Montreal,ca.-thinking of moving there.is it ok?open to canadian suggestions.?

Show all answers

fijisun

Montreal is one of the greatest cities on earth. Everything that you could want in a major city can be found there; Great food, great social life, many different activities both in summer and winter, great shopping and very friendly people.

jeepsarecool

Its ok with me. Good luck.

Louis C

All of Canada is great...A city is what you make of it.

Goddess of Grammar

Greatest city in the world. (OK not in February.)

smilingsoda

its great but make sure you know french. make sure you can stand 8 months of winter. (no freezing cold winter)
other then that its not bad

Justwondering

Interesting question. I think it is great. I miss Montreal. Everytime I go, I feel at home. What I like most about Montreal and the towns surrounding Montreal is the fact that it has been growing more and more international, more cosmopolitan. There are more opportunities in that sense. People in my opinion are more relaxed and not in a rush rush. Higher education is low cost.

The only downside I can think of is winter. The snow. Life goes on there despite snow (unless it's really bad), unlike where I live now where everything almost comes to a halt at two inches of snow. If you're used to snow, you'll be ok.

That's the basic I can think of Montreal.

valy_4

montrÃ©al is a great city. its the economic, cultural center of the province. even if the city is big, it is built on an island which makes access difficult from outside town. traffic jams everyday and all. but for those living within the city, life is good. public transportation is very effective. great food, affordable rents, lots of parks, festivals. if there is something montrÃ©al doesn't offer, i haven't found it yet! great diversity in people and culture without the 'open war'.

rents in montrÃ©al are among the lowest in all Canada. even though it has gone up pretty quickly since the rent crisis (5 years ago) it still cannot be compared with Toronto or Vancouver. food and clothing is also not expensive if you know where to look. lots of activities are free too.

language is usually not an issue here. historically, English speaking people lived in the west part of town (west of st-Laurent/main street) while french speaking people lived in the eastern part of town, making it poorer than the west side. today, although these still continue, most communities have their own quarters (Chinese, Greek, Italian, Portuguese, Jewish, Haitian, Indian etc.) lots of people within these communities have been living here 20-30-50 years or more and never learned English or french. but if you want a nice job, it is best to be bilingual (English and french). for daily stuff, most people understand English even if they are more or less good at speaking it.

as for snow, it is usually not an issue. since global warming, it snows sometimes in the winter but usually melts in the following days. the days when snow stayed all winter long is gone. sometimes like 2-3 times a year, we might get a big storm but that's it. people live with it and its not snow that is gonna stop us from doing what we have to. the things to be carefull with is ice. even though there is sand or salt spread, ice is very common in winter. and for the winter get a good winter coat, scarf, tuque, mitains and ull be able to cope with the -20C or less we get in winter.

what else, I've been living here for 7 years now, and i don't miss the suburbs at all. i sometimes feel that french canadians like me are becoming a minority in montrÃ©al, depending of what parts of town i am in. lots of people live outside town in the many suburbs and only come on the island to work or study.

well, contact me for more infos about montrÃ©al. its my city and I'm not leaving it anytime soon :P

Stephen M

Montreal is a great city. Very cosmopolitan. Lots of great restaurants and other entertainment - jazz festival, comedy festival, etc. The best smoked meat in the world! oo la la!

firehorsetwo

Great idea - it's a great city.

You will learn french if you want to, you certainly don't have to.

Fleur de Lis

If you speak French, it is better. I have lived there. I am not fluent, but I did ok. I worked in Westmount which is more English.

poorcocoboiboi

I love Montreal! I have lived here for a year and a half.

While it certainly does not hurt to know some French, it's not mandatory. In fact, although my French is reasonably good, lots of people will just switch into English out of courtesy. Sometimes I have to say, "non, merci, je prÃ©fÃ¨re de parler en franÃ§ais pour pratiquer" ('no, thanks, I'd rather speak in French to practice') just so I can have a chance! LOL

But the city is great. There is so much stuff going on, I have walked through the city for ten miles and never passed through any parts that had nothing going on. There is a huge variety of restaurants, there's activities on the mountain, the transit system is great, and it's affordable. Montreal is a great place to call home.

Lisa

The Answers from Stephen M., fijisun, Justwonde and most of the Answers from poorcocob and valy 4 are right on accurate. However, you really do need to read and speak French well if you want to settle permanently and get a job here.

Although last winter was indeed ridiculously gentle for us, it is still normal for snow to be on the ground for 3 months' time and sometimes a metre deep. And cold snaps can be emasculating, with days of minus 25 and colder (Celsius) and accompanying winds of 60 kilometres per hour. (We'll be having Bermuda weather in another 50 or 75 years if the global warming pattern continues, if you can wait).

Taxes are high here and VAT taxes are charged on clothing. Some foods, especially dairy and chicken, are also more highly priced from Canadian farm subsidy and price control systems. We get good value in some ways (schools, libraries, museums and other cultural facilities) and not in others (crossing from Quebec into Vermont is a shock if you are comparing road conditions).

Vermont, only an hour away, is also one of the few remaining parts of the USA that is remaining politically and culturally and lifestyle sane (they actually elect socialist politicians there! Perhaps Vermont will try to succede and join us - there actually is a small successionist movement now in the state, and Vermont was originally an independent country before it joined the USA) with a lot to do in Burlington city beyond just stocking up on clothes, housewares, chicken, and milk (or using its international airport - American air ticket taxes and extra fees are far lower than Canadian).

Your first autumn here, if you drive an hour or two either to rural Vermont or to Quebec's rural Eastern Townships or Laurentides regions you will be absolutely overwhelmed with the famous foliage colours. And great country inns and restaurants.

The downsides of Montreal and Quebec is the continuing Quebec independence movement, and its coincidentally accompanying and sympathetic provincial French language laws' police. It/they can become extremely petty and trivial and silly and absolutely ridiculous. Also there is some residual and continuing prejudice and stereotyping between and by both many in the "pure laine" (original French heritage) and Jewish ethnic communities (they deserve each other, I sometimes think).

One final rather interesting thing if you are thinking to emmigrate: Although Canada has the largest immigrant population in the world (21% of the population, or almost double what it is in the USA), unlike in the US where immigrants settle almost everywhere here in Canada they are concentrated in only a few of our largest cities, Montreal being one. Outside of Montreal city and Montreal Island, and the immediate suburbs across the river
both north and south, practically no immigrants exist at present.

tanyasiv

I live in Montreal and dying to move away because of the long and cold winters! Had enough.
The city is fun in the summer. But in the winter it is dead unless you like to ski.
You must speak some French. Most places will only hire bilingual people.
But in general it is a fun place. Amazing night life, beautiful girls, great fashion.
Good luck

fatsausage

Halifax, Nova Scotia would be better, unless you are fluent in French.

Enter Your Message or Comment

User Name:
User Email:
Post a comment: