The graph of migration patterns indicates the movement of people at three levels.

Interurban migration shows the movement of people between the Montréal census metropolitan area (CMA) and other cities within the province of Quebec. If the figure is positive, it refers to people moving from other cities in Quebec to settle in the metropolis. A negative figure indicates the movement of people who have left Montréal to settle in other cities within the province.

Interprovincial migration shows the movement of people between Montréal and Canadian provinces other than Quebec. If the figure is positive, it refers to people moving from other Canadian provinces to settle within the Montréal CMA. A negative figure indicates the movement of people who have left the metropolis to settle in other Canadian provinces.

Finally, international migration represents the movement of people between Montréal and foreign countries. A positive figure refers to people who come from outside the country to settle in the Montréal CMA. A negative figure refers to the movement of people who have left the metropolis to settle abroad.

The balance of migration shows Montréal’s net migration. It takes into account three levels of migration – interurban, interprovincial, and international. If the balance is positive, the metropolis has benefited from a net increase in population, or in-migration. If the balance is negative, we can conclude that Montréal lost residents, or experienced net out-migration.

The quarterly data provided by the Conference Board of Canada is deseasonalized to eliminate the impact of seasonal variations and make it possible to compare data throughout the year.

This data is also annualized. Annualizing quarterly data (multiplying it by four) makes it possible to compare quarterly performance with the annual result.