The new location is 50 per cent larger than the old one, BMO said, following a two-year period in which the firm’s private bank has grown quickly and doubled the size of its team in Montreal.

The affluent population in Quebec is expected to grow by some 65 per cent between 2009 and 2018, according to the firm, during which time it is planning to expand its private banking client base by between 20 and 25 per cent per year.

The private banking unit has 34 offices in Canada, including Montreal, Halifax, Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver.

BMO Financial Group expanded its wealth management business in the US last week, signing a definitive agreement to acquire CTC Consulting, the SEC-registered investment advisor with $24 billion in assets under advisement. BMO will combine CTC with its US ultra high net worth wealth management business, Harris myCFO.

With the CTC deal, the Canadian bank is expanding its geographic footprint on both the East and West coasts of the US. CTC, which was founded in 1981 as Capital Trust Company, is headquartered in Portland, OR and also has main offices in Boston, MA and Darien, CT.