In 2021, Montréal International attracted direct and foreign investment of around $3.8 billion in Greater Montréal, an increase of 69% compared to 2020 and 42% before the pandemic (2019).
Updated yesterday at 4:59 p.m.
The organization calculates 100 projects and 11,550 jobs created with an average salary of more than $82,000. More than a third of investments come from the United States, a quarter from France and 5% from Asia. “Projects come from 25 countries in 2021,” says Stéphane Paquet, CEO of Montreal International.
In total, foreign companies have invested in 82 cities in Greater Montreal. Nearly 18% of investments were made in the software sector, 17% in video games, 8% in aerospace (for a value of 300 million dollars), 8% in finance and 6% in life sciences. life and health technology (worth over $250 million).
“It’s incredible, when we are coming out of a pandemic,” said Mayor Valérie Plante at a press conference Monday morning. “That means jobs! Montreal is a resilient city, the city with the best economic recovery in the country and the second in North America. We are in a good position for recovery. Just for the city center, we are talking about investments of around 1.35 billion dollars (Editor’s note: 4887 jobs created). »
The mayor added that if the unemployment rate was 7.8% in 2019, it was 6.9% in 2021. “We are very happy to do our part for the revival of the city center, says Stéphane Paquet. We have ten new high-potential head offices that have settled in Montreal. »
Moreover, Montreal International has invested a lot of effort in getting the parent companies of subsidiaries already established in Montreal to approve projects once again here. Thus, there were 58 reinvestment projects in 2021, for a value of 2.9 billion, more than double that of 2020.
Number of high jobs
At the same time, Montréal International helped welcome 1,135 international workers in 2021. These people, who obtain temporary work visas quickly, occupy positions mainly in IT, health and education.
The Plante administration has “guaranteed (its) support for Montréal International for three more years,” confirmed the mayor, who is delighted that her city has been chosen to host the office of the International Organization for Standardization of Sustainable Finance ( ISSB). “We want to continue to develop green innovations. A fundamental sector for our administration. »