employment in Montreal?

[cathmom]

How hard would it be for a non-French speaking American to find a job in Montreal? Do all jobs expect French?

[aug17girl]

Any job where you would have to deal with the public would require French. In many other workplaces, the first language of work is French. You would also need a work visa or other legal status to work.

 

If you plan to homeschool in Quebec, that is another issue entirely.

[stripe]

Don't you need to show some competency in French in order to immigrate to Quebec?

 

I can't blame you for wanting to go there. It's a great city.

[cathmom]

I'm considering applying to McGill for a PhD program. The spouse of an American student is allowed to work there. But I just started thinking that finding a job in Montreal could be really difficult for my dh, since he doesn't speak French, which may make the whole scheme impossible, although I would absolutely love it.

[Whitworth]

My wife once considered the MPH programme at McGill; from there, we became very interested in the possibility of relocating to Montréal. This led to a genuine interest in the province in general. Montréal is a picturesque, world-class city and I would gladly move there tomorrow. The Eastern Townships, Lennoxville (Bishop's University), Quebec City are all places I would gladly take up residence. That being said, I'll give you the benefit of my research to give you a place to start off.

 

Finding employment is possible, but difficult, as a uni-lingual Anglophone. many jobs in the area desire the applicant to be bi-lingual (English, French). It makes me feel a bit sorry for the uni-lingual Francophones in he area. I'm not sure what type of work your husband is in, but here is a link to some English employment services in the city. http://montreal.about.com/od/careereducationlanguage/a/english_jobs.htm

 

Landing as a temporary resident will require CAQ - http://www.immigration-quebec.gouv.qc.ca/en/immigrate-settle/students/index.html

 

There are English and French school districts in the province. As temporary residents, you may choose either if you wish. There are those who choose to home school in the province. There is a yahoo group for Quebec homeschooling along with several here on this board who actually live in the province and can give you all the information you need. If you decide at a later time to become permanent residents the English school board will, most likely, no longer be an option. (See the Bill 101 or La charte de la langue française here - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charter_of_the_French_Language

 

There are also many private schools in the city area and many families choose that option. Of course you may choose to home school! :)

 

Your children can go to university or a CEGEP in PQ. Here is a link for Québec Residency. http://quebecresidency.concordia.ca/situations.html

 

You will still have to file a US tax return even though all your income may be foreign earned. This applies whether you are a temporary or a permanent resident of Canada. I don't know which state you live in, but states have different definitions of residency. You may want to check into that especially if your state has an income tax. If you decide to retire there, you can still draw your Social Security. The US and Canada have an agreement where credits from one country can be applied to the other. http://www.ssa.gov/international/Agreement_Pamphlets/canada.html

http://www.servicecanada.gc.ca/eng/isp/ibfa/countries/overview/usa.shtml

 

If your family does decide to make the move I would suggest starting French classes. My ds and I are doing just that. Homework may include watching the the Canadiens on RDS online! :D Ah, the benefits of home education!

 

Je me réjouis pour vous ! Bon courage !

 

John

 

[ErinD]

Well, speaking as someone who moved to Montreal 20+ years ago and had to learn the language as I went (because Quebec French sounds not a thing like the French I learned in school!).....English-only jobs are possible, but your best bet is to go through an employment agency. PM me if you'd like some company names and I can see what I can dig up for you.

 

If you speak zero French, you might want to teach yourselves some basics.....Memoria Press's First French would probably do the trick. Or you could take a crash 2-4 week intensive at a language college when you arrive. There's a good one in Old Montreal - pricey (about $800/2 weeks) but excellent, especially with business terminology.

 

As far as homeschooling goes, it is the province from hell. DO NOT, if you come here, register with or notify any school boards unless you want to add misery to your existence. There's a great homeschooling support group though, with weekly classes and field trips you can sign up for.

 

That being said, it's a gorgeous place to live and I came intending to do 3 years of school, married a Montrealer and never left. You'll love it.

[kathymuggle]

Most employers want bilingualism.

[ErinD]

Yes,true, but via an agency I found several good office jobs that did business to the US and did not need French beyond Bonjour.

[kathymuggle]

You are very lucky. I have anglophone family members in Montreal who have trouble finding work due to language issues.

[butterflymommy]

As far as homeschooling goes, it is the province from hell. DO NOT, if you come here, register with or notify any school boards unless you want to add misery to your existence. There's a great homeschooling support group though, with weekly classes and field trips you can sign up for.

