Smaller cities attracted working-age Quebeckers between 2019-2023

The Montreal census metropolitan area, or CMA, saw its working-age population, defined as the 15 to 64 age cohort, grow by roughly 83,600 persons between 2019 and 2023, or plus-0.7% per year, a growth rate in line with its 20-year average. Quebec cities, or census metropolitan areas, in general grew faster than both smaller towns, or census agglomerations, and rural areas over the 2019 and 2023 period. However, the working age population, an important cohort that drives much of the space demand across commercial real estate, especially for retail and residential, grew the fastest in smaller cities outside of Montreal.