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Montréal has a highly diversified economic base. It is the metropolis of French-speaking Québec, and most of the large Francophone-owned corporations have headquarters there. About one-fifth of the metropolitan workforce is employed in manufacturing.

As with many other eastern North American cities, Montréal's traditional industrial base has been profoundly shaken since the 1960s, although the decline was less pronounced than in most places. Remaining factories have been moving from the city to the suburbs. Textiles and garment making remain the major types of manufacturing in Montréal, but are declining each year. Next most important are the food, beverage, and tobacco industries. The most significant change has been the growth of new industries such as aerospace, drug research and manufacturing, electronics, and computer programming. The metropolitan industrial base also includes metal products, machinery, paper products, printing, automobiles, furniture, chemicals, and petroleum products.

In Montreal as elsewhere, most employment is in the services sector. In finance, the city hosts the head offices of the first and third largest Canadian banks, the Royal Bank and the Bank of Montreal (although most of their activities take place in Toronto), and of the two Francophone banks, the National Bank of Canada and the Laurentian Bank. Various other financial institutions are headquartered in Montreal: insurance and trust companies, brokerage houses, and investment firms. Toronto-based firms usually have their eastern Canada regional offices in Montreal. The Montreal Stock Exchange specializes in options and derivatives trading; it also lists a limited number of small-capitalization local enterprises.

Montreal thrived as a port city when Canada's economy was closely linked to Britain. Although it has lost some importance in recent decades, its harbour remains very busy. Montreal offers the shortest route from Europe to central Canada, the Midwestern United States, and the North-eastern states. The harbour handles a great variety of goods. Bulk cargo is dominated by grain, minerals, and petroleum. Montréal is Canada's leading port for containerised cargo and one of the leading container ports on the Atlantic seaboard of North America. In summertime it also attracts many cruise ships.