A short one-hour flight from major economic centers such as New York, Boston and Toronto, Montreal occupies a strategic position in North America.

Metro Montreal is located at the junction of 45^o North latitude and 73^o West longitude on the same horizontal axis as Minneapolis, U.S.A. and Bordeaux, France, and on the same vertical axis as New York. The region enjoys a temperate continental climate with four distinct seasons.

The Metro Montreal region covers an area of over 4,000 km² and includes the Island of Montreal, the cities of Laval and Longueuil and all the other municipalities located on the North and South shores of the Saint Lawrence River.