Montreal, worth a look!

clownprince37

For those of you moving to Canada in the next few months, dont discard Montreal.

Montreal is one of the greatest cities in Canada, cheaper rent than all the other major cities and has the best nightlife in the country.

The winters are intense but if wintersports are your thing, snowboarding and sking are minutes away.
The city comes alive in Spring & Summer when winter jackets are replaced with shorts and tshirts. (Suncream advisable!)

Quebec government gives subsidised French classes(50$ for two intensive months) to help immigrants but the city is also pretty bilingual
so english jobs can also be found with a little more searching.

People head to the citys parks to have BBQS(drinking is legal in parks with food).
Voted best biking city in North America.
Very European feel to the place.
There is always festivals happening during the summer.
2 large English Speaking Universities(McGill & Concordia)
Great Public Transport with the Metro system.
Close to Boston and NY(Weekends away).

A few highlights of the summer:
Montreal F1 Grand Prix, Just For Laughs Festival, Tam Tams, Fireworks World Cup, Mondial de la Biere,
Music Festivals: Osheaga, Heavy MTL, Picnik Electronik, International Jazz Festival, FrancoFolies,

Been here 5 yrs as an English speaker.(still learning French on the side)

Theres a GAA club here too(ladies, mens football and Hurling) which is great for networking and landing a job. We are always looking for new players.

Drop us a mail when you arrive at
Pm the user

NewsMeQuick

I kind of wish I knew more about this months ago.

The last I read was that it would be kind of prohibitive for you to go there with no French - that you find it difficult to get things done. Also, don't they have a ... language police? They report on over-use of English? I read something about that in a Canadian news site the other day. For example, they have been cracking down on bilingual greetings in shops, no more Bonjour/hi, only bonjour.

Don't get me wrong, everything that you listed appeals to me. Not to mention fewer hours travel home. I'm staying with a girl from Montreal, I'll ask her about it if I get a chance.

ician

NewsMeQuick wrote: »

I kind of wish I knew more about this months ago.

The last I read was that it would be kind of prohibitive for you to go there with no French - that you find it difficult to get things done. Also, don't they have a ... language police? They report on over-use of English? I read something about that in a Canadian news site the other day. For example, they have been cracking down on bilingual greetings in shops, no more Bonjour/hi, only bonjour.

Don't get me wrong, everything that you listed appeals to me. Not to mention fewer hours travel home. I'm staying with a girl from Montreal, I'll ask her about it if I get a chance.

The "language police" monitor businesses, and their use of french signage etc. It's not going to affect your day to day life, also with the liberals recently winning the election expect it to play a much lesser role than the previous few years. The PQ government were trying to do what you were saying, but they are gone now. 95% of Quebecers I interact with think it's absolute nonsense and embrace bilingualism.

ciaran67

Funny today I was chatting to a lady from Glasgow originally who moved to Vancouver 4 years ago but lived in Montreal since 1950's. She loved it but said the winter are brutal. Apart from the weather everyone I know who's lived there loved it.

ician

confirmed. winters are very very rough.

Sandybuffalo

What neighbourhoods in Montreal would you recommend? Moving there this summer with minimal french and lots of enthusiasm.

zweton

i would love to give montreal a shot.

Sandybuffalo

It looks like a savage city, and all reports I've heard are good bar the winter and maybe some issues getting work initially.

el diablo

Yep, Montreal's worth a look. Season's are quite extreme though.

Summer's can get very hot and humid. Luckily they have "Underground City" for escaping the worst of the weather in the city.

zweton

wonder is there much english speaking i.t work

montreal2011

zweton wrote: »

wonder is there much english speaking i.t work

I work in IT in Montréal. My manager once told me it's better to have English and no French, than French and no English when working in IT in Montréal.

zweton

but id need to find an employer from ireland though, thats the hard part.:)