My friends, who are young couples with kids, tell me that Quebec province is the best province for family and stability in life. Quite nice, actually.
How is Québec and Montréal for raising a family of five?
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I confirm that the city is quite nice. I lived in various provinces of Canada and Montreal is one of the best cities to raise a family. The fact that according to 2020 report the cost of an average housing unit in West Vancouver is 2 million dollars; in Toronto is 1 million; and in Montreal is 500k. also helps. While almost all areas in Montreal are super safe, be careful where to buy because some areas will experience high appreciation in real estate prices while others are clearly overpriced.
For an overview of the city, have a look at this video by Montreal Vacation Travel Guide Expedia: shorturl.at/cqwN0
Canada is cold. Yet, Montreal is in the Southern part of Canada and is way warmer in winter than, say, Calgary/Edmonton in Alberta or Winnipeg in Manitoba. In fact, Montreal is much warmer than any city in Minnesota.
There many national parks both as close as 20 minutes from Downtown Montreal and as far as the Atlantic Coast: shorturl.at/bhloJ
I've purchased the yearly family membership on https://www.sepaq.com/pq/ and visited a dozen parks. Summers in Quebec are amazing, the temperature is high during both daytime and nighttime. I would say Montreal has perfect weather from May to October to visit nature and spend time outdoors.
When I lived in Montreal, I basically spent every weekend with kids in our Botanical Garden (that has both interior space and outside gardens) : shorturl.at/otCJ7
shorturl.at/bguxVAnother great place to go with kids is the Biodome :
shorturl.at/zPV68
The best part regarding all these places is that yearly family ticket is below 90 dollars for a family.I am into classical music and I regularly went to shorturl.at/ijCD4
I am also into jazz, so I enjoyed jazz festival in summers. In fact, once it becomes warm, several streets in center city close down and the whole Montreal transforms into one big festival (including Francofonie, International Jazz, Just for Laughs, etc.) Montreal International Jazz Festival alone is attended by 2 million visitors.One third of the city speaks English and if you work at McGill or Concordia and you live in an English neighborhood such as West Mount or Kirkland you won't even need to speak French. Yet, your kids will most likely grow up bilingual since most children speak both English and French these days.
There are several issues in Montreal related to the quality of roads and smaller selection of merchandize on Canadian Amazon than on US Amazon. However, I found these and other issues perfectly manageable.
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I confirm that the city is quite nice. I lived in various provinces of Canada and Montreal is one of the best cities to raise a family. The fact that according to 2020 report the cost of an average housing unit in West Vancouver is 2 million dollars; in Toronto is 1 million; and in Montreal is 500k. also helps. While almost all areas in Montreal are super safe, be careful where to buy because some areas will experience high appreciation in real estate prices while others are clearly overpriced.
I lived in Montreal as well as across Canada and can confirm this, too. Housing is cheap and crime is low. It's true that the city is diverse, but if you don't get any negative utility from looking at diverse people, then Montreal is one of the best places to live in the world.
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I confirm that the city is quite nice. I lived in various provinces of Canada and Montreal is one of the best cities to raise a family. The fact that according to 2020 report the cost of an average housing unit in West Vancouver is 2 million dollars; in Toronto is 1 million; and in Montreal is 500k. also helps. While almost all areas in Montreal are super safe, be careful where to buy because some areas will experience high appreciation in real estate prices while others are clearly overpriced.
For an overview of the city, have a look at this video by Montreal Vacation Travel Guide Expedia: shorturl.at/cqwN0
Canada is cold. Yet, Montreal is in the Southern part of Canada and is way warmer in winter than, say, Calgary/Edmonton in Alberta or Winnipeg in Manitoba. In fact, Montreal is much warmer than any city in Minnesota.
There many national parks both as close as 20 minutes from Downtown Montreal and as far as the Atlantic Coast: shorturl.at/bhloJ
I've purchased the yearly family membership on https://www.sepaq.com/pq/ and visited a dozen parks. Summers in Quebec are amazing, the temperature is high during both daytime and nighttime. I would say Montreal has perfect weather from May to October to visit nature and spend time outdoors.
When I lived in Montreal, I basically spent every weekend with kids in our Botanical Garden (that has both interior space and outside gardens) : shorturl.at/otCJ7
shorturl.at/bguxV
Another great place to go with kids is the Biodome :
shorturl.at/zPV68
The best part regarding all these places is that yearly family ticket is below 90 dollars for a family.
I am into classical music and I regularly went to shorturl.at/ijCD4
I am also into jazz, so I enjoyed jazz festival in summers. In fact, once it becomes warm, several streets in center city close down and the whole Montreal transforms into one big festival (including Francofonie, International Jazz, Just for Laughs, etc.) Montreal International Jazz Festival alone is attended by 2 million visitors.
One third of the city speaks English and if you work at McGill or Concordia and you live in an English neighborhood such as West Mount or Kirkland you won't even need to speak French. Yet, your kids will most likely grow up bilingual since most children speak both English and French these days.
