Liam1901

Hi Rich

How long ago did you move to Montreal and how has it gone for you? Do you live in Montreal itself or in the surrounding areas?
Were looking to come over on the skilled worker visa as we qualify with enough points but will definitely be learning more French than we already know! We are both very excited and saving away so we can start on the right foot rather than rush it!

Shirtback

A couple of thoughts:

I assume you're aware that to immigrate to Qc you need to be looking at the Immigration Quebec requirements, not Express Entry (it's not quite clear to me from previous posts if that's what you're doing).
http://www.immigration-quebec.gouv.q...nts/index.html

And here's the points grid: https://www.immigration-quebec.gouv....e-synthese.pdf

French is not (yet) a requirement, but it would get points for Qc immigration if you take TEFAQ/TEF Canada AND reach at least B2 level.

I live in the Laurentides region, have done for 20 years, but I don't work in Montreal. Friends who do commute tend to drive to Blainville, park and get the train in, or drive to Laval and hop on the Metro (Montmorency).

I agree with the poster who mentioned Hudson, it's a lovely area albeit quite expensive for real estate.

If you can narrow down where in the Laurentides you're looking, I might be able to comment further...

neill

Don't think you need to be even moderately good in French if you are getting a work permit (as opposed to permanent residence) and have a pre-arranged job in Quebec. Knowing some French helps though.

scilly

Knowing French certainly does help!!

We've been in areas of Montreal, shopping etc, where the response to an English-speaker is dire.

We've had taxi drivers in Montreal who could not speak English ........... I asked one to take me to the Botanical Garden, and she wanted to know "quelle hopital" that was

Good job I remembered the words Jardin Botanique!

We had an American friend who was driving around the country outside Montreal, and restaurant owners and servers would refuse to speak to him in English, and pretended not to understand him.


Of course, we've also had excellent times in Montreal and vicinity, and have many close friends from there

Lychee

Montreal is one of the rare cities in Canada where one actually does not require a car to get around. You can actually get by on public transit as long as you live in the heart of the city. I would heavily advise experiencing life in the city near where you work without aiming for a commuting lifestyle, which is, in my opinion, completely unnecessary. Experience the city, how it flows, Québec culture, society, politics, etc. at least for the first year within Montreal, which will make your life easier to adjust and adapt, and only then once you get a handle of your new lifestyle and you've developed a local social circle, start your research on life outside of the city. What seems like a rosy, romantic picture on the outside may not entirely be desirable once you're living the reality of day to day life.

dbd33

My daughter lived in a project of Stalinesque low rise apartment buildings near the Olympic stadium and worked in an Algerian owned bakery there. She said that hardly anyone spoke English but most spoke some form of French. That would seem to be an area to avoid if you have only English.

In her next stint in Montreal she lived on the Plateau which she said was cosmopolitan, bilingual and up itself.

Davita

Surely Vancouver is equally easy to use public transport or when walking or cycling.
I was there in June and used public transport everywhere and, as a senior, relatively inexpensively, especially on weekends and holidays.
I met a senior lady who has a monthly pass (CDN$52) which allows her to travel anywhere in the public transport system.
My cheapest trip was when leaving a boat trip to Bowen island and, on Canada Day, travelling back to my friend's house in Tsawwassen in South Vancouver.
The return ferry from Bowen to Horseshoe Bay was free... a bus to City Centre then down the escalator to the Canada Line subway then down another escalator onto a bus at Richmond casino to Tsawwassen cost CDN$1.75.

Liam1901

Hi Shirtback,

Thanks for the link! I will check that out

We had a look at Hudson and thought the houses were on par with those on Monteregie in terms of price?
For Laurentides we were looking at saint-Antoine. (Unless you could suggest any other places?)
For Monteregie we were looking at carignan, Vaudreuil-Dorion or Mont Saint-Hilaire

Other places that people have mentioned to me are Hudson and Laval-Ouest

Thank you

Liam1901

Oh really? I had presumed we would have to speak French in the workplace?

Souvy

The east end is overwhelmingly franco. The west end isn't. Walk around the downtown core and you will hear as much English as French. I stayed in a large downtown hotel a couple of years ago where the default language setting for all staff was English.

scilly

Some of our Montrealer friends are true francophones ............... they grew up speaking only French, learnt it either while at university or shortly after, and most of their daily life at work and at home is spent speaking French.

They are all highly educated, can give speeches in English and write papers in English .......... although a couple of them write in French first then translate the work into English themselves. A couple of them have become truly bilingual, by which I mean they have no or very little accent in either language. One can still be hard to understand in English, especially when he gets excited or tired

When we visit with them, we are out of the tourist downtown core and into the true franco part of the city.

It is actually very interesting to talk with them re the English/French divide ......... remembering that we have known most of them for 40+ years, and we talk freely when together. One of them said that he was raised to believe that English Canada was very different, until he went to an Ontario university ca 1972-ish to do his PhD when he realised there was no difference between "us and them".

neill

It depends on the workplace. No one forces you to speak French, i.e. it's not the law about what comes out of your mouth, all the law demands in Quebec is that French be the first language of communication and a person in Quebec is entitled to be addressed in French if desired. Even then, that's not the case except from the odd audit by the language police (OQLF). You could also get the odd employee who will refuse to speak in English but he or she is more likely to have issues getting along with anyone reasonable in my experience.

scilly

I always find it very interesting that while Canada is officially a bilingual country, the only officially bilingual province is New Brunswick, the remainder are still officially uni-lingual which is why you may have trouble finding services in the other official language

It can make for an interesting discussion ........... which should be other "official" language(s) for services in the different provinces.

I personally would also include British English and American English in the "other" languages

Souvy

I have never found it a problem. Revenu Quebec etc all communicate with me in English. They probably don't have to but they do. My bank communicates with me in English. That is just being pragmatic.

It has often been the case in shops that people have switched to English after hearing me talk to my wife or son. That is being polite.

This language thing is not nearly as big a deal as some people like to make out. Only politicians really care. The average person doesn't give a toss.

Liam1901

Ah we were under the impression everyone spoke French constantly! From a website we were reading they were saying if you speak in English they will ignore you! Glad to hear it's not like that!