Considering Montreal ... Questions needing answers

Wow - over 80 views and no-one has any info on any of the questions I have.  :-/

Hi there. I'm an American expat living in the West Island of Montreal. My husband and I moved here from Austin, Texas for his job in May, so I can answer most of your questions. We've got work permits, but are not PRs, though we'll be applying for that as soon as we're eligible next year. There really aren't a lot of people in your/our situation, so I'll do the best I can to help you. Here goes...

We're considering a move to Montreal from Phoenix, Arizona (we know it's cold up there, so are planning on moving during spring).

This is exactly what we did, and it has worked out great so far. The summer is absolutely amazing, btw. Lots of events, festivals, opportunities to get out and see the city while the weather is supremely pleasant. Fall is actually really nice as well, and the fall foliage is magnificent. And, you also get to adjust to the whole idea of winter a little more gradually.

Questions that we need answers to:

1) We have 2x dogs & 1x cat.  Are there any immigration things that they'll need to go through, boarding, shots, etc.?

We drove into Canada with our 3 dogs and our SUV. We weren't hassled at the border at all; we had rabies documentation for all of them at the ready, and that was it. Bringing animals in from the US is no big deal, even if you fly them into the airport.

2) We do not speak French (yet) and want to move within commuter distance (30-40 minutes, either drive or train) from Rue Saint Antoine Ouest, Montréal - are West Mount or West Island within this range?

Not speaking French is a problem, occasionally. Not reading French is extremely inconvenient to possibly dangerous. Not understanding spoken French just makes interactions awkward. And constantly having to ask people to switch languages feels really rude and obnoxious. As a monolingual Anglophone, I feel kinda excluded by a lot of what is going on in the city, the local media, etc. It isn't a particularly easy language to learn, though reading comprehension is very important to work on first, since signage will all be in French. Traffic signs are in French. Menus are in French. Everything sold anywhere in the province is labelled in French. You should absolutely not move here without spending a significant amount of work learning the language. My piddly 3 years in high school hasn't helped much at all.

As far as commuting and where to live - I'd suggest the West Island. Westmont is pretty pricey, so if you're fine with a condo or apartment, or if budget for a larger place isn't an issue, than it would be fine. West Island is THE place for Anglophones, in my opinion. I'm in Pointe-Claire, but Beaconsfield, and Kirkland are all very nice and most people prefer to speak English in daily life. The commuter trains are also convenient and a cost-effective way of getting downtown. I think my husband pays around $100/month for train and metro, which is WAY cheaper than what it costs to drive. Gas is over $4/gal.

3) We have a 10th grade teen in High School, will they have any problems switching to Quebec school system - tests, curriculum, etc.

I'm not 100% on this, but I don't think your teen is eligible for schooling in English unless you get a waiver. As I understand it, the only kids who are allowed to go to English schools are those who have a parent who was educated in Quebec in English; everyone else, Francophones and immigrants, including Anglophone immigrants, go to French language schools. However, there are a number of private schools in the West Island where English is the language of instruction, and private schools are exempt from the restrictions of the language laws. I'd suggest going that route for your teenager.

4) What are the average price of a rental property per month?

We got a great deal on our house, but you can expect to pay around $1800-2000 for a modest-sized house in the West Island. There are also lots of really amazing homes as well, if you're budget is higher. I'd suggest getting in touch with Michel Fournier; he's a realtor with Remax and the one to start with if you'd be interested in Pointe-Claire. There doesn't tend to be a great deal for rent, though it can be found.

5) We have a 5 person family and would be looking for a house, 4-5 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms - prefer somewhere cottage-like with spacious yard.  Are we dreaming or is this realistic in the above areas?

Actually, if you're going to find something like that in Montreal, it'll be in the West Island, but there isn't a LOT of that. There isn't much new construction, so the majority of homes are older, but have been renovated, but still don't have the spaciousness that most Americans are accustomed to. They don't really do McMansions here, by and large, though I've seen some very large (non-mansion) homes in small pockets here and there. Housing costs much more here than in the Southern US. I'd imagine you're looking at at least 3k/month for something that has 4-5 bedrooms.

6) If I move up on work visa will my wife (she is a US citizen) be able to work while we're there?  Will my 10th grader be allowed to work if they reach older teens while we're in Montreal?

