My husband has the potential to work in Montreal for 3 years with his company and we are looking at the options just now. We have a 5 year boy and 3 year old girl just now and our son is in his first year at primary school and is very settled. My daughter also attends nursery each day and loves it but not sure if there is an equivalent in Canada. I can take a career break from my job so I can be there to help settle kids etc but not sure of taxes etc as we would have to live off one income. My husband is on a good wage in Scotland and if this was matched in canada he would be earning over 100,000 Canadian dollars but I have no idea if this is enough as no idea what deductions come off etc coupled with living costs. I am also concerned about schools for my son as he does not speak a word of french ( I did high school French, as did my husband, but I cannot remember any of it so would need to learn) and I don't want him to hate school because he does not understand. Although we have some apprehension and concerns over taking children away from loved one, we are still enthusiastic about the opportunity. Any advice would be greatfully received.
Thanks

Im guessing that this will be an Intra Co Transfer providing he qualifies as per this manual section 5.31 pages 59-70.
As its Montreal then if nobody speaks French then you may find it difficult.
If earning the same wage then IMHO you are better off staying in the UK rather than the potential of upheaval of family, schooling, living etc etc.

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resourc...w/fw01-eng.pdf

Former lancastrian

Thank you for taking the time to read and reply. Yes it would be an inter company transfer. With regards to the salary and being better off staying in the UK- I said in my post that his salary would possibly be over 100,000 Canadian dollars but could actually be closer t0 125, 000 Canadian dollars before tax, and I had a quick look at an information about Canadian country and province tax and it doesn't appear to be anymore than he pays at the moment - if not is less. Not sure if there is some other big expense in canada other than the ones we pay here
Like mortgage, bills etc. I had a look at a comparison site of living costs that gets updated regularly and it seems Montreal is cheaper in a lot of areas than where we live in Scotland. We are just looking at this for the money but for the experience for us all and for lifestyle choices etc I am a teacher and teach in a multicultural school and see the huge benefits to young children at getting the chance to live in another country for a period of time and also how quickly they adjust even if they arrive not speaking the language.

Thanks

Quebec has a number of child friendly tax dodges, so that will soften the blow. For those without kids Quebec has a reputation for high taxes.

Ironically in Ontario people clammor to put there Anglophone kids in French Immersion schooling, but I suppose with no English support its a different situation.

Actually, there is an English School Board in Montreal (who would have thought!)

http://www.emsb.qc.ca/emsb_en/index_en.asp

Some are English, some are Bi-lingual schools ans some immersion (see list): http://www.emsb.qc.ca/emsb_en/pdf_en...2013-09-24.pdf

Information for international students: http://www.emsb.qc.ca/emsb_en/pdf_en...l_students.pdf

Although there is an "English" school system in Montreal it is unlikely you will be able to access it. the laws in Quebec funnel the children of immigrants into the French System.

As for taxation in Quebec the top rate of taxation is ~44% and this rate kicks in at annual salaries of over 60K. You can get low cost child care and tax refunds on child care expenses. You can also access free French language tuition.

Having little/no French makes things difficult but not impossible. Montreal is possibly the most tolerant city in Quebec (i lived there for 6 years) and there are spots of anglophone populations in Westmount, The West Island and Hudson/Saint Lazare region.

With regard to schooling perform a google search for "bill 101", which is the law that requires that the children of newcomers attend a French speaking school. I am not sure whether this applies to private schools but I don't think it does- you can probably send them to an English speaking private school.

Your son is young but children of that age pick up a new language to native level and quickly at the age of five. In that respect I think you'd be giving them something special by bringing them to Montreal as they'd both become bi-lingual.

If you're on a temporary work permit you can go to english schools, which will still have minumum 40% french immersion but the administration and chatting in the corridors will be in english!

Kindergarten starts at age 5 and even then there isn't usually an emphasis on reading and writing, this comes in Grade 1. So if your son started in kindergarten in the UK at age 4 then he may be bored here....could work in his favour if you choose a 100% french school though (not our experience, our daughter was bored and unhappy even at a french school at age 5 when we moved)
Good luck with the decision! It is an upheaval but also a great opportunity esp. if you can move back in 3 years with a job etc to go back to

Hi


The children of Temporary Foreign Workers can choose the language of instruction for their children in Quebec. It is only PRs who don't have the choice. See: http://tinyurl.com/bkmuw4s

Temporary foreign workers can choose the language of instruction and the educational institution of their children for the duration of their stay.

Thanks to everyone for their advice and info. I think we would have a little time before we would be moving so I could probably brush up on my high school French so I didnt feel totally lost when we got there. If my husband was earning 70,000 Canadian dollars ( which is what might be left after tax) would this be a reasonable amount to live off? We would not have child are expenses as I would not be working and I think his company pay our tent for the first 6 months. We would rent out our house at home while we are away.

We've been in Montreal just over 6 years on Work permits send me a private Pm
will give you the low down on anything you want to know
P.s We still don't speak french you will be fine

Why not post your advice here - then everyone can benefit.

montreal is a nice place, they mostly all speak English, in fact the people we stayed with , english was their 1st language, but they were fluent in French aswell.. it would be an experience, but not sure about uprooting your older child... speaking to French people ( from France ) french canadian is very different to the french spoke in France... the french women I spoke to, said she actually couldn't understand them, so french immersion may not be beneficial, unlless you plan on staying there...

As a bilingual French and English person brought up in London but who speaks Parisian French and English fluently, I have to say that the Quebec accent in French still counts as completely mainstream French. Yes, it takes a bit of getting used to but it's just comparable to a strong Scottish accent. French from France get used to the Quebec accent quickly whereas the French accents from France are easy for all Quebecers to understand. It's a bit like if you compared an English person who couldn't understand a Scottish person speaking fast, but you wouldn't expect a Scottish person to have trouble understanding an English person in the same way. The reason is because Scots are a minority relative to English, there're much fewer of them so they come across the English accents all the time on television but the English come across a Scottish accent not as often. In the same way, the Quebecers are subjected to the mainland France French accent from a young age- in the same way on television, etc- in the same way that us Brits are subject to, and used to, the American accent in the same way.

This Irish guy learned (mainland France) French from scratch as an adult and in this video is interviewing a Quebecer for 15 minutes and I can confirm (as can anyone else who speaks French) that he understands her perfectly.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dw5Re7k1KBA

Honestly, there is no way a child (or adult) who learns to speak French in Quebec would have any trouble whatsoever in understanding people in France!

I don't disagree with the above at all and friends in Paris always described the Quebec accent as being warm and friendly (perhaps a slight put down, Londoners might say the same about the accent of Somerset).

However, my children attended a French language school in Toronto and there was a fantastic degree of snobbery there about not sounding like someone from Quebec or, worse, an Ontario francophone. "25 rabbits" was one of the test expressions, they didn't look kindly on anyone who mentioned "lapoing".