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We are planning a relocation to Montreal from a close-in suburb of Boston. I only know Montreal a bit from my student days and realize I know nothing about a good place to settle with a family! I'm looking for somewhere with good schools, French-speaking, kid-friendly, and safe. South shore would be fine too, although is there anything nice there? If you think of a relatively well-off french-speaking family with 3 kids in the Montreal area, where would they be likely to live? Some places I've been wondering about are Verdun, Ile aux Soeurs and Outremont.
Please tell me what you know! Pluses/minus of various areas would be especially helpful. Thank you.
I totally recommend the West Island from what you are describing....
It will be french-speaking....where ever you live in Quebec so that concern is pretty much a non-issue.
West Island is known more as an anglophone area so you will be sure to get both languages there.
Beaconsfield is a very nice upscale area in the West Island, Pointe Claire is also very nice.
As the previous poster mentioned, French is present everywhere in the Montreal area, although on the West Island area he recommended it coexists with English. In some sectors of the West Island, you may find English is dominant with French secondary. But on the whole in Montreal and suburbs French is quite dominant pretty much everywhere else.
Generally speaking, this is a very safe metro area, and good areas vs. bad areas are generally questions of esthetics and feel rather than true concerns for personal safety.
I would factor in where you will be working and how you can get there when choosing a place to live, as traffic and transportation issues can be significant in Montreal and have an impact on your quality of life.
Regarding the areas you mentioned, Outremont and ÃŽle-des-Soeurs are upper-crust and leafy, whereas Verdun is working-class gritty but gentrifying. All three are mainly French-speaking but nonetheless diverse with people from many origins and well-implanted anglo minority populations as well.
I am planning to migrate from Nigeria to Montreal with two children between the age of 5 and 6 years, i am actually looking for a place i can live, where my children can communicate in English and be able to attend English speaking schools, and also the issue of English speaking job for me. though we can communicate in french a bit.
I am planning to migrate from Nigeria to Montreal with two children between the age of 5 and 6 years, i am actually looking for a place i can live, where my children can communicate in English and be able to attend English speaking schools, and also the issue of English speaking job for me. though we can communicate in french a bit.
I'd think about Toronto,as Montreal will be too French for your desires..
Cathieq, Google is going to be your best friend when it comes to scoping out Montreal, South shore has all the bungalow communities and a somewhat cheaper price than on island house prices however payback comes in the form of monster daily commutes into town if thats where you will be working.Get a map of Montreal,everything west of the airport is considered west island and is where most English live, Lachine and Lasalle are also good communities to live in, Lasalle being one of the ends of the subway lines.If you are serious about moving here your next couple of vacations should definitely be spent here in Montreal scoping out future communities to live in and dont worry about finding French activities or schools for the kids it wont be a problem no matter where you go in the Montreal area.
In the meantime you can read the Montreal Gazette every day..Montreal Gazette | Latest Breaking News | Business | Sports | Canada Daily News
I'd think about Toronto,as Montreal will be too French for your desires..
Jambo's advice is sound. If you are going to Montreal for "everything but the French" and trying to avoid the French aspect of the city, this is probably the wrong approach.
It sounds like you would probably be best off moving to Toronto or an English-speaking part of Canada immediately. If you are planning on settling in Montreal and have the idea of avoiding French in mind before you even arrive, you will likely end up moving out of Montreal and going to Ontario, Alberta or BC in a few years anyway.
A little advice from someone who lived in the area for almost three years... Whatever you do, do NOT even go around St-Jean-sur-Richelieu. A lot of people around there cannot stand people that speak English. i.e. Quebec separatists.
One day in early 1998, a couple friends and I were bringing a friend to the airport in Montreal, so he could catch a flight home after being medically-released from the Canadian Forces. We stopped at the Tim Horton's in St-Jean and grabbed some coffee and donuts because it was very early (around 4:00 a.m.). A couple of us that understood quite a bit of French overheard one of the two female waitresses saying, "I wish those f***ing English would go back where they belong."
Being Canadian (born/raised in Winnipeg), this really made me quite angry. Here I was in my own country and I was being told to GTFO. This was one of the main reasons why, after being medically-released from the CF due to a disabling accident, I decided to move to the USA.
I got completely sick and tired of Quebec this, Quebec that... Wah, wah, wah... We want more money from the Federal Government. Wah, wah, wah... We're so racist that we have to have French bigger than English on our business signs. Wah, wah, wah... I'm sure you get the point.
Why anyone would want to move to Quebec is beyond me. All I can say is good luck, because you will be needing it. BTW, I hope you love hearing the word "tabernac" almost every minute of the day. It made me want to scream at times.
I hear that kind of attitude all the time but just laugh it off as the rantings of uneducated ignoramuses,you cant throw away Quebecs Geographic beauty and its wonderful cultural diversity due to the close minded xenophobic whining of the separatists.
I am actually migrating to Canada under the Quebec selection program, and i am very much interested in practicing french language, but since i will be visiting Quebec for the first time, i am actually looking for a place where i can get cheap housing and also where i can be able get a job, while i improve my language ability.
If you arent bilingual getting a job could prove challenging,as for cheaper areas of the city? try Verdun or Point St Charles..
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