Coextensive with the administrative region of Montreal, it is a territory equivalent to a regional county municipality (TE) and a census division (CD), for both of which its geographical code is 66.

The administrative region consists of the 2002–2005 territory of the city of Montreal.

The urban agglomeration is governed by the Montreal Agglomeration Council (French: Conseil d'agglomération de Montréal), which is composed of:[3][4] The executive of the council is the Montreal Executive Committee, which can be headed by the Mayor of Montreal or a councillor the mayor appoints.

[6] Powers delegated to the Montreal Metropolitan Community (French: Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal, CMM), the regional government of Greater Montreal, by the urban agglomeration include public housing, economic development, and water supply and water treatment.

[7] Responsibility for public transit is shared with the agglomeration directly appointing members to the RTM, the regional transportation authority, and indirectly appointing members to the ARTM, the regional public transport planning authority, via the Montreal Metropolitan Community.