Montreal looks to Korea for culture-led growth model

Montreal is looking to South Korea for inspiration and partnerships this week, as Canada’s second-largest city steps up efforts to strengthen its global presence under new leadership.

“The idea was: How can we be inspired by another community where culture has been put as a priority and make it a factor of economic growth?" said Isabelle Dessureault, CEO of the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal, in an interview with The Korea Herald in Seoul on Tuesday.

“South Korea is the ideal of that from our point of view for what has been done here in the last 30 years, making decisions to put culture at the center of its economic plan.”

Dessureault noted that Montreal Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada, who took office in November last year, has been ramping up efforts to revive the initiative to position the city as a global cultural metropolis.

The Montreal delegation, consisting of more than 50 people, including local government officials as well as business representatives, is visiting Seoul and Busan this week as part of the newly elected mayor’s first international mission.

“They say in the next five years 70 percent of the world's growth will come from the Indo-Pacific region, including South Korea,” said Dessureault. “We feel that Montreal and Seoul share this creativity that we put within businesses.”

Korean game giant Krafton opened its first game studio in Montreal in 2023 to develop games, as the Canadian city is well known for its talent and capabilities in the gaming sector. Behaviour Interactive, the developer of the globally popular multiplayer horror survival game Dead by Daylight, is headquartered in Montreal.

On top of the gaming industry, the CCMM chief added that Montreal boasts strong talent in artificial intelligence, with Samsung also operating an AI research center in the Canadian city since 2018.

“At the chamber, one of our priorities is to help our businesses diversify their markets,” said Dessureault. “We feel that (Korea) is a market where we can invest time, resources and involvement to develop new business deals.”

Pointing out that Montreal is the third-largest aerospace hub in the world, largely thanks to the regional presence of aircraft manufacturer Boeing, she indicated how her city and Korea share strong ties in the defense industry.

Regarding the race between Korea and Germany for Canada’s $40 billion submarine contract, Dessureault said the bidder that offers a broader ecosystem of small- and medium-sized enterprises and universities is likely to win.