It was revealed in the French Canadian newspaper La Presse ^[1] that the Canadian government has informally proposed to the United Nations that they move their headquarters to the Montreal Old Port. The new site would essentially occupy a cluster of artificial islands between the downtown core ^[2] and Habitat 67 ^[3].

Detailed architectural plans have already been developed as shown in these images ^[4]. These new installations would cost almost the same as the proposed $1.9 billion renovation of the Manhattan complex. They would also expect to save $790 millions per year in maintenance and the 65 acres site would be much bigger than the 7 acres currently occupied in Manhattan and would thus provide space for many of the UN-associated NGOs that are scattered all over the New York City area.

Finally, there is the additional advantage of improved security since the access to this new UN-city would be much easier to control.

The political consequence of such a move have not been covered in the article. I think that it is safe to assume that they would be quite significant.