There are several issues in Montreal related to the quality of roads and smaller selection of merchandize on Canadian Amazon than on US Amazon. However, I found these and other issues perfectly manageable.Mostly on point but if you think those tiny hills near the city are actually national parks, lol you haven’t traveled much. They Aretha equivalent of state parks, and pretty lame ones at that.
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Good luck enrolling your kids in an English-speaking school.
All in all, it is a little Third World island within North America.This person is dumb but raises one good point. If you or your spouse did not attend an English high school in Canada then your kids can't go to any English school that receives public funds. That includes most of the private schools in addition to all the public schools. Of course there are many excellent French schools, and if you did attend an English high school in Canada the policy doesn't matter, but it's something to be aware of.
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And isn't the language problem a sign of the many other issues Montreal has?
Good luck enrolling your kids in an English-speaking school.
All in all, it is a little Third World island within North America.This person is dumb but raises one good point. If you or your spouse did not attend an English high school in Canada then your kids can't go to any English school that receives public funds. That includes most of the private schools in addition to all the public schools. Of course there are many excellent French schools, and if you did attend an English high school in Canada the policy doesn't matter, but it's something to be aware of.
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Raised two kids in Montreal from birth to middle school. Safe, inexpensive (in particular housing and electricity, which important for heating), easy to integrate (except the East part of town). We never had a car (rented for day trips), so you can save that as well. Winter are cold and long, but kid are good with it. Good communications in town and to other places. We stayed within city limits about a dozen short blocks for the subway. Kids learned French for life.
Drawbacks: few kid amenities for a city that size: no zoo, science museum is for adults, language politics get annoying
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One does not have to take up permanent residency in Canada. You can work on visa. Then, you can send your kids to an English speaking school. Of course, if you send them to a private school, you can choose among the best English schools in West Island, West Mount or Hampstead, if you want to. Even if you are a Canadian citizen. No restrictions are placed on private schools. They cost anywhere b/w 10k and 25k. per year.
Also, as a foreigner, you will have several years (I believe 5) of paying virtually no provincial tax. Then, you can get PR (permanent residency) and Canadian citizenship right away, since you've lived enough. Even years living in Canada on work visa count towards citizenship. One year counts as 6 months.
If you don't like to pay provincial tax in Quebec, you can always move to Alberta where the taxes are low and the salaries are high.
Good luck enrolling your kids in an English-speaking school.
All in all, it is a little Third World island within North America.This person is dumb but raises one good point. If you or your spouse did not attend an English high school in Canada then your kids can't go to any English school that receives public funds. That includes most of the private schools in addition to all the public schools. Of course there are many excellent French schools, and if you did attend an English high school in Canada the policy doesn't matter, but it's something to be aware of.
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That was in the past. Montreal has changed a lot. There is a great science museum for kids : google Montreal Science Centre.
If you are not in business or politics, French is not an issue. You are the client and you are treated as such. Montreal a huge English speaking community, easily half a million inhabitants.
Yes, electricity is still super cheap. In Montreal, in 2018, residential customers paid 7.13¢ per kilowatthour (kWh), compared to 11.42¢ in Vancouver and 13.24¢ in Toronto. The same quantity of power costs C 31.52¢ in Boston.
Raised two kids in Montreal from birth to middle school. Safe, inexpensive (in particular housing and electricity, which important for heating), easy to integrate (except the East part of town). We never had a car (rented for day trips), so you can save that as well. Winter are cold and long, but kid are good with it. Good communications in town and to other places. We stayed within city limits about a dozen short blocks for the subway. Kids learned French for life.
Drawbacks: few kid amenities for a city that size: no zoo, science museum is for adults, language politics get annoying -
Trust me, you don't want to move to Alberta these days. It's a dumpster fire. The local economy has imploded since oil dropped. 30% of the office space in downtown Calgary is completely vacant.
One does not have to take up permanent residency in Canada. You can work on visa. Then, you can send your kids to an English speaking school. Of course, if you send them to a private school, you can choose among the best English schools in West Island, West Mount or Hampstead, if you want to. Even if you are a Canadian citizen. No restrictions are placed on private schools. They cost anywhere b/w 10k and 25k. per year.
Also, as a foreigner, you will have several years (I believe 5) of paying virtually no provincial tax. Then, you can get PR (permanent residency) and Canadian citizenship right away, since you've lived enough. Even years living in Canada on work visa count towards citizenship. One year counts as 6 months.
If you don't like to pay provincial tax in Quebec, you can always move to Alberta where the taxes are low and the salaries are high.Good luck enrolling your kids in an English-speaking school.
All in all, it is a little Third World island within North America.This person is dumb but raises one good point. If you or your spouse did not attend an English high school in Canada then your kids can't go to any English school that receives public funds. That includes most of the private schools in addition to all the public schools. Of course there are many excellent French schools, and if you did attend an English high school in Canada the policy doesn't matter, but it's something to be aware of.