreak7▼ receding
Public-health coverage by year
2026: 182017202618
Summary

Outbreak anxiety is easing rather than intensifying. Disease outbreaks appeared in 58 local news reports and were receding; pandemic and vaccine-related outbreak signals were also receding, while coronavirus coverage was flat.

WATCH Watch for any reversal in the broad decline of outbreak-related news.
Open the full data →

disease signals drawn from local news coverage

Money & governance
Public money

What projects is my government investing in?

economy industry leads 600 tracked announcements — development-authority land purchase, Smart City works and national-highway tenders anchor the money trail.

Announcement themes
Largest place-directed announcements
DateThemeLevelAmountWhat
2024-12Social WelfareLocal$100 MillionFederal and provincial governments of Canada announced a $100 million grant to support homelessness…
2023-12Urban HousingNational$100 MillionQuebec government invested $100 million to create an industrial land development company in Eastern…
2022-07Economy IndustryLocal$100 MillionTransat received $100 million in additional liquidity from the Canada Enterprise Emergency Funding…
2022-02HealthState / Province$100 MillionThe Intersectoral Regroupement des organismes communautaires de Montréal will increase basic…
2021-11TransportState / Province$100 MillionQuebec government granted $100 million to the Regional Metropolitan Transport Authority for public…
2020-10OtherState / Province$100 MillionQuebec government will cover 80% of fixed expenses for shuttered bars and restaurants in three
Summary

Across 600 announcements, economy and industry lead, followed by transport and social welfare. Repeated $100 million city-directed packages covered homelessness, transit operations, community health and Transat liquidity, making government both safety net and economic backstop.

WATCH Watch whether future packages turn housing and transport support into visible city improvements.
Open the full data →

amounts are announcement headlines — shown, never summed

Politics

Who runs the political conversation?

2849 statements track Montreal politics — communal-coded rhetoric runs 4.1% (developed-world median ≈3.65%; a typical Indian city runs ≈11%).

Loudest voices
Stance mix
supports · 1351opposes · 592proposes · 404condemns · 370demands · 49endorses · 47
Summary

Political conversation is strongly local and executive-led: Valérie Plante is the loudest voice with 372 tracked statements, ahead of Denis Coderre at 223. Religious or communal framing appears in 4.1%, slightly above the developed-world median but far below the typical Indian-city context.

WATCH Watch how antisemitism, francization, school governance and regional representation shape the political conversation.
Open the full data →

from political statements naming the city

Economy & work
Jobs

What companies are hiring?

Randstad Canada leads 3,742 tracked postings; top advertised role: Project Manager.

Top hiring companies · May–Jul 2026
Hiring volume by month · May–Jul 2026
Summary

Hiring is led by staffing, finance, technology and games rather than one local champion. Randstad Canada tops the recruiter list with 189 postings, followed by Intact Financial Corporation at 76 and National Bank at 51; CGI, Vention, American Iron and Metal and Ubisoft broaden the field.

WATCH Watch whether technology firms gain ground on staffing agencies and financial institutions.
Open the full data →

3742 job postings tagged to the city in May–Jul 2026 (a floor, not a census)

Jobs

What skills are available?

Most-demanded skills: excel, copy typing, reports.

Most-demanded skills
Summary

The visible skills list is thin, so it should not be mistaken for the whole labor market. Excel and Power BI sit beside copy typing, legal documents and compliance work, while RNN and data-identification requests hint at narrower technical roles.

WATCH Watch whether broader hiring confirms the blend of office fluency, regulated work and machine learning.
Open the full data →

demand-side signal (what employers ask for), not a resident skill census

Economy

Which industries dominate?

Registered economy: computer software, information technology and services, marketing and advertising lead 8,181 tracked companies · biggest tracked employer: GardaWorld.

Registered companies by industry
Street economy — mapped places
Summary

Technology is the clearest commercial identity at 10/10, but the city is not a monoculture: manufacturing, retail, healthcare and sports each score 9/10. Software, IT services, finance, advertising and health businesses give the registered company base real breadth.

WATCH Watch which secondary sector converts its visibility into sustained company growth.
Open the full data →

company registry (startup-skewed) + mapped business places

Economy

Is this city good for manufacturing?

Emerging Base (1/4 signals) — each signal below is a live threshold that can fail.

