What does the new census data tell us about Montreal?

New census information released on Wednesday shows Montreal lagging behind other Canadian cities in population growth.

• The West Island's loss is the North Shore's gain, census figures show

There are currently 1,704,694 people living in Montreal. That's an increase of roughly 55,000 from 2011, when the number was 1,649,514.

It represents a modest increase of 3.3 per cent, well below the national average of 5.8 per cent for large urban municipalities.

Highest rate of population growth

Statistics Canada divides metropolitan areas into zones called census tracts, which it defines as small, relatively stable geographic areas with a population of between 2,500 and 8,000 persons.

Here are the parts of Montreal that showed the highest population growth:

1. Griffintown

The entire neighbourhood had double-digit growth, but the area bordered by Notre-Dame, Guy and de la Montagne Streets saw the largest population boom in the metropolitan region, exploding by 642 per cent from 2011.

• Griffintown development could be shutting out families

2. Lower Downtown

The area between Sainte-Catherine, Guy, Saint-Antoine and Peel streets nearly tripled, hitting 1,134 people in 2016.

3. Northeast Plateau

The population around the corner of Saint-Joseph Boulevard and d'Iberville Street swelled by 86 per cent in the last five years.

4. Ahuntsic

A sliver of land squeezed between Highway 15, Sauvé Street, Acadie Boulevard and Henri-Bourassa Boulevard grew by 69 per cent.

Most densely-populated areas

1. Île du Tremblay, Laval
159,767 people per square kilometre

2. Around Guy-Concordia Metro
135,547 people per square kilometre

3. Chameran neighbourhood in the Saint-Laurent borough
111,302 people per square kilometre

4. Apartments at Kingsley and Baily Roads, Côte Saint-Luc
51,902 people per square kilometre