Possible move to Montreal - advice for UK family

Feamac New member

Member since 09 September 2014

FeamacNew member22 February 2015 10:50:16

Hi All,

My husband is in talks with a company about a possible move to Montreal.

We do not speak French, but the project is being run in English. As a family we are 100% committed to learning French.

We have two little girls - nearly 5 & 3.

There's alot of useful information on this site, but I'm looking for more up to date info specific to living in Montreal from 2015 onwards.

Where do you find clear information about how the tax system works - including provincial & national tax, insurances, tax rebates, etc. The salary will be in the region of $150k.

Schools - any advice would be useful. Have you made a similar move with young children? We were planning to send them to a Steiner school in the UK - do you know anything about the Steiner school in Montreal?

Accommodation - average rentals in the city or living rural - where's a good location close Montreal city? Anything else to be aware of?

Winter Activities - what's going on for families?

Winter fuel costs - power bills

Purchasing a car - Any info would be helpful.

Stat days - how many do you get a year?

Whether we proceed or not, I've enjoyed reading about your beautiful city. We have moved & lived in lots of places (NZ, Aus, USA, UK) - we are always up for a new challenge & Montreal would probably be the biggest challenge we have ever taken on.

Thanks in advance for your help.

See also

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James ViP

Member since 20 June 2010

Brazil & Canada Expert

JamesViP22 February 2015 11:16:43

11272

Feamac,

I don't know anything about the Steiner school, but can tell you from my own experience of 28 years as a teacher, both in Canada and Brazil that the public education system in all Canadian provinces has a worldwide reputation for excellence.

Public education offers both French Immersion schools and English Immersion schools throughout the country. Your children are going to adapt and acquire the new language much easier and much more quickly than you and your husband ever will, especially if they are placed in the traditional French as a Second Language school system. Chances are that their involvement in school will draw you and your husband into a circle of concerned parents and thus expose you both to a new social circle too, if you are open to it. This will have the end result of making your adaptation to life in Canada much more successful.

Far too many newcomers to Canada try to isolate themselves from the surrounding community, forge ties within their own expat group... totally harmful to the adaptation process. Get involved, become a part of the surrounding community, not be seen as separating yourself from it. That's the key to success.

Cheers,
James
Expat-blog Experts Team