I am moving to Montreal soon but I don't want to send my kids to...?

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Goddess of Grammar

Chris I has the best answer so far, except that the part that a parent must have been schooled in English in Quebec was declared unconstitutional and changed to Canada.

You may be able to ask your company to pay for private school.

Also keep in mind that most kids in most English public schools actually have most of their lessons in French (French immersion)--but that because of how the law works, very few of them don't speak English at home, meaning that "English" school may not be particularly wel-suited to teaching your children English. On the other hand, all French public schools must teach English as a subject, and a few actually put a priority on that. Some fifth-grade classes offer an interesting program in which all the acedemic (math, French, etc) material is compressed into 5 months and the other 5 months are spent on just learning English.

One option would be to move to the West Island, especially Beaconsfield or Pointe Claire, where even though your kids would have to go to school in French, they would hear a heck of a lot of English everywhere else. There are lots of English-speaking sports and other activities around there. Also churches, if that's your thing.

Jane Marple

Your children will not lose their mother tongue for going to French School. On the contrary it will enrich their life and future. Let me give you a known example, you know who Jodie Foster is? did you know that she went to a French School all her life? When she speaks in English does she sounds like she has difficulties expressing herself in her native language? nope. Teaching a second language to your children is the best heritage you can give them.

snowpatrol321

You cannot send them to an English school unless you or your spouse was educated in Quebec in an English school.

Your only option would be a private school, and I believe that the loophole for that was recently closed. The loophole was that you could send them to a private school for one year, then get them into a public school. That is no longer the case. Private school tuition fees start at approximately $5000/year.

If you plan on staying, your kids can only benefit from knowing French well.

marie9

I beleive that if your children haven't attended an english school they have to attend a French school. Bill 101 ensures this.

arca

Canada composed of ten provinces, one with French as the official language, one bilingual and eight English.
If the English future of your children is such a paramount, why did you choose Quebec?
Would you immigrate to Spain to teach your kids Mandarin?
Besides, Quebec, as any other province in the confederation, has limited resources to spend on immigration.
Why would you decide to use those resources for a purpose, which is contrary to the very survival of this French enclave in the English ocean of North America?

PS
Even if you have good reasons to move to Quebec and to give your kids education in English, here is an equally good reason not to do it:
This is the quote from a person who calls herself the Goddess of Grammar
"Chris I has the best answer so far, except that the part that a parent must have been schooled in English in Quebec was declared unconstitutional and changed to Canada".
This is the perfect example of the Beaconsfield/Pointe Claire English, which is abomination of the language you are trying to feed your kids with.
Think about it!

Chris I

If you will living in Montreal for less than two years your children may attend English public school with no problem.

If you or your wife attended English elementary school in Quebec you may apply for a certificate of eligibility for the children.

Any child in his/her graduating year may continue in English.

Only Private schools which receive no funding from the Provincial Government are exempt from Bill101. There are only a few and they are very expensive.

Even if you are not sure if you are coming, I suggest you contact the Montreal English School Board and apply for the Eligibility Certificate. You can find out if you are eligible and save time.

Here is the link.

http://www.emsb.qc.ca/en/index_en.asp

old lady

Not all schools in Montreal are french-speaking. But you can always solve the problem by sending your kids to a private school.

Michel L

Yes to all of the above. Montreal is almost more English than french. Especially the West Island.

MinLo

There are a lot of English speaking schools in Montreal. I'm not entirely sure but I think the rules about sending your kids to English school is that if they have already begun school in English and then you move to Montreal that you may continue to send them to English school. However, if your kids are young and haven't started going to elementary school yet I think they may be forced to go to French school unless you put them in a private English school.
Sorry, there are a lot of weird rules about that here! I think that is how it goes but you'll have to look into it

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