Toronto’s Rising Population

For Canada’s first 100 years, Montreal was Canada’s biggest city. By the 1970s, however, Toronto had surged ahead. In 1971, the Greater Toronto Area’s population reached 2.7 million, surpassing Greater Montreal’s 2.6 million people. The main factors in Toronto’s growth included the increasing size of the auto industry in Southern Ontario, due to the signing of the Auto Pact with the United States in 1965; and strong, sustained immigration from around the world. As the years passed, amalgamation brought neighbouring municipalities into the Greater Toronto Area. By 2019, the GTA reached 6.5 million people, a 15.8 per cent increase from 2009, continuing to surpass Greater Montreal’s 4.3 million people, a 10.5 per cent increase from 2009.