 

That being said, it's a gorgeous place to live and I came intending to do 3 years of school, married a Montrealer and never left. You'll love it.

 

I have a friend in Montreal (blainville) who HSed his son for a year but the son had to return back to school and repeat a grade because he "failed his exams." What testing requirements does the gov't impose on HSers? In my state the child has to score 30th %tile or higher on a standardized test which is pretty easy to do. I know this child is highly intelligent so it just made me wonder....

 

Good luck to OP, I would move to montreal tomorrow if I could!

[kathymuggle]

Aside from the French issue….

 

I was born in Montreal and lived there till I was 24. I now live over the Ontario border, and visit about every 2 months (many family members live in Montreal). Here is my take on Montreal:

 

-it is a gorgeous city - really gorgeous. The mountain, the old architecture, the river…bliss.

-it has wonderful culture of all sorts - from dining, to museums, to art….

-it has a slew of private schools to choose from. I probably wouldn't use public schools in Montreal for a variety of reasons. I am not a snob - I have used Ontario public schools, but I have some issues with Quebec ones. At least research school in your area before making any leaps.

-excellent public transportation

-a decent amount of outdoor activities - biking is big there.

 

Cons:

-one of the most big Brothery places I have lived.

-anglophones often feel like second class citizens. This may differ for those not born there. It can be difficult to find work for anglophones (more difficult than for unilingual francophones) there are language issues around signage and ability to get services in English, you may not be able to send your kids to English public school (I can because I have papers - papers! Like a friggin pedigree…..).

-I do not consider Montreal to be overly kid or family friendly

-Montrealers can be really warm and friendly people….they can also be very rude. I know the same can be said anywhere, but they seem more intense about it than in other places.

-Quebec has threatened to separate from Canada 3 times in my lifetime. It always brings up great worries for those who live in Quebec but do not want to separate.

 

I won't live in Quebec - I think the cons outweigh the pros. Everyone has to make their own decision. Good luck!

Edited February 27, 2012 by kathymuggle

[JeneralMom]

I was born in Montreal and lived there until I graduated from McGill. We were considering moving back but changed our minds because I think it would have been hard on my DH and the kids. I do have friends who are Americans whose spouses have gotten jobs at one of the English Unis but they found that they could only get jobs at the Uni also.

 

It is a gorgeous place to live and I miss it every day of my life. I have to disagree that it is not family friendly or kid friendly.

[AHASRADA]

Aside from the French issue….

 

Cons:

-one of the most big Brothery places I have lived.

-anglophones often feel like second class citizens. This may differ for those not born there...you may not be able to send your kids to English public school (I can because I have papers - papers! Like a friggin pedigree…..).

-I do not consider Montreal to be overly kid or family friendly

 

I agree with all of the pp's pros, but especially wanted to highlight these cons. I absolutely adored the city as a teen/young adult. Dreamed of living here, and it can be a great place to live, if you don't have kids, or if you don't mind handing them over to "the system".

 

I certainly don't feel like a 2nd class citizen for being anglophone; on the contrary, unilingual francophones are often seen as backward and uneducated, since English is necessary for commerce, with bilinguals at the top of the heap. Gov't service workers may (rarely) make you feel "less than" if you don't speak French, though. And yes, if you are an "immigrant" (including we Americans), you are required to send your kids to French ps. Only anglophone Canadians can send their kids to English school (the papers the pp was referring to).

 

There are a reasonable number of activities for hsers considering that most of us are under the radar. You must take very careful steps to ensure this remains the case, however. Once the school board knows about you, you're in for it. There is no set score students must achieve on standardized tests in order to continue hsing. If you sign a contract with a school board, they basically make it such that your child has no hope of passing whichever test they choose to administer in order to ensure they return to school. Which leads back to "Big Brother"...

 

Quebec, understandably, is fighting long and hard to maintain their language and culture in the sea of anglophone Canada and US. Therefore, they have systems in place to ensure immigrants assimilate and conform as much as possible. The greatest agent of this assimilation is the public school system.

 

Back to the job situation, most of the time, one's education must be evaluated for "equivalency" to that of Quebec's higher education system. This equivalency is not always granted. Also, for certain careers, it is necessary to be a member of the official Quebec professional association for that field in order to be hired, and a requirement for membership is meeting Quebec's higher education standards, so it's a vicious cycle.

