LadySofia

Hi all, im a 22 year old student thinking of a move to quebec after i graduate with a physics degree with a partner who will soon graduate with a degree in IT.

But having never been to Canada its hard to know the culture and quality of life of quebec, could any one help fill me in a bit with the lifestyle there please?

wizzard

Go to the Kitchner/Waterloo area in Ontario. They are currently churning out top physics/egineering/computing graduates and so have a local economy based on it, Perimiter Institute for physics, RIM, Google just opened up their largest operation outside the US there etc etc

Lilipuddlian

uh -- unless you are bilingual, don't bother.

Novocastrian

The Perimeter Institute might be aiming a bit on the high side for a new graduate, don't you think?

To the OP: if you know what you're doing by choosing Quebec (i.e. if your functionally bilingual) then Laval University outside Montreal is your best shot.

LadySofia

Wizzard, i will certainly google this thank you very much.

Novocastrian, i am currently in the process of learning french and believe by the time of a move (3-4) years i will be fluent. thank you for that suggestion too, i will take a look

bgpz

OP didn't say what level of degree they'll have in physics - but from their age, I'd assume bachelors, maybe masters... and although Perimeter Institute would probably be a bit of a high reach, I'd suspect the University of Waterloo has a pretty tasty grad studies program on the back of this.

Also, as someone else said, the surrounding area (Kitchener-Waterloo) has a *lot* of spin-out companies, etc on the back of UWaterloo/RIM/etc - have a look at http://www.waterlootechjobs.com/en/ to get a feel for what's around.

But a couple looking to have careers in physics and IT in Canada... K-W seems to be a no-brainer in terms of job opportunities. No question.

One other thing: I'm sure others can correct me if I'm wrong, but (assuming the OP is a UK national) Quebec might not be the easiest place to migrate to fromthe UK - the province has its own immigration regulations, and IIRC anglophone Canada is a lot easier in the first instance... why not, say, locate to Ontario and then if you're still set on moving to QC, do it once you've landed?

(McGill and Concordia are the big anglophone universities in Montreal, btw - if you're still set on trying )

Novocastrian

I've nothing at all to disagree with in this post, but if the OP is fixated on Quebec, either because they want to speak french, or because they know that (if you are bilingual) Quebec is by far the most civilized province in Canada, then I stick by my recommendation of Laval.

L'Universite de Laval has spawned just as many high tech spin-offs as KW or anywhere else in Canada and has better funding in physics and IT.

Lilipuddlian

I cannot understand the fixation everybody has with choosing Quebec as a province to move to, especially when they know no French? I am just finishing my Masters in Policy and remember that Quebec's immigration policy might be a bit more, umm... aggressive. Is there a backdoor for all these folks, assuming that they jump through the French language hoop? Seems a lot of peopel are choosing Quebec first.