WeAreMoving

Hi! We are a family of three and will be moving from Ireland to Montreal early in 2010. This forum seems to be great as I have already gathered so much information here. I have a couple of specific questions and would be grateful for helpul replies.

Our son is 4, he will be turning 5 in July 2010. I understand that he would be eligible for Kindergarten in Montreal, then start Elementary school in September 2010 - is that correct?
Is it hard to find a place or can we wait until we actually get to Montreal and know for sure which part of the City we will be living in? It also seems a bit unclear whether Kindergarten is free of charge?

We will be looking to rent a furnished place to begin with. Any companies you can recommend to help us with finding a nice place?

Any nice neighbourhoods you can recommend? From my own research I quite liked The Plateau as well as Westmount but both seem to be expensive areas to live in:-) Basically we are looking for a family friendly neighbourhood, multicultural...

Think this is it for the moment. I am sure there will be more questions along the way.
Thanks for anyone taking the time to read and reply, much appreciated!

christmasoompa

No idea on the above as I don't live in Montreal, but wanted to say welcome to the forum.

Walsh Clan

Me neither, but just wanted to say hello, we are moving in 2010 from Cork.

Canada2006

Welcome to Montréal

So to answer the school question first, your child will be eligible to enter Kindergarten, equivalent to "Reception class (I think)" in the UK as long as he has reached 5 by the end of September. Therefore, if your child is 5 in July 2010 he can start Kindergarten in September 2010.

Now, what kind of visa will you be coming over on? In most cases, unless you can prove that you are a temporary resident, your child will have to go into the French language state system. No English at all. If you would like your child to have English education, expect to go private and pay around $8k per year. State schooling is free of charge. School allocation is based upon where you live, so buy a house in a good area. Just like the UK really.

Now, where to live. The first question everyone asks is, where will you be working? Second question, what kind of accommodation are you looking for? Third question, what's your budget? Fourth question, how comfortable are you in French - how comfortable do you want to be in French?

If you'd like a reasonably priced detached home, forget Westmount and Le Plateau, Outremont - they are all very expensive and Plateau is mainly flats. If you're working downtown and are comfortable in French, I would suggest the South Shore - Greenfield Park and La Prairie which are both comfortably commutable. If you like your suburbia in English, then go to the West Island (Pointe-Claire) - but the commute is longer.

If you are going to be working from the E40 (Metropolitan) Highway, look at Laval too.

If you want to be on the island, near to downtown and are willing to pay, NDG is probably a better bet than Westmount.

For more information, you can peruse http://www.movetomontreal.ca

WeAreMoving

Thanks for all the replies!

@Canada 2006 - thanks for all the information. I was under the impression it would be Kindergarten when we move over in Feb and then Elementary School in Sep 2010. So would it be day care my son would attend until he starts Kindergarten in Sep 2010?

We are on a temp visa so we do have access to English speaking schools. Areas to live I would favour english speaking as I dont speak any french- not yet anyways! My partner will be working downtown and we would like to stay within the city limits, so I suppose we are looking for a nice 2 Bed apartment in the western parts of Montreal.

Did you move over from the UK? With family?

Thanks!

Buchan6

For info my daughter was in Year 1 in the UK when we moved over (Ontario)and was put in Senior Kindergarten. However, in the school board we were under, JK & SK were part time, week 1 - two days, week 2 - three days.

Be aware of this if you're both looking to work.

pancakemeow

Hi, I'm Canadian and currently living in Dublin, but moving back over to Canada with the bf next year. Your best bet for finding an apartment is on craigstlist (http://montreal.en.craigslist.ca/) . Sadly we don't have a really good website like daft here in Ireland for apartment hunting. Also most apartments are unfurnished (at least in Ontario) but you might have better luck in Quebec. Good luck and enjoy Canada!!!!

Canada2006

For schools, I think we're talking the same thing. I always discuss it in French. I believe that Kindergarten is the same as Reception class in the UK, i.e. the first year of primary. Before that there is daycare.

So if you arrive in February, your child will be in daycare until September. I really suggest that you start contacting daycares by 'phone now to find a place. It can be easier to find one for older children than younger ones.

There are three kinds of daycare:
CPE - Centre de Petite Enfance - government run and always full, full, full
Private daycare - probably your best bet, like CPE, but private
Milieu famillal (Family based) - someone looks after kids in their basement or garage conversion. Quality varies, I wouldn't put my kids in one for several reasons, but other people do and are happy with it.

For more info check out (only available in French bizarrely): http://www.magarderie.com/

We came over from Belgium rather than the UK - it's been over 10 years since I left England, so my knowledge of the systems there is rather old and sketchy. The quality of the daycare we have here in Québec is much better than that we had in Belgium. Colleagues are of the opinion that Québec daycare is better than that in the UK in their opinion with talking with friends. Remember though, daycares do vary, there are good ones and bad ones everywhere, and different children are better in different environments.

For your housing, forget Le Plateau, it's really Francophone. You're best concentrating on NDG or Westmount in my opinion if you're happy with a flat. Otherwise these places are big bucks. You may be happy in Greenfield Park on the South Shore which is cheaper, mainly Francophone but with an Anglophone community.

Canada2006

The Ontario and Québec systems are different. They don't have junior and senior kindergarten here in Québec.

Daycare is private, essentially, and they will want you to put your child full time in our experience, or at least pay for a full time slot.

pom4uk

Hi there,

We are a young family (1 child), arrived in Montreal in February from Dublin. We would love to meet up and share our experiences.

We have not been looking for a kindergarden yet as our son is only 17 months. But we did go through apartment searching and wondered how did you get on and where did you settle at the end, we are in Plateau.

All the best.

britsnake

Another option is the west Island.

There are many English communities there. Many English speaking people live there. The metro does not go there, but there are buses and trains that you can take.

Areas to the West include Kirkland, Beaconsfield, Dorval, pointe Clare. I know many English speakers who settle happily there and it can be quite affordible.

britsnake

Oooh. Just realised that is is a pretty old thread, and that you have probably moved already