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Wow, I found this thread when looking for information. My husband works for an international company and are looking to give him a non-U.S. 3 yr. assignment. Quebec City is one of the most likely destinations. I have to say, this thread has not given me a very positive feel about the experience.
We have 2 children currently in 1st and 3rd grade, so I have to think about them keeping up in education, and not getting behind due to a language barrier -- although we do want them to learn the language where ever it is we go (most likely French speaking, regardless). I would not be looking for a job, and I am hard of hearing - though it was later in life, and I speak without difficulty. It makes learning a new language difficult, if not nearly impossible - not to mention just hearing people correctly who speak with an accent different from what I am used to.
This is important to my husband's career, but am I going to be completely miserable for 3 yrs. of my life?
My experience: Quebec City is beautiful and the people are wonderful. If you aren't looking for a job then language on a day to day basis will not really be that much of a big deal for you. You can get groceries (labelling everywhere in Canada on food products is bilingual), if you want to order in a restaurant bring a French-English dictionary. Even with a hearing difficulty you should be able to learn enough to get by. Also, while Quebec City is very francophone compared to Montreal, there are still over 7,000 anglophones in Quebec City and I am sure there are others in your situation - maybe check out some ex-pat organizations.
Thanks, that makes me feel a bit better. For some reason, my google searches have not turned up any expat organizations in Quebec City. It was finally a search of "living in Quebec City" that led me to this very discouraging thread. Of course, 7,000 is only 1% of the population . . . not a lot. Does anyone know if Anglophones tend to live in a certain district/neighborhood? That would certainly make things easier.
You should approach living in Quebec in the same way you would approach moving to any other foreign place where a language other than your own is predominant. If you do this and make an effort to learn a little of the language to interact with the locals you won't have any more problems in Quebec City than you will in Dresden, Bratislava, Buenos Aires or Iekaterinburg.
People who have trouble in Quebec are usually those who treat it like it is a gigantic ethnic neighbourhood and expect everyone they run into to switch to English just for them.
Thanks, that makes me feel a bit better. For some reason, my google searches have not turned up any expat organizations in Quebec City. It was finally a search of "living in Quebec City" that led me to this very discouraging thread. Of course, 7,000 is only 1% of the population . . . not a lot. Does anyone know if Anglophones tend to live in a certain district/neighborhood? That would certainly make things easier.
Anglos tend to be spread out all over the Quebec City area and there are no enclaves like in the Montreal area where much of the local life can take place in English or bilingually in English and French.
Local custom says that the most "anglo" areas in Quebec City are Sillery (a ritzy area in the central-west part of the city itself) and Shannon, a semi-rural (almost exurban) area about 30 km northwest of the city.
I think that these two areas probably have proportionately more anglos than other areas, but are still less than 10% anglo overall.
There are probably some anglos who rent out historic properties in the old downtown part of the city as well as part of a "Euro"-type kick.
Oh and I forgot to mention that almost anyone who works in an area frequented by tourists in Quebec will speak at least some English. So although not knowing French will limit your social interactions, on a practical level in the central part of town you can actually "ride" on this tourist-oriented bilingualism.
Lots of anglos who don't speak French but live in Montreal also do this their entire lives, and then get insulted when friendly chit-chat with a waiter in a café in Vieux-Montréal leads to an innocent question like: "So, what part of the States/Ontario are you guys from?".
And they usually recoil to the waiter with a: "What kind of a @%% question is that?!? I was born here and I am every bit a Montrealer/Quebecer as you are, blablabla..."
Does your wife have a friend? What I wouldn't give to meet a Québecois woman and move to Québec.
Does anyone know how a 49 year old New Englander can meet a woman from Québec?
Local custom says that the most "anglo" areas in Quebec City are Sillery (a ritzy area in the central-west part of the city itself) and Shannon, a semi-rural (almost exurban) area about 30 km northwest of the city.
I think that these two areas probably have proportionately more anglos than other areas, but are still less than 10% anglo overall.
This is actually quite helpful, since my husband's work would be located in Ste-Foy.... near Sillery, correct? "ritzy area" meaning a lack of rental property, or meaning "nice place to move your family" . . . or both? Since it will be less than 3 yrs, I'd rather rent, but around here that is very hard to come by in the "nicer" neighborhoods that have good quality schools.
It is just comforting that I may have a bit of an opportunity to make some social acquaintances that are anglophone. My husband has travelled to the site often, and loves it there - and all the people that he has worked with. Of course, in his short term visits they conduct business in English -- I suspect that although he has a pretty good start, he will have a little difficulty as well.
This is actually quite helpful, since my husband's work would be located in Ste-Foy.... near Sillery, correct? "ritzy area" meaning a lack of rental property, or meaning "nice place to move your family" . . . or both? Since it will be less than 3 yrs, I'd rather rent, but around here that is very hard to come by in the "nicer" neighborhoods that have good quality schools.
It is just comforting that I may have a bit of an opportunity to make some social acquaintances that are anglophone. My husband has travelled to the site often, and loves it there - and all the people that he has worked with. Of course, in his short term visits they conduct business in English -- I suspect that although he has a pretty good start, he will have a little difficulty as well.
Sillery is an older, upper crust city neighbourhood. It is in between Ste-Foy and downtown Quebec City (the old town). Not sure about rental options there: you might want to check out mls.ca. Note that you can use the search options in English but that descriptions entered by agents in Quebec may be only in French.
Regarding schools, I think there are four public elementary schools in Quebec City that teach in English. At least two or three of them appear to be within striking distance of the Sillery/Ste-Foy area.
Since their students likely come from wide areas, a neighbourhood's influence on school quality is probably not a factor like it would be in the States. And generally speaking, "good quality local public schools" is not as much of an issue in Canada as it is in the States.
I checked the Quebec City English school board's demographic statistics on poverty, low income and low socio-economic status on the Ministry of Education web site and the anglo schools in Quebec City look OK.
As non-Canadians, you would not normally have access to English public schools in Quebec, but since your husband would be a temporary worker, you should be shoo-ins to get special permission for your kids to attend. (If you were staying here permanently it would be a different story.)
Centralpa - check this out as well - it popped up on google as the "cultural centre for anglophones in Quebec city" - while it is a literary and historical centre, it looks like they offer membership and have events and activities and would likely be a good point of contact to interact with other anglophones.
Centralpa - check this out as well - it popped up on google as the "cultural centre for anglophones in Quebec city" - while it is a literary and historical centre, it looks like they offer membership and have events and activities and would likely be a good point of contact to interact with other anglophones.
This is an excellent tip. As a child our French-speaking family lived in several places in the Canadian provinces outside Quebec where francophones were sometimes only a tiny proportion of the population.
All of these cities had local francophone community groups and though my parents both spoke English reasonably proficiently and had anglo friends as well, they nonetheless gravitated very naturally to the francophone groups and much of their social network revolved around them.
My parents still have friends across the country from this period when the family was semi-nomadic.
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Of course, 7,000 is only 1% of the population . . . not a lot. Does anyone know if Anglophones tend to live in a certain district/neighborhood? That would certainly make things easier.
Morrin Centre in Quebec City
