In the 2021 Census, the Toronto census metropolitan area (CMA) had 6,202,225 people, making it the most populous in Canada, ahead of Montreal at 4,291,732 and Vancouver at 2,642,825, according to Statistics Canada. Close to half of Toronto CMA residents (46.6 percent) were immigrants, the highest share among Canada’s large urban centres, compared with 23.0 percent for Canada as a whole.
Old web posts compared Toronto with Montreal, Chicago, New York, and Melbourne in vague terms. This page keeps to one comparison that official figures support: Toronto against the other large Canadian urban areas, using Statistics Canada releases from the 2021 Census. All figures are for census metropolitan areas, which include surrounding municipalities, not for the City of Toronto alone.
Population of the largest urban areas, 2021
Statistics Canada reports that over one-third of Canadians (13.1 million people) live in the three largest CMAs of Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver. Canada’s population was 36,991,981 in 2021, up 5.2 percent from 2016.
| Census metropolitan area | Population, 2021 | Immigrants as share of population |
|---|---|---|
| Toronto | 6,202,225 | 46.6 percent |
| Montreal | 4,291,732 | 24.3 percent |
| Vancouver | 2,642,825 | 41.8 percent |
| Ottawa-Gatineau | 1,488,307 | not given in the cited release |
| Calgary | 1,481,806 | 31.5 percent |
| Edmonton | 1,418,118 | 26.0 percent |
| Hamilton | not given in the cited release | 25.6 percent |
| Canada | 36,991,981 | 23.0 percent |
Ottawa-Gatineau regained fourth place in 2021 after Calgary held it in 2016, the release says. The City of Toronto itself is smaller than the CMA: the City’s “Toronto at a Glance” page gives a July 2022 population estimate of 3,025,647 for the City and 6,471,850 for the Toronto CMA, and an area of 630 square kilometres in its indicators table (641 in its geography section).
Growth: Toronto and Montreal compared
The two largest CMAs grew at the same pace from 2016 to 2021 (4.6 percent), below the national rate of 5.2 percent. Toronto’s growth in the previous period, 2011 to 2016, was 6.2 percent, while Montreal’s was 4.2 percent. Statistics Canada says both received a record number of permanent and temporary immigrants from 2016 to 2019, partly offset by people moving to neighbouring areas. Annual estimates show the Toronto CMA’s growth slowing from 1.4 percent in 2019 to 2020 to 0.2 percent in 2020 to 2021 because of lower immigration, while the Montreal CMA’s population fell 0.6 percent between July 1, 2020, and July 1, 2021. For the long census series for Toronto, see Toronto population history.
Immigration and where newcomers settle
Immigrants, meaning people who are or have been landed immigrants or permanent residents, were 23.0 percent of Canada’s population in 2021, the highest share since Confederation. Statistics Canada reports that Toronto welcomed 29.5 percent of the country’s recent immigrants (those who settled from 2016 to 2021), Montreal 12.2 percent, and Vancouver 11.7 percent. The share of recent immigrants settling in the three largest centres together fell from 56.0 percent in 2016 to 53.4 percent in 2021. Within the Toronto CMA, immigrants made up more than half of the population in four municipalities: Markham (58.6 percent), Richmond Hill (58.2 percent), Mississauga (53.2 percent), and Brampton (52.9 percent).
The release notes that recent immigrants increasingly choose centres outside Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver, which may partly reflect higher housing costs, and that Toronto and Vancouver reported the highest rates of unaffordable housing in the 2021 Census. Earlier waves of arrival are described in Postwar immigration to Toronto.
Language
A separate 2021 Census release on languages states that Montreal had the highest share of people able to conduct a conversation in two or more languages among Canada’s large urban centres (69.8 percent), followed by Ottawa-Gatineau (60.0 percent) and Toronto (56.1 percent). In Toronto and Vancouver, more than one in four people speak predominantly a language other than English or French at home. Mandarin is the main such language in both cities, while in Montreal Spanish and Arabic lead. More on Toronto’s languages is in Toronto’s population and languages.
What these figures do not show
Census counts are a snapshot taken in 2021, during the pandemic. They do not rank cities by quality of life, cost, or safety, and this page makes no such ranking. Comparisons with cities outside Canada, such as Chicago, New York, or Melbourne, would need each country’s own census definitions, and are not made here. Results from later censuses will replace these figures when Statistics Canada publishes them.
Frequently asked questions
Is Toronto the largest city in Canada?
The Toronto CMA is the most populous in Canada in the 2021 Census, at 6,202,225 people, followed by Montreal and Vancouver.
How does Toronto’s population compare with Montreal’s?
In 2021 the Toronto CMA had about 1.9 million more people than the Montreal CMA (6,202,225 against 4,291,732). Both grew by 4.6 percent from 2016 to 2021.
What share of Toronto’s population is foreign-born?
46.6 percent of the Toronto CMA population were immigrants in 2021, the largest share among Canada’s 41 large urban centres, according to Statistics Canada.
Is Toronto the most multilingual Canadian city?
Not by the measure Statistics Canada reports: Montreal had the highest share able to converse in two or more languages (69.8 percent), with Toronto at 56.1 percent. Toronto and Vancouver both have more than one in four people speaking mainly a non-official language at home.
Last verified: October 2026
Sources
- Statistics Canada, “Canada’s population estimates and census population counts, 2021 Census,” The Daily, February 9, 2022
- Statistics Canada, “Immigrants make up the largest share of the population in over 150 years and continue to shape Canada” (title abridged), The Daily, October 26, 2022
- Statistics Canada, 2021 Census language release, The Daily, August 17, 2022
- City of Toronto, “Toronto at a Glance”
Related reading
- Toronto population history
- Toronto in numbers: key figures with year and source
- Postwar immigration to Toronto
- Toronto’s population and languages: what the census shows
- Toronto facts: location, population, geography and weather
Cite this page
APA: History of Toronto. (2026, October 25). Toronto Compared With Other Canadian Cities. https://historyoftoronto.ca/blog/toronto-compared-with-canadian-cities-census
MLA: “Toronto Compared With Other Canadian Cities.” History of Toronto, 25 Oct. 2026, https://historyoftoronto.ca/blog/toronto-compared-with-canadian-cities-census. Accessed .
Chicago: History of Toronto. “Toronto Compared With Other Canadian Cities.” Last modified October 25, 2026. https://historyoftoronto.ca/blog/toronto-compared-with-canadian-cities-census.
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