moving to Montreal

Hi people, I was wondering if anyone could give me some advice on Montreal. I may have an opportunity to work there toward the end of the year and I will need to relocate my family from Germany.

None of my family speak French at the moment. This wont be a problem for work as I work in the aero industry and I have been reliably informed that the language of the office will be English. However, I am concerned that getting by with the day to day stuff may prove tricky. Some friends have told me that it is easy to get by with just English. Is this correct?

My kids are quite young and will need schooling/nursery. Are there many schools that are either bilingual or purely English?

Can anyone give me an idea of the cost of renting a 3/4 bed house in the suburbs? I don’t particularly want to live in the middle of town, but will need to be on an easily commutable route. Can you recommend a good letting agency/website and a good area to look at?

Thanks

Not knowing english is not a problem, but if you want your kids to go to English school then it will cost you $$$$, approx 10K/ year, You may wnat to look into the bill 101 law of Quebec.

please note. english schools cost a great deal more than 10k per year. i know. my kids could not go to english school, (too expensive) when i moved here one year ago. unhappily, they chose to return to the u.s. : ( to live with dad. i have trouble finding english spoken at any grocery, mall, etc. and there are NO english bookstores where i live. not knowing FRENCH is a huge problem. note. i moved here b/c of marriage, so i had no other choice. very isolating if you don't speak french.

....ME BEST Friend,PAUL SHYKORA,...is madley ''in love'' with Mademoiselle Lady Montreal,toooooooo booooooot......GOD Bless....good eat'n...eh....

Personally, I can't wait to leave Montreal. I am sick and tired of Quebec, and I've lived here for years and speak French. It's backwoods in many ways and we are taxed to the hilt.

Marie wrote:

Personally, I can't wait to leave Montreal. I am sick and tired of Quebec, and I've lived here for years and speak French. It's backwoods in many ways and we are taxed to the hilt.

TIS SAD....eh.

hey. i am sick and tired of quebec, too. i miss chicago. well. i came here for love. and now my husband has changed his mind. i guess i love him, but he does not love me. i was really not happy with montreal. and i totally can't 'get' french.(i am too old! 45!) BUT. i did not want to leave for THIS reason.... hey. i hope everyone else has more luck here than i did..... that's life. right?(too bad i can't quote it in french)

dHat Pawlo wrote:

....ME BEST Friend,PAUL SHYKORA,...is madley ''in love'' with Mademoiselle Lady Montreal,toooooooo booooooot......GOD Bless....good eat'n...eh....

...TIS ALL True....love is powerful......

If everything is ok, I will move to Canada (maybe Montreal)
because I like classy & good countries like : canada, UK, Spain, France, HK, Japan, ITaly, Spore, Korea, etc

Julia wrote:

If everything is ok, I will move to Canada (maybe Montreal)
because I like classy & good countries like : canada, UK, Spain, France, HK, Japan, ITaly, Spore, Korea, etc

who compiled this strange list of "classy" countries for you? someone who never travels?

Simon wrote:

Hi people, I was wondering if anyone could give me some advice on Montreal. I may have an opportunity to work there toward the end of the year and I will need to relocate my family from Germany.
None of my family speak French at the moment. This wont be a problem for work as I work in the aero industry and I have been reliably informed that the language of the office will be English. However, I am concerned that getting by with the day to day stuff may prove tricky. Some friends have told me that it is easy to get by with just English. Is this correct?
My kids are quite young and will need schooling/nursery. Are there many schools that are either bilingual or purely English?
Can anyone give me an idea of the cost of renting a 3/4 bed house in the suburbs? I don’t particularly want to live in the middle of town, but will need to be on an easily commutable route. Can you recommend a good letting agency/website and a good area to look at?
Thanks

i spent the first 30 years of my life in europe, so i am culturally european. my advise is: don't come to montreal. the culture shock, the isolation, the irritation with the small-minded and vulgar french-canadian tribalism, the total absence of elegance and appreciation for quality will be destructive to you and you family.

fredcapio wrote:

<quoted text>
i spent the first 30 years of my life in europe, so i am culturally european. my advise is: don't come to montreal. the culture shock, the isolation, the irritation with the small-minded and vulgar french-canadian tribalism, the total absence of elegance and appreciation for quality will be destructive to you and you family.

I've spend exactly 30 years of my life in Quebec.All I can say is "Right on",you so right. Now I live in Ontario and abandoned Quebec for the same reason.

fredcapio wrote:

<quoted text>
i spent the first 30 years of my life in europe, so i am culturally european. my advise is: don't come to montreal. the culture shock, the isolation, the irritation with the small-minded and vulgar french-canadian tribalism, the total absence of elegance and appreciation for quality will be destructive to you and you family.

Question fred, why do you stay?

Montreal women are beautiful but you got to be prepare to take street gangs left over.From high school to university level they all have date a slumdog B-Boy with no culture and manner.
If you tell them :"Mademoiselle,je vous aimes,que vous etes belle"; They smile at you to tell you they have a man, even if its a total fabrication.
Just two second after a guy dressed like puff dady shown or lillwayne fifty cents say "Babby wassup" with a swagger ghetto attitude and they follow him to the bathroom.I know this sound shocking and exaggerated but thrust me,its very close to reality.
In Montreal the YoBoys are King.Its a hard competition in clubs.Even France is starting to be like that.

Hi Simon,
Well, I guess that you are starting to worry with all this negative messages, but it is not so bad, here are my advices:
1st.- Regarding school in english, yes, you can, and it will be mostly payed by the goverment, BUT that is only true if you arrive with a working VISA, me, an resident-immigrant can not have my kids in an bi-lingual school without having to pay. But I have a cousin and a co-worker that receive subsidiary amount and have their kids in english-speaking schools.
2nd.- Suburbs are great, the west of the island is full of english-speaking suburbs, you might suffer a lot of traffic if your office is in montreal, you can take the train to avoid it.
West-Island suburbs are: Pointe-Claire, Kirkland, Pierrefonds, Dollard-des-ormeaux, Roxboro and others (i might be forgetting some) all this cities are inside the island and mostly english speaking.

As a final note: I love Canada, but it is true that Quebec laws regarding the French language are causing a lot of damage to the province, they are obsessed wit it.

Good luck!