  • 275 of 8181 registered startups/companies (3%) are manufacturing-adjacent
  • infrastructure news share rising (up 1.9 points)
Summary

Only 275 tracked companies are manufacturing-adjacent, or 3%, so the industrial base earns an emerging 1/4 score. Strong manufacturing coverage and the Montreal-based aerospace revenue headline suggest visibility exceeds registry depth.

WATCH Watch whether aerospace, packaging and battery-material activity produces a denser local supplier base.
Open the full data →

computed verdict — each signal is a live threshold that can fail

Startups & capital
Startups

Is there VC activity?

1,262 of 8,181 tracked companies have raised outside money — #3 among its peer set.

Funded startups — peer cities
Summary

Montreal has genuine venture depth: 1262 tracked companies have raised outside money, while 424 are recorded as having raised funding and 224 are at seed. That is substantial activity, though Toronto and Vancouver remain ahead in the nearby-city comparison.

WATCH Watch whether seed-stage companies secure follow-on capital rather than joining the unfunded majority.
Open the full data →

round amounts sparse for tier-3 cities — counts shown, dollar totals withheld

Startups

Is a startup ecosystem forming?

Formation is real — 2257 companies founded since 2018 — but capital progression is weak: deadpool 12.5%, and stages are dominated by Unfunded.

Companies founded by year
2026: 9200820269
Stage distribution
Unfunded · 4566Deadpooled · 1029Acquired · 503Funding Raised · 424Seed · 224Public · 146
Summary

Montreal keeps forming companies at scale, with 2257 founded since 2018, yet 12.5% of all tracked companies have shut down. The stage list is dominated by unfunded businesses, so this is a busy ecosystem with real churn, not an easy conveyor belt to capital.

WATCH Watch whether young companies progress into seed funding and acquisition instead of stalling unfunded.
Open the full data →

gate: ≥150 companies & ≥20 recent founds — passed (8181/2257)

The knowledge engine
Research · Prism stance layer

What research is done IN Montreal?

McGill University leads ≈169,848 estimated works. 45% of oriented output reads promising/breakthrough — clusters in machine learning, children's health, mental health.

Institutions (papers in sample)
Research orientation
Opportunities (promising + breakthrough)
Machine Learning · 178Children's Health · 165Mental Health · 149Women's Health · 136Neuroscience · 122Healthcare · 103COVID-19 · 85
Cautions (cautionary + critical)
Women's Health · 68Children's Health · 59COVID-19 · 56Climate Change · 54Healthcare · 47Mental Health · 42Research · 32
Problems flagged
Healthcare · 180Children's Health · 119COVID-19 · 118Mental Health · 104Research · 89Education · 80Women's Health · 75
Also: research ABOUT Montreal →
Summary

The city's institutions produce a formidable research mix. In the partial record, McGill University leads with 10861 papers, followed by Université de Montréal with 6355; machine learning is the strongest opportunity area at 178, while children's, mental and women's health and neuroscience also stand out.

WATCH Watch whether machine learning and health research translate into companies, clinical work and hiring.
Open the full data →

figures marked ≈ are scaled estimates from a partial sample · Prism stance layer over 2017+ papers

Research · Prism stance layer

What research is done FOR Montreal?

Narrower but distinct: 4171 title-matched works study Montreal itself — led by dementia and cognitive impairment research, canadian identity and history, historical studies and socio-cultural analysis.

Top topics in city-focused research
Works about the city by year
2026: 142000202614
Summary

Researchers most often use Montreal to study dementia and cognitive impairment, the leading city-focused topic with 60 papers. Canadian identity and history follows at 34, while transport access, aviation law, stroke recovery and atmospheric ozone show how broadly the city is examined.

WATCH Watch for research that connects transport accessibility with the city's housing and infrastructure pressures.
Open the full data →

papers whose title or entities mention Montreal (any author location) · partial sample · distinct from research done at the city's institutions

The pulse
News pulse

What is the news saying?

News attention is 26% negative-toned (typical for city civic coverage) — the volume trend tracks total attention on Montreal.

Monthly news-feature volume
2026-05-01: 82023-012026-058
Summary

Montreal's news mood is more mixed than bleak: 26% of coverage reads negative. In the latest period, policing and infrastructure gained attention while employment and corruption receded; crime also became more prominent. The tone suggests a city focused on enforcement and urban strain without being defined by crisis.

WATCH Watch whether rising attention to crime and policing becomes a lasting mood or a short-lived turn.
Open the full data →

from location-tagged news · sentiment skew is a property of news, not the city

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