I can't answer about your specific situation, but I can tell you that because my husband has a work permit for his job, I was granted an open work permit. Because of my husband's special skills and the industry he's in, his workplace speaks English maybe 50% of the time, and he gets by without knowing much French. However, I can't find a job because I'm not bilingual. Nearly every job in Montreal will require you to be able to interact with both French and English-speaking customers. I have no idea if your kids would be able to get work permits, though.

7) How long do we have to reside in Montreal to be considered residents, for health-care, etc.?

3 months and then you can apply - the website you need is REMQ - http://www.ramq.gouv.qc.ca/en/citoyens/ … ndex.shtml

10) If there is anyone who has recently moved from the US to Montreal, specifically the West Mount / West Island areas, who could give us the low-down on what to expect I'd appreciate the inside insight!

Westmont is overly pricy, crowded, and a tad pretentious. The housing prices are unreal if you need access to a backyard. West Island is very suburban. There's the Fairview Mall for shopping, plenty of nice grocery stores, a few movie theaters, and lots of other Anglophones. Lots of old people too, though I'm not sure why that is exactly. The West Island is definitely family focused with lots of parks, libraries, kids hockey leagues, etc. It is also a reasonable commuting distance from all the stuff going on downtown as well, so it doesn't feel like we're exiled out here with the other Anglos. People tend to live where their people are. The Italians have St. Leonard and Little Italy, the native Quebecois live on the East End, and the hipsters live on the Plateau, and so on.

Montreal, and the surrounding area, looks like a 180 switch from where we're living right now and we're kinda excited about the prospect of the move.  Some of the kids have not seen / do not remember the fun of snow fall and actual seasons.

I've lived in the Southern US most of my life, and some things are very different here, and others are amusingly consistent. I now know the French words for pretty much everything I eat, and yet our lawn service is still staffed by Hispanic immigrants. The food is wonderful, Canadians really are very nice people, and everybody watches the hockey games. On the downside, the language barrier is isolating and everything here costs more. But overall, it has been a good move for my husband's career, and there are good and bad things about anywhere you live.

I blog at http://txquebec.com and you're welcome to contact me if there's other stuff you're dying to know.

Good luck.

Hi MoCookies,

Thanks for the info, this is very helpful.

I read this with my wife and it all sounds good other than the (somewhat expected) need to have a good grasp of French.

By coincidence we did go on a Club Med  vacation this year and were some of the few native English speakers there, so the family has already been in-the-deep-end in a primarily French environment and I'm glad to say we all came out with flying colors.

I am extremely concerned about the schooling situation as my eldest is at a critical time in her school-life and really doing well, I don't want to put this at risk by throwing her into a French speaking school as this would be supremely unfair - if anyone has any experience with this please let me know.

...vacationing and living in a primarily French environment are two different things though.

Cheers!

I just stumbled on this and also found it really helpful as my husband and I may also be relocating to Montreal.

MoCookies - was it hard to meet people and feel settled?

Happy to help. I remember at this time last year, I was feverishly checking these forums and others trying to decide if we were really moving to Quebec, or not. I'm glad we did. I love my new house. My dogs are happy. My husband is happy. And so this is home. I've moved many, many times so I think this move was probably much less traumatic than it might have been otherwise.

My husband's coworkers really went out of their way to make us feel welcome. In general, Canadians are pretty friendly, and the sense of hospitality here seem very similar to how I was raised in Texas. But to be completely honest, it's been tough living away from my family, and especially my best friend. It takes awhile to build your social circle any time you move to a new place, at least it always does for me, so I'm patient and try to make time to meet new people. In the meantime, I Skype often with folks back home, and keep a US skype number so that my less tech-friendly family members have a way to call when they want to.

Overall, my husband and I love Montreal nearly as much as we did Austin. The food is good, the summers are swell, and we have health insurance.

I have an additional question / something to think about.

I've been looking into schooling and have heard that the only English speaking schools are private schools, the public / state schools are all French and have a compulsory Quebec History exam to be taken in French at the end of High School.

MoCookies - Can I ask whether you have your kids in an English or French school and how they're doing?

This is one of my biggest concerns, making sure that the kids keep up with their good grades and don't loose momentum in their schooling.

Cheers!

