MONTREAL — Business events, sports competitions and festivals are helping Montreal tourism numbers soar this summer. The city is on track for a record-breaking season, according to numbers from the May to July period collected by non-profit organization Tourisme Montréal. The organization’s CEO credits the plethora of activities and events drawing people to Montreal in the summer, from music festivals and sporting competitions to history and food. “We say Toronto is the downtown of Canada, (but) Montreal is the playground of Canada. People come here to have fun,” said Yves Lalumière, president and CEO of Tourisme Montréal. He pointed out the success of this year’s edition of the city’s international jazz festival, which hit record attendance numbers, and of the Osheaga music festival. Conferences have also boomed this summer, with Montreal welcoming over 50,000 attendees in June and July. On the cobblestoned streets of Old Montreal on Wednesday, tourists flocked to take photos or buy souvenirs as shop windows advertised jerseys and other Montreal paraphernalia. New Jersey residents Kha Nguyen and Connor Brunton, who are on their first visit to Montreal, were taking a group photo across from Notre-Dame Basilica. “It’s different from what we’re used to in the United States. The buildings are very old; it’s the nice colonial vibe...It seems like a place that’s far away from home, even though it’s not really that far,” said Nguyen. Travel from the United States rose seven per cent and travel from Canada rose five per cent compared to the same period last year, according to Tourisme Montréal. The number of international travelers went up nearly five per cent. Hotel occupancy reached 82 per cent in that period, a seven per cent increase from 2025. “We’re very happy with the numbers. We are doing this while there are crises around the world. The tourism industry in Canada and Montreal is very resilient,” said Lalumière. Sana Srivastava, who works at a souvenir shop her family owns in Old Montreal, said this season has been particularly busy. “I feel people have really been wanting to go to Canada more than ever this summer, so that’s been really good for us, and we’re so grateful,” she said in her shop, where the red, white and blue Montreal Canadiens logo and the Team Canada maple leaf featured heavily. “And I meet with people from all over, which is really fun,” she said. Srivastava said sporting events have attracted tourists to the city. Those include the World Cup, despite Montreal not being one of the host cities. “We didn’t even project that there would be this many people coming to Montreal because obviously we didn’t host it, but there were people coming with jerseys from all over supporting their team,” she said. Overall, not hosting the World Cup was a good thing for the city, believes Lalumière, who said the impact the competition would have had on other events would have been too great. “It was a wise decision from us,” he said. He expects this city’s momentum to continue into August and September, thanks to events like the National Bank Open tennis tournament and the Lasso country music festival. This report by The Canadian Press was first published August 12, 2026.
