Montreal has been chosen as one of four cities to host United Nations service offices under a proposal that would see the international body spread administrative operations around the globe.
Stéphane Paquet of Montreal International, an organization that helped lobby the UN for the office, said Montreal joins Nairobi, Kenya, Budapest, Hungary and Shenzhen, China on the list of cities proposed for the shared service centre project.
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Paquet says Montreal is not competing with the other cities. Either all four will be chosen at a meeting next month of the UN’s administrative and budgetary committee, or the project will not go forward.
He says the Montreal site would handle payroll and human resources for the international body. It would have about 100 employees, 80 per cent of whom would be hired locally.
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The payroll and human resources office would be the fifth UN-related entity in the city. Montreal already has the UNESCO Institute for Statistics, the International Civil Aviation Organization, the secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity and the secretariat of the Multilateral Fund for the Implementation of the Montreal Protocol.
Paquet says Montreal was selected because of its large French-speaking talent pool and its relatively low cost of living. He said a main thrust of the office will be offering services to French-speaking UN employees.
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Paquet adds that Montreal’s candidacy included financial incentives to attract the office, but he referred questions on that subject to Global Affairs Canada. Representatives with the federal department declined interview requests.
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