Souvy

The mining industry is the same. English is a must. All the QC-based mining companies I deal with essentially operate in English.

I remember being in the bar at Montreal station a few years back and the girl running it confessed that she didn't speak French at all.

DigitalGhost

During my time living in Canada I went to Montreal a couple of times, once for a long weekend with my OH and another time for work.

On the long weekend we stayed in B&B downtown that was ran by an Indian family and I remember overhearing the owner pleading with one of his suppliers to use English over the phone because he couldn't understand French.

dbd33

I'd forgotten but the first time my daughter was at university in Montreal she took a boyfriend with her. She moved on leaving him behind. He spoke no French but was working on Rue Crescent (in a pub not under a lamppost). I think people can thrive in the bar trade anywhere without much of the language so long as they look good and smile a lot.

Souvy

People tend to suddenly become proficient in English when money is involved.

BristolUK

That is a surprise.

Each to their own but Montreal seems so much nicer and I really miss the Gazette.

Shirtback

I was thinking of Ubisoft when I read your post & replied .

Not surprised.

That does surprise me a bit (for Montreal). IME it's pretty standard that Montreal companies use English/understand English speaking clients.

Or throw the call to the "token" English-speaker(s) on staff when necessary . I'd say it's quite rare in MTL to have trouble doing business in English.

I've pretty much made a career/got most of the jobs or contracts I have had in Qc BECAUSE of my English.

Apologies to the OP for contributing to and prolonging this massive thread swerve .

Souvy

You can read it online, you know............

BristolUK

Yeah, I look occasionally. But I like a 'real' newspaper to read

Souvy

Fair enough.

DigitalGhost

I think Europeans often tend to prefer Montreal because there is something more homely and familiar about the place whereas people from India/Asia may prefer Toronto and Vancouver because they look and feel more like American cities.

Vulcanoid

That's actually a reasonable point - I definitely thought Montreal & Quebec felt like much more European cities, while pretty much anywhere in the west has a vibe of just not being well lived-in, because they're so new

DigitalGhost

I think parts of Atlantic Canada may also look a bit more familiar since they were largely rooted in British settlement. I've never been to Vancouver personally but Toronto just looked like a smaller, cleaner and slightly less dazzling version of New York.

Shirtback

They (as well as pretty much everywhere else in Qc) felt pretty darn foreign & unfamiliar to me when I arrived! & that despite having previously visited, & thinking I knew about being an expat. Moving to Canada (Quebec) was one of the hardest transitions I made.

I think (it's been a LONG time, & I've had a lot of time to reflect on it) that I fell into the "we speak the same language", "have a long history of immigration/colonisation/similar culture", "how different can it be" trap.

Which swings right back around to the OP .

dbd33

That's how the Toronto council would like it be thought of but, in fact, it looks like Pittsburgh.

Lychee

At one point Vancouver was the hotbed of Canada's games industry, but about 6-7 years ago they all seemed to have picked up and left for Montreal. I have a lot of friends in the gaming industry, but few are still here in Vancouver. Saying that, there are a few companies lingering around (Radical, Relic, EA, etc.). But it does seem like Montreal is the place to be these days.