 

Now, don't get me wrong. It can still be a wonderful place to try out for a couple of years, and the environment may be less stifling for temporary residents. In general, though, the atmosphere is quite hostile to those who have traditional/religious family values and/or who refuse to hand over the raising of their children to the state. Seriously.

[cathmom]

I would want my children to attend a French school! One of the main reasons I am attracted to Montreal is because we would be there long enough for my dc to become bilingual. We do not intend to keep homeschooling the younger ones if we do this. We hope to finish out high school for our current high schooler and current 8th grader though, but would be open to sending them to school. So I am not concerned about the homeschooling climate or the papers for English schools.

 

I speak a little French (very little) and as a student at McGill could take French classes. Dh knows none though and has a hard time learning foreign languages. He has lots of experience in HR/office management. An employment agency might be the best option for him there if we decide to do this.

[Diane in CO]

I would want my children to attend a French school! One of the main reasons I am attracted to Montreal is because we would be there long enough for my dc to become bilingual. We do not intend to keep homeschooling the younger ones if we do this. We hope to finish out high school for our current high schooler and current 8th grader though, but would be open to sending them to school. So I am not concerned about the homeschooling climate or the papers for English schools.

 

I speak a little French (very little) and as a student at McGill could take French classes. Dh knows none though and has a hard time learning foreign languages. He has lots of experience in HR/office management. An employment agency might be the best option for him there if we decide to do this.

 

Good Luck! Sounds like it would be a wonderful adventure for the whole family!!!

 

Diane

[Aelwydd]

Now, don't get me wrong. It can still be a wonderful place to try out for a couple of years, and the environment may be less stifling for temporary residents. In general, though, the atmosphere is quite hostile to those who have traditional/religious family values and/or who refuse to hand over the raising of their children to the state. Seriously.

 

 

If you are a traditionalist, or a fundamentalist, I'd say that above is true. You probably would find a lot of the policies and culture stifling. For folks of that persuasion, but who would still enjoy exposure to a bilingual community, I would recommend New Brunswick. It is officially a bilingual province, with a significant number of French immersion schools. My understanding is it's also a much easier place to hs.

[Aelwydd]

I would want my children to attend a French school! One of the main reasons I am attracted to Montreal is because we would be there long enough for my dc to become bilingual. We do not intend to keep homeschooling the younger ones if we do this.

 

This is our thinking as well. We figure that if we are moving partly to give our ds to broaden his cultural horizons, and to become bilingual, then he'd be likely best served in an immersion-type educational atmosphere, not at home where he'd hear and speak English 95% of the time. However, we haven't ruled out hs'ing either. (We do know that as long as we are in Texas, we will most likely continue to hs!)

[kathymuggle]

Ottawa, Ontario is pretty good in terms of promoting bilingualism. There are many public French schools (which may or may not accept anglophones), some private ones, and French immersion programs in most english schools. Ontario is very easy to HS in and I find Ontario less Big Brothery than Quebec. It is much easier for unilingual english to get a job in Ottawa.

[cathmom]

Ottawa, Ontario is pretty good in terms of promoting bilingualism. There are many public French schools (which may or may not accept anglophones), some private ones, and French immersion programs in most english schools. Ontario is very easy to HS in and I find Ontario less Big Brothery than Quebec. It is much easier for unilingual english to get a job in Ottawa.

 

Thanks! I'll have to look and see if there are any German PhD programs in Ottawa. I prefer Quebec because it's closer to our families, but we'll see.

[kathymuggle]

Fwiw - Ottawa is about 2.5 hours from Montreal. It is in the far east of the province. University of Ottawa and Carleton are the universities to check out for German programs.

 

I made it to NYC in about 7 hours, for example.

 

I do think Montreal is a little funkier than Ottawa, but Ottawa has many of the same pros without the negatives. Its pros aren't quite as strong, but its negatives are not quite as strong, either.

[cathmom]

Fwiw - Ottawa is about 2.5 hours from Montreal. It is in the far east of the province. University of Ottawa and Carleton are the universities to check out for German programs.

 

 

 

Thanks! I looked but neither has a PhD in German.

[C_l_e_0..Q_c]

I just found this thread, Cathmom. If you're considering moving to Montreal, we do have quite a few nice Catholic private schools, either French or English. Some of the English ones do not receive govt money, so anyone can attend, blue papers or not, but they're pricey.

 

I've worked with Americans who moved to Montreal, and didn't speak a word of French. It is indeed feasible. Best of luck! And let me know if you come!