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I am 33/m and will be transferred to either the Vancouver or Montreal area temporarily for work. Luckily it i my pick which place to choose. I am a US citizen but was born and raised in Cambodia so I speak French well enough I just need to brush up to become really adept again. I really want to move to Montreal instead of Vancouver but I have heard some bad stories about both places but especially Montreal. The way I have heard from Canadians is that Montreal is no place to be for me.
I work with two Canadians in my office and they are telling me that under no circumstances should I move to Montreal because of serious racism there. But Another guy from our sister office is an American who lived in Montreal for a few years with his wife and he is telling me that Quebec is no more racist than any other province. Yep, I have two Canadians telling me to stay far away from Montreal, and the American is telling me that Quebec is fine and isn't anymore racist than anywhere else. I really don't want to move somewhere that I will be discriminated against. I have every intention of blending in with French and getting to learn about Quebec's culture so it isn't like I am going to go there and stir up trouble. On the other hand I have also heard bad things about Vancouver or as I have heard Hong-couver but not nearly as bad as Quebec. So what's the straight story? These guys are really making Quebec sound like the boondocks so I am not sure what to think. I need to know by the end of the week which place to choose so all advice is appreciated.
I really don't think you have to worry about racism too much if you're moving to any major Canadian city or even most large towns. That's not to say racism might not exist, but then again racism can exist anywhere and there's no such place on earth that you could say is racist free.
The main point though is that in general Canadians are decent, friendly people and while you may meet a few that are outwardly racist they are extremely few and far in between. I have some asian friends and I've never heard of them ever complain about much racism at least here in Toronto and some were born in Canada while others came from Asia. I think more important than racism is what city you prefer to live in. Montreal is a very beautiful historic city, but the winters often suck there. Vancouver has milder weather and is great for people who enjoy being outdoors with all its natural beauty there. So I would say you should consider those factors first before any thoughts of racism which in general is a non-issue in Canada.
I am 33/m and will be transferred to either the Vancouver or Montreal area temporarily for work. Luckily it i my pick which place to choose. I am a US citizen but was born and raised in Cambodia so I speak French well enough I just need to brush up to become really adept again. I really want to move to Montreal instead of Vancouver but I have heard some bad stories about both places but especially Montreal. The way I have heard from Canadians is that Montreal is no place to be for me.
I work with two Canadians in my office and they are telling me that under no circumstances should I move to Montreal because of serious racism there. But Another guy from our sister office is an American who lived in Montreal for a few years with his wife and he is telling me that Quebec is no more racist than any other province. Yep, I have two Canadians telling me to stay far away from Montreal, and the American is telling me that Quebec is fine and isn't anymore racist than anywhere else. I really don't want to move somewhere that I will be discriminated against. I have every intention of blending in with French and getting to learn about Quebec's culture so it isn't like I am going to go there and stir up trouble. On the other hand I have also heard bad things about Vancouver or as I have heard Hong-couver but not nearly as bad as Quebec. So what's the straight story? These guys are really making Quebec sound like the boondocks so I am not sure what to think. I need to know by the end of the week which place to choose so all advice is appreciated.
Ironically, many Canadians are being borderline racist themselves when they label all of Quebec racist...
I have a few Asian friends who lived in Montreal for years, and never have they once complained about racism.
Not saying it doesn't exist at all on an individual scale (it does in Vancouver and the rest of Canada as well), but every time I went to Montreal, I had a good time.
If you like what Montreal offers, go for it. Keep in mind many English Canadians have some prejudice against Quebec, so take what they say with a grain of salt.
Maybe because Americans will actually encourage you to visit the same places they have, or better yet places they have lived before. Whereas most Canadians will try to push you away from their cities.
I haven't seen that much with Quebec though. I've been to Montreal once and all the locals were very prideful about their city/province. The impression I get from Quebec is that the people there are VERY prideful, which is very awesome and refreshing. Can't say the same for Vancouver BC.
I went to Vancouver the other week and once group of locals were just blabbing about how cool it was that I was from Washington and how much Vancouver sucked. They trash talk their own city. One guy then proceeded to chant "USA" in front of everybody, and then later saying he was "just playin" and said that he hates America too?
If you ask me, I'd say go for Montreal. I personally couldn't stand living in a place where people don't even take pride in it and just wish they were somewhere else.
You also forgot to state which US state you are coming from?
Go for Montreal! Can a certain amount of ethnic tension be present in Quebec? Yes, but it will not affect your quality of life as an English and French speaking Cambodian. Any identity politics usually surround the Anglo and Muslim communities and are largely not a huge deal. Vancouver, on the other hand, has a much larger Asian population. This has both strengths and weaknesses. A strength for some is that they are more comfortable when more people in the city look like them, a weakness is that more people will thus have opinions, identities, and notions about your racial identity, and being Asian or Cambodian will be more of a "thing" in Vancouver. Personally, I'd go with Montreal, I've lived in both cities and I get the feeling it'd be the way to go because it's more affordable and is a really great city.
Maybe because Americans will actually encourage you to visit the same places they have, or better yet places they have lived before. Whereas most Canadians will try to push you away from their cities.
I haven't seen that much with Quebec though. I've been to Montreal once and all the locals were very prideful about their city/province. The impression I get from Quebec is that the people there are VERY prideful, which is very awesome and refreshing. Can't say the same for Vancouver BC.
I went to Vancouver the other week and once group of locals were just blabbing about how cool it was that I was from Washington and how much Vancouver sucked. They trash talk their own city. One guy then proceeded to chant "USA" in front of everybody, and then later saying he was "just playin" and said that he hates America too?
If you ask me, I'd say go for Montreal. I personally couldn't stand living in a place where people don't even take pride in it and just wish they were somewhere else.
You also forgot to state which US state you are coming from?
That statement sounds really weird to me. First off, people here are not amazed, impressed or jealous of people who come from Washington State.
On any given day there are many of you wandering around Vancouver.
Simply put, you are not " exotic ". So if anyone said they thought it was " cool " you were from Washington State, they were either new to this area, or being trying to be polite in some quirky way
Vancouverites are very proud of their city. In fact we, and I get accuse all the time of somehow being delusional because we are proud of our city.
That statement sounds really weird to me. First off, people here are not amazed, impressed or jealous of people who come from Washington State.
On any given day there are many of you wandering around Vancouver.
Simply put, you are not " exotic ". So if anyone said they thought it was " cool " you were from Washington State, they were either new to this area, or being trying to be polite in some quirky way
Vancouverites are very proud of their city. In fact we, and I get accuse all the time of somehow being delusional because we are proud of our city.
You must of bumped into a group of whiners.
I probably did.
And you are probably right, with Vancouver I get the impression that the locals are either really proud or really not. Whereas in Seattle people are kinda just meh about the city. More like "it's cool, it's alright", and I also believe that attitude applies to most places in the USA as well, but that's just what I think.
Actually you know what, Seattleites can be a bunch of whiners too, so it's no different. People who complain about the traffic here, cost of living, etc. Basically people who have never been to LA.
However I will tell you though, Nat, probably 90% of the "unproud" Canadians that I've experienced just happened to be from BC and some from Alberta. Not Ontario or anywhere else in Canada.
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