# Kiwi moving to Montreal/Quebec



## SamNZ (Jun 8, 2009)

Bonjour a tous,

A little about myself, my name is Sam, I'm 27 years old and will be moving to Montreal in August 2010. Since 2007, I have managed to live in Australia, England and France. My goal now is to spend a year working and travelling in Canada. 
I chose Canada because I keep hearing about how great the Country is; but yet, I know nothing about the Country nor have I ever visited. I'm still stuck trying to decide if I want to live in Montreal or Quebec. Apparently the Montreal Canadiens are a pretty good team.

My arrival in Canada is roughly 12 weeks away so I figured it is a good time to start planning where to live, work and play.
My 12 month WHP has been approved, flights booked and insurance confirmed.

Could I please have some website recommendations on the following:

1. Place to temporary stay for 2 weeks during my arrival in Montreal while I search for a shared flat?
2. Good IT job websites or recuiters I can get in contact with? (I'm a Systems Engineer)
3. Nice locations to live in Montreal and possibly price range.
4. Do I REALLY need to validate my professional credential? 

Thanks in advance. Tips are most welcomed.

Sam


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## watatatow (Mar 26, 2010)

Regarding Quebec City versus Montreal, it depends on your lifestyle and certain practicalities. Firstly, Montreal is a bilingual city, Quebec City is a mostly French-only city. There are also more jobs in Montreal than in Quebec City, but by the same token there are more jobs in Toronto but you decided to go to Quebec, so clearly that's not the only criterion. 

So aside from those practicalities, how to choose your city depends a lot on your desired lifestyle. Montreal is a metropolis that doesn't sleep, it's bilingual, and has people from everywhere on the planet. It's well connected for travel all over the Northeastern America by bus and by train. There is also lots of variety that comes with it being a big city (half of Quebec lives there). Quebec City is smaller, infinitely prettier, cleaner & quainter, has more historical buildings (it's the capital of the province of Quebec), and generally a slower pace. Quebec City is also closer to the really pretty & hilly wilderness of Quebec. They're both good choices but they're quite different. Depends what you want, I could see reasons for wanting to live in either one.

Regarding somewhere to stay for two weeks, I'd recommend the YHI hostel. The ones in Montreal and Quebec City are centrally located and shouldn't be a problem to use as a base. Regarding flats, there is one thing you should know about appartments in Quebec. Leases are almost always 12-months, and they start almost always on July 1st. Some people do have their leases start on September 1st (which is more rare) which coincides with the beginning of the school year.

As for jobs:
jobboom.com
monster.ca
Workopolis.com
working.com (newspaper classifieds)

As for where to live in Montreal, this really depends on your lifestyle. I'd recommend avoiding the suburbs mainly from a convenience standpoint, and staying on the island, and within walking distance of the subway. Beyond that, there isn't really a neighbourhood that is dangerous to be in. Some areas are very poor but that's all they are, poor, not necessarily unsafe. There is an "arty" neighbourhood, many posh neighbourhoods, a gay neighbourhood, several student neighbourhoods, and several immigrant neighbourhoods. There are two big markets in Montreal and if you're a foodie you won't want to live too far from there. At the same time, it depends on where you work. It's a big city and you can easily spend 1 hour going to work by public transit, and I imagine you wouldn't want to waste a lot of time sitting in the bus 

Finally, regarding professional credentials, I don't know, sorry.

Hope this helps


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## SamNZ (Jun 8, 2009)

Hi,

Thanks for the information, it has helped me a lot.

I have found a private room in a hostel in Montreal to allow me to settle down.
I was unaware that Montreal was bilingual. For that, I will keep trying to find a job in Quebec City mainly becuase I need to improve my French.

The job websites have been very helpful, I am now trying to update my resume so I can send out to all the recruiters.

As for place to stay, I think I consider myself a city slicker. I would generally try to live within 15 mins to work or the city. Can you recommend a region I can concentrate around?

Regards,

Sam


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## JGK (Dec 12, 2009)

SamNZ said:


> Hi,
> 
> Thanks for the information, it has helped me a lot.
> 
> ...


In that case, get a map of the city and Metro system and check out the neighborhoods close to the stations.


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## scharlack (Nov 21, 2008)

SamNZ said:


> Bonjour a tous,
> 
> A little about myself, my name is Sam, I'm 27 years old and will be moving to Montreal in August 2010. Since 2007, I have managed to live in Australia, England and France. My goal now is to spend a year working and travelling in Canada.
> I chose Canada because I keep hearing about how great the Country is; but yet, I know nothing about the Country nor have I ever visited. I'm still stuck trying to decide if I want to live in Montreal or Quebec. Apparently the Montreal Canadiens are a pretty good team.
> ...


Hello,

Question number 2 -

I would like to add ca dot indeed dot com. You'll find it pretty useful!

Questions number 4 -

IT professionals are usually not required to validate their credentials. If your university diploma is in English or French that should be enough. Fortunately (for foreigners) IT is much more compatible to the Canadian market than professions like lawyers, doctors, dentists, etc.

In case you have Microsoft, IBM, SAP, etc certifications you don't need to validate anything as they are valid worldwide.

Good luck and enjoy Canada!

Cheers


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## SamNZ (Jun 8, 2009)

Thanks for the additional information. 
Its definitely making life easier for me although jobs are still hard to come by.
I have also found 2 great websites for short-term accomodation
Montreal Furnished Apartments Student Housing Studio Vacation Rentals
Montreal Vacation Rentals, Furnished Apartment & Holiday Homes Rentals Montreal GlobaRent.com

Sam


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## nikitay97 (Jun 26, 2010)

hey sam, 

i moved to montreal from vancouver two years ago. i am pretty knowledgable abou the city and i hope my info helps you out. 

montreal isnt really bilingual, it is the law that in most companies french has to be the language of bussiness. most of us -anglos- work in call centers because it is the only job you can get in montreal if you dont speak french. 

so when you are looking for an IT job, they will likely require that you speak french, so no need to move to quebec city if you are looking to work in french. 

as for neighborhoods to live in:

the west island is anglophone, the east island is francophone. 

there are lots of hoods to choose from, NDG, cote-de-niege....

you want to live in a place called -le plateau mont royal- also known as -the plateau- this neighborhood is kind of done-up to look like paris, there are lots of young people, lots to do. it is the best place to live in MTL for sure. 

i live in this area, i would recomend getting an apartment close to -rue mont-royal- (which is the main strip) and between saint-denis and papineau. 

so get an apartment parallel to mont-royal and between saint-denis and papineau, which is about a ten block area. 

hahaha, there are lots of quebecois taverns on mont-royal that you can chill in if you feel the need to work on your french. 

anyways mate, montreal is great. waaaaaaayyyyy better than quebec city! way better. i really recomend the hood i live in, its where everything is happeneing right now. 

best of luck, pm me or post if you have anymore questions.


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## colchar (Oct 25, 2011)

movinghelper said:


> Hello sam,
> 
> I had a hard time choosing what neighbourhood to live in when I arrived in *Montrea*. I had only visited a few times prior to the big move. Try this new site called “moderated)” and see what areas they suggest - it’s like a neighbourhood curation tool that let’s you know where in the city is best for you. Here’s the link > (moderated] Here you just get save time and expenses..




You necroposted in a four year old thread so that you could post spam? Seriously, WTF?


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