Detroit vs. Toronto

[Neilr]

Also, the migration of jobs, people, and corporate headquarters from Montreal to Toronto in the the late 60's and beyond calls to mind the quick abandonment of Detroit to the suburbs during the same time period. This growth boosted Toronto.

In Canada, like Detroit, the abandonment was also motivated primarily by fear in combination with economic factors- the Quebec separatist movement being the primary cause....

This PBS story from 1996 talks about the dozens of corporate headquarters that left Montreal during that time period....

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/canad...alers_5-2.html

Absolutely spot on! Montreal had been the economic and business hub of Canada while Toronto was just a step up from being a second tier mid-sized city. Then 50 years or so ago the French Separatist movement gained force in Quebec. Business leaders in Montreal, for the most part English speaking, became very nervous and looked around for safer ground. They found it in Toronto. Massive amounts of corporate money and educated workers left Montreal and moved to Toronto. Thus began the tremendous building boom and growth of Toronto.