I don't have kids yet, and by the time I do, we'll probably be permanent residents, and as such, any hypothetical children would be going to French schools.

I've done a small amount of research on this, but again, I'm not an expert, just a decent researcher. Children of "temporary residents" (work permits, student visas, etc.) are eligible for an exemption, and have the right to go to an English school. There aren't a lot, and enrollment is shrinking because the rules are pretty stringent about who gets to go to English schools.

DECLARATION OF ELIGIBILITY FOR EDUCATION IN ENGLISH

Document certifying the eligibility of a student to receive his education in English because, inter alia, the following situations:

     most of their elementary or secondary education was received in English in Canada;

     most of the primary or secondary to his brother or sister has been received in English in Canada;

     the bulk of primary education of one of his parents was received in English in Canada;

     eligibility for English instruction from one of his parents during his studies in Quebec after August 26, 1977.

This declaration of eligibility is permanent.

TEMPORARY AUTHORITY

Authorization to receive instruction in English for a student who is temporarily in Quebec because of work or study in one of his parents or himself.

This authorization shall not exceed 3 years but is renewable.
QUOTED FROM: http://www.formulaire.gouv.qc.ca/cgi/af … 85&table=0

At any rate, the English schools have a completely separate school system from the French ones. Here are some links so you can check out more info.

Lester B. Pearson School Board seems to run the schools in the West Island, and I've heard good things about the these schools in the local newspapers. http://www.lbpsb.qc.ca/eng/main.asp

English Montreal School Board would cover most other schools on the island, I believe. http://www.emsb.qc.ca/en/index_en.asp

Also, this'll give you some background and explain more about how kids go to CEGEP after 11th grade, but before going on to university. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_Quebec

This page has a list of the private schools: http://www.montrealwestislandrealestate … cation.htm
I don't know any of them from personal experience, but Kuper Academy is near my house, and it looks like a very nice school. http://www.kuperacademy.ca/

Hope that helps clarify things a bit.

Hi guys,

So where are you in your moving plans ?

My husband and I are moving to the West Island in the summer with our three kids. We finally decided to move in Beacon Hill.

And you ?

TTYL,
G.

Right now we're in some kind of holding pattern, waiting on my citizenship to come through.

We're looking to potentially move up there around July/August right now, but my wife will be accompanying me on a company trip at some point between then and now so she can see the city for herself.

If you don't mind me asking how are you set-up for schooling, specifically getting them to/from school?

Is the area you're moving to close to an English school?

Thanks and good luck with the move!

Hi !

Well for us it was really easy. My husband is from the West Island of Montreal (The main anglophone part of the Island) and with three kids we preferred to go there to have more space (really personal decision, if we could have afford a large house downtown, or in Westmount - Outremont or Town of Mount Royal, we would have think twice )

For the school as my husband is from there, he went to the english public school system and our kids are eligible for Public school. Nevertheless, we bought a house really close to the Elementary school near by. This school is a French Immersion one. We would have preferred a bilingual one (our kids are bilingual) but we thought it was silly to make her take the school bus when the other school is so close !

The school have usually school buses to get there and bring them back home. And there is english school in a lot of neighbourhood in the West Island !

For the house, we just bought a 4 Bdrs - 2 bathrooms one. I don't know about renting but if you look on mls (website on google) it could be that there are some for rent !

How old are your kids ? Where do you think you'll be living ?

Take Care,
G.

Good luck on your move. I am also from the southern US. I have been in Montreal 3 years. Having a southern accent (so they tell me) I do get picked on a lot. I was nervous about only speaking english but it hasn't been as big a deal as I thought. Im glad I found this site. I have been missing american conversations.

Welcome on Expat.com SouthernAmerican

SouthernAmerican wrote:

Good luck on your move. I am also from the southern US. I have been in Montreal 3 years. Having a southern accent (so they tell me) I do get picked on a lot. I was nervous about only speaking english but it hasn't been as big a deal as I thought. Im glad I found this site. I have been missing american conversations.

Hi SouthernAmerican,

Where are you in Montreal ?

G.

Im in the Ahuntsic area. Not far from West Island.

Oh Yes I see where that is ! Sorry it took me long to answer but the movers are coming tomorrow and we will be flying to Montreal in two weeks. We have lots to do

Do you like it there ?