hold a public inquiry on the city status application, approve the application by granting the letters patent, and alter the proposed name of the city from the name proposed in the application. Also prior to the 1988 amendments to the Cities and Towns Act, the Government of Quebec could consider and approve an application for city status from a municipality with a population of less than 2,000 under circumstances it deemed extenuating. Towns Quebec has 230 towns (French: villes) that had a cumulative population of 7,139,693 in the 2021 Census of Population. Quebec's largest and smallest towns by population are Montreal and L'Île-Dorval with populations of 1,762,949 and 30. Quebec's largest and smallest towns by land area are La Tuque and L'Île-Dorval with and . Prior to 1988 amendments to the Cities and Towns Act, towns could be formed from any municipality in effect under the Municipal Code of Quebec with a population of 2,000 or more if the municipality: passed a resolution to formally request the Government of Quebec to change to town status; published the proposed resolution twice in the provincial gazette; obtained approval of its voters during an election or through a referendum; and submitted a petition to the Minister of Municipal Affairs for the letters patent to be granted within two months of the voters' approval that details the population, name, and boundaries of the town as well as the location of its first meeting of town council. Upon submission of the petition with a certificate signed by the municipality's secretary-treasurer confirming the resolution's approval, the Government of Quebec could hold a public inquiry on the town status application, approve the application by granting the letters patent, and alter the proposed name of the town from the name proposed in the application. Also prior to the 1988 amendments to the Cities and Towns Act, the Government of Quebec could consider and approve an application for town status from a municipality with a population of less than 2,000 under circumstances it deemed extenuating. Also prior to 1988 amendments to the Cities and Towns Act, the Government of Quebec could consider and approve an application for city status application from a municipality with a population of less than 2,000 under circumstances it deemed extenuating. Under current legislation, any towns that were incorporated by special legislation or letters patent prior to September 1, 1979 or incorporated by any charter