Pourquoi Toronto a surclassé Montréal au sommet de la hiérarchie urbaine canadienne ? L’impact des différences culturelles sur la dynamique spatiale des services supérieurs

The Canadian urban system underwent a major change after 1960. The city historically at the top of its urban hierarchy, Montreal, was replaced by its old rival, Toronto, historically in second place. Such reversals are extremely rare. Montreal’s fall from first place appears even more exceptional when we compare it with New York, which has remained the primary corporate and financial center of the United States despite a westward (and southward) shift in population and economic activity. We begin by briefly documenting the Montreal–Toronto reversal, and by eliminating certain explanations. We then introduce a model for understanding the location decisions of high-order service establishments and corporate management units (i.e. head office functions). The model stresses the importance of communications costs and recruitment costs for knowledge workers. We end with an analysis of the spatial dynamics of management functions (within given industries) in Canada from 1971 to 1996.