How Toronto displaced Montreal as Canada's #1 city

[King of Kensington]

A pretty common but simplistic narrative is that until the rise of Quebec separatism Toronto was basically a podunk town, then the anglos and banks fled to Toronto and it became #1.

But obviously there were other factors at work that go back earlier in time.  It ultimately goes back to Toronto being English-speaking and having a more favorable location.  By the interwar period, Toronto was already close to Montreal in size.

Toronto was located in the Great Lakes region and better access to American markets.  Like Chicago, it was located near industry and prosperous agricultural land.  It also gained because American capital preferred Toronto while British capital.  Montreal was the old mercantile center and had easier access to Britain (pre-air travel).  In the 1920s, American investment in Canada surpassed British.  American firms, largely from the Midwest, set up headquarters in Toronto. 

Toronto wealth largely came from the mines of northern Ontario and Toronto became a global mining center.  Toronto pulled ahead as a business and financial center, by the early 1960s Toronto had an equal number of head offices as Montreal and twice as many stocks were traded. 

The St. Lawrence Seaway too benefitted Toronto and Ontario, as it reduced Montreal's role as a port.

Would also add the auto sector and particularly the Auto Pact which was beneficial to Southern Ontario's prosperity.

Interesting to read this quote about Toronto from 1952:  "A big U.S.-style, Chicago-like town, inhabited, it is said, by 1,000,000 people with a sharp eye for a dollar...Toronto lives in an atmosphere of boom and bigness...Like Chicago, which it resembles in drive and ambition, and which it greatly admires, Toronto is not simply content in its youth simply to prosper cozily by trading with the rich agricultural belt which surrounds it."

[King of Kensington]

A population history, 1881-1981:

Montreal

1881 140,727 (Island: 176,263)
1891 216,650 (Island: 277,525)
1901 267,730 (Island: 360,838)
1911 470,480 (Island: 554,761)
1921 618,506 (Island: 724,205)
1931 818,517 (Island: 1,003,868)
1941 903,007 (Island: 1,116,800)
1951 1,395,400
1961 2,109,509
1971 2,823,629
1981 2,828,349

Toronto

1881 86,415
1891 181,220
1901 208,040 (Greater Toronto: 238,080)
1911 378,538 (Greater Toronto: 409,925)
1921 521,893 (Greater Toronto: 611,443)
1931 631,207 (Greater Toronto: 818,348)
1941 667,567 (Greater Toronto: 909,928)
1951 1,117,470
1961 1,824,481
1971 2,699,827
1981 2,998,947

The Census Metropolitan Areas were created in 1951 so I use them from 1951 on.  Prior to that, I use Montreal Island and the current City of Toronto (and old Metro) boundaries for the metropolitan area.

[Independents for Nihilism]

You know, it never occurred to me until now that the CN Tower and the Big O were under contruction at pretty much the exact same time, and that the former became a globally recognized symbol of Canada and Canadian ingenuity (and remains the tallest freestanding structure in the western hemisphere) while the latter was a massive money sink that can't even be used for a World Cup soccer game apparently. There must be some kind of metaphor to be found in that.

[King of Kensington]

Mayor Drapeau famously said let Toronto be Milan, Montreal will always be Rome.

[themaninthejinnahcap]

Being born in Montreal mandates I remind everyone that Toronto is a stinking degenerate hive.

Living in Montreal mandates I confess Montreal also sucks.

[SuzerainOfSwat]

Living in Montreal mandates I confess Montreal also sucks.

Especially the Bagels