Centre Financier International de Montréal

Montréal -

HOME CONTACT SITE MAP VERSION FRANÇAISE

WHO WE ARE

MISSION

TEAM

PRESIDENT AND CEO

HISTORICAL HIGHLIGHTS

PROGRAM OBJECTIVE

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

FAQ

IFC BENEFITS

ELIGIBLE CORPORATION

ELIGIBLE EMPLOYEE

ELIGIBLE TRANSACTIONS

APPLICATION PROCESS

BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT

MONTRÉAL AT A GLANCE

DOING BUSINESS IN Montréal

THE FINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRY

FINANCE IN MONTRÉAL

FINANCE IN UNIVERSITIES

SECTOR HIGHLIGHTS

TESTIMONIALS

IFC DIRECTORY

NEWS & PUBLICATIONS

SITES OF INTEREST

HOME > BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT

Doing Business in Montréal

Cost of living

Montréal offers an exceptional quality of life:

	A safe environment in which to live and work
	Cosmopolitan city
	Exciting cultural life and entertainment all year long
	Large natural areas close by
	High quality education system
	Universal health care system

Source : Mercer Human Resource Consulting, 2008

A highly educated and bilingual workforce

	Québec has a highly educated labour force: - three quarters of workers have a high school diploma or higher degree; - almost 20% have a university degree.
	More than 40% of population in Québec speaks French and English - In the Greater Montreal region, 53% of population is bilingual; - Furthermore, more than 20% speaks a third language.

Source : Statistique Canada

Excerpted from the document: Economic and Financial Profile of Québec, Ministère des Finances du Québec, 2008

Low business location and operating costs

	The most recent study from KPMG (2008) confirms that Québec has the lowest business location and operating costs from all major industrialized countries.
	Unit labour costs in Québec are almost 22% lower than in the United States

(1)	Results obtained from KPMG's Competitive Alternatives 2008 cost model considering the parity between the Canadian and American dollars. The lower a country's index, the lower its business location and operating costs.

Source: KPMG's Competitive Alternatives and Ministère des Finances du Québec, 2008

Active stock exchanges

Québec and Canada have a solid, efficient and transparent financial sector; the result of effective harmonization and a policy of constantly improving the regulatory and market supervision framework.

As the only Canadian exchange for financial derivatives, the Montréal Exchange is a leader in three areas of finance: derivative financial instruments, information technology solutions, and clearing services. The combined activity of the negotiation platforms operated by the teams at the Montréal Exchange, including its participation in the Boston Options Exchange (BOX), grew by 28% in 2007.

On December 10, 2007, the Montréal Exchange and TSX Group announced they would combine their organizations to create TMX Group, a leading integrated exchange group.

Source : Montréal Exchange

* Excerpted from the document: Economic and Financial Profile of Québec , Ministère des Finances du Québec

A leader in venture capital

Québec ranks first in Canada for management of venture capital, with nearly 50% of capital under management.

In 2007, venture capital investments in Québec increased for the third year in a row. Of the 648 million dollars invested, more than 60% came from private and foreign investors.

* Excerpted from the document: Economic and Financial Profile of Québec , Ministère des Finances du Québec