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Montreal


 Overview


Economy


Canada

Canada has a robust economy, the eleventh-largest in the world. It is one of the world's wealthiest nations with a nominal GDP of approximately US$1.74 trillion. Canada's economic freedom score is 79.9, making its economy the 6th freest in the 2012 Index and the freest economy in North America. The country has a mixed economy, closely resembles the U.S. in its market-oriented economic system. Canada's economic integration with the United States has increased significantly since World War II. The 1989 US-Canada Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) (which includes Mexico) allowed for dramatic increase in trade. Canada enjoys a substantial trade surplus with the US, which absorbs about three-fourths of Canadian exports each year. It is a member of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and Group of Eight (G8).

The Canadian economy is dominated by the service industry which employs about three quarters of Canadians. The country is also a wealth of natural resources with logging, commercial fishing, and oil considered some of it's most important industries. Canada also has a manufacturing sector concentrated on the automobile and aircraft industry. The country is also unusual in being one of the few developed nations that are net exporters of energy.

Montréal

The economy of Montréal is the second largest in Canada (largest is Toronto) and the first in Québec. The city is a centre for commerce, industry, technology, culture, finance, and world affairs. Its economy is highly diversified with a strong French-speaking base. Many Francophone-owned corporations have headquarters there.

Manufacturing is the traditional economic base for Montréal, but that industry is increasingly being moved out of the city. Still, about one-fifth of the metropolitan workforce is employed in manufacturing. Other important industries include food, beverage, and tobacco. There has also been substantial growth in new industries like aerospace, drug research, electronics, video games, and computer programming. The Port of Montréal is the largest inland port in the world handling 26 million tonnes of cargo annually. The city is also a centre of film and television production.

Downtown Montréal is the central business district of Montréal. The Montréal Exchange was originally a stock exchange and was the first in Canada. In 1999, all stock trades were transferred to Toronto in exchange for an exclusivity in the derivative trading market.


22/05/2013

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