Irish girl (fluent French speaker) considering moving to Montréal (home, living in)

[clickcat]

I'm an Irish girl (fluent French speaker) who is considering moving to Canada on the 12-month visa program. I would love to (try out!) living in Montréal, have lived in France and am very passionate about the French language.

I have a strong media / publishing and education background and I am wondering about jobs (anything to start me off) and the fact that I'd be going by myself (am mid-20's) - I know it depends on what effort you make in any city but is it generally a friendly city and is there scope for ambitious people or would that be more Toronto's thing?

Please be patient with me and as honest as possible - would welcome any responses!

Thanks

[jambo101]

Montreal is a friendly city and has one of the largest St Patrick day parades in N America, for some one fluent in French you just cant go wrong with Montreal ,plenty of online job sites such as
Find Jobs. Build a Better Career. Find Your Calling. | Monster.ca

[clickcat]

Originally Posted by jambo101

Montreal is a friendly city and has one of the largest St Patrick day parades in N America, for some one fluent in French you just cant go wrong with Montreal ,plenty of online job sites such as
Find Jobs. Build a Better Career. Find Your Calling. | Monster.ca

Thanks so much for your response jambo101, appreciate it!

[scenic]

I used to live in Ireland, spent a year in Dublin in 1987-88 on a three month student work visa. I loved the life in Dublin and had a crack in spite of the fact it was before boomtime hit the republic. I am saddened by what has happened recently and I hope the country will recover. As far as Montreal is concerned, there is ample opportunity to try your hand at work in publishing and communications. This could also be work in radio or TV or film. A foreigner with advanced language skills in french and a love for the culture will definitely be accepted with open arms. There are a lot of people of Irish descent as Jambo mentioned, an old and prominent community. It is worth trying your luck here and in spite of Torondo's economic dominance in Canada, I still think Montreal packs a bigger punch culturally. The twin-headed hydra that is Montreal, the French/English confrontation makes it somewhat schizophrenic, but the many cultural communities add a spark to the already edgy mix. Immigrants who dont pledge allegiance to french or english exclusively tend to do well. Bienvenue à Montréal!

[green_mariner]

Originally Posted by clickcat

I'm an Irish girl (fluent French speaker) who is considering moving to Canada on the 12-month visa program. I would love to (try out!) living in Montréal, have lived in France and am very passionate about the French language.

I have a strong media / publishing and education background and I am wondering about jobs (anything to start me off) and the fact that I'd be going by myself (am mid-20's) - I know it depends on what effort you make in any city but is it generally a friendly city and is there scope for ambitious people or would that be more Toronto's thing?

Please be patient with me and as honest as possible - would welcome any responses!

Thanks

You speak French? You'll do alright in Montréal.

[clickcat]

Originally Posted by scenic

I used to live in Ireland, spent a year in Dublin in 1987-88 on a three month student work visa. I loved the life in Dublin and had a crack in spite of the fact it was before boomtime hit the republic. I am saddened by what has happened recently and I hope the country will recover. As far as Montreal is concerned, there is ample opportunity to try your hand at work in publishing and communications. This could also be work in radio or TV or film. A foreigner with advanced language skills in french and a love for the culture will definitely be accepted with open arms. There are a lot of people of Irish descent as Jambo mentioned, an old and prominent community. It is worth trying your luck here and in spite of Torondo's economic dominance in Canada, I still think Montreal packs a bigger punch culturally. The twin-headed hydra that is Montreal, the French/English confrontation makes it somewhat schizophrenic, but the many cultural communities add a spark to the already edgy mix. Immigrants who dont pledge allegiance to french or english exclusively tend to do well. Bienvenue à Montréal!

Thank you so much for your post, Dublin life is still a lot of fun let me tell you! It will take Ireland a long time to recover I think but even if it was still booming, to be honest I would still be hoping to go to Canada. I have worked in many forms of media so that there are opportunities like that for immigrants in Montréal is great. It's difficult because I have never been before and I'm currently in Asia which is amazing experience but not for me long-term.

I posted a similar question to my original in the Toronto forum and someone got back to me telling me about the Provincial Nomination Certificate for Québec and it happens that I have enough points to apply. There are also two new direct routes - Toronto and Montréal - starting in Dublin airport in a few months, probably due to the mass immigration.

[scenic]

Yes, well I will be happy if I see a few irish faces on the way. As you mention, the Quebec government's focus on french speaking immigrants is an open door for you. Do take advantage of it. Again I would rather you stayed in Montreal, but if you needed to get on somewhere else in Canada, your immigration acceptability in Quebec would benefit you down the road. Good Luck!

[clickcat]

Originally Posted by scenic

Yes, well I will be happy if I see a few irish faces on the way. As you mention, the Quebec government's focus on french speaking immigrants is an open door for you. Do take advantage of it. Again I would rather you stayed in Montreal, but if you needed to get on somewhere else in Canada, your immigration acceptability in Quebec would benefit you down the road. Good Luck!

Montréal is what I would be aiming for, for sure! The government of Québec province seems to be putting in a lot of effort to attract French speaking migrants but I know people who tell me that there is no work or no great economy in Québec and why would I want to go there... it's frustrating!

[green_mariner]

Originally Posted by clickcat

Montréal is what I would be aiming for, for sure! The government of Québec province seems to be putting in a lot of effort to attract French speaking migrants but I know people who tell me that there is no work or no great economy in Québec and why would I want to go there... it's frustrating!

What about migrants whose first language isn't French, but they can speak French?

[northstar22]

Originally Posted by pirate_lafitte

What about migrants whose first language isn't French, but they can speak French?

I looked up Quebec's immigrant page (because I've always wanted to live in Quebec), and it has a point system for fluent French speakers. It doesn't matter if you're a native speaker, if you speak French fluently you'll get points toward immigration to Quebec.

Immigration-Québec - Home Page