With the recruitment campaign for the next Canadian astronaut now over, Montrealers have positioned themselves as the most eager to take off.

The Canadian Space Agency (CSA) closed applications Monday and announced the numbers behind its quest to find its next two astronauts.

Of the major metropolitan areas in Canada, Montreal ranks first with 441 candidates.

That's ahead of the more populous Toronto, which has 391 candidates. Vancouver is a distant third with 256 candidates.

But when looking at applications per province, Ontario tops the list with 34 per cent of the 3,772 candidates, followed by Quebec at 21.5 per cent and Alberta at 14.7 per cent.

Three residents in Nunavut also expressed their desire to go into space.

Of all the candidates, 24 per cent were women and 69 percent were men. Seven per cent chose not to declare their gender.

The CSA revealed 7,793 people started the online application process, 3,772 of which were completed.

"It's a lot," Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen told La Presse Canadienne.

"I'm really please that almost 4,000 people are ready to accept the challenge of being an astronaut."

Hansen was also happy that more women applied this time around than in the past.

Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen said he was happy more women applied to become an astronaut than last time. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press)

Steps left before the space suit

Many more steps remain before the two astronauts are selected.

Candidates must first submit an online judgement and logic test.

The files will then be reviewed by the space agency, which will reduce the number of eligible candidates to 200.

After several medical questionnaires and interviews, only 40 candidates will be selected to undergo physical tests.

The CSA expects to announce the two chosen candidates in the summer of 2017 and begin their training in August of the same year.