wild goose chase
Active Member
I was thinking about how Toronto and Montreal share a lot of similarity and history up from colonial times to the 20th century -- architectural style, history, demographics and immigration.
However, in recent years (probably post 1970s), Toronto and Montreal's character have somewhat diverged.
I would say Toronto is for the most part more like Montreal, but here are some later half of 20th and 21st century things that have made Toronto a bit more like and closer to Vancouver -- glassy waterfront skyline and condo boom are similar in both cities, suburbs with again glassy high rises, similarly high foreign born population and more similar post-1970s demographics (though Toronto and Montreal were closer in this regard before). The departure of Anglo-Montrealers and the fact that immigrants to Montreal assimilate to French more (whereas in the past, many did to English) adds to the difference.
I still would say Toronto is more like Montreal on the whole, but moving towards being more Vancouver-like.
However, in recent years (probably post 1970s), Toronto and Montreal's character have somewhat diverged.
I would say Toronto is for the most part more like Montreal, but here are some later half of 20th and 21st century things that have made Toronto a bit more like and closer to Vancouver -- glassy waterfront skyline and condo boom are similar in both cities, suburbs with again glassy high rises, similarly high foreign born population and more similar post-1970s demographics (though Toronto and Montreal were closer in this regard before). The departure of Anglo-Montrealers and the fact that immigrants to Montreal assimilate to French more (whereas in the past, many did to English) adds to the difference.
I still would say Toronto is more like Montreal on the whole, but moving towards being more Vancouver-like.