I've lived here for 3 years, here's my take on it:
Good:
Low cost of living. If you're coming from the UK, many brits seem to REALLY love it here. The summers are EPIC (festivals n beer), and the girls are ridiculously hot.
Bad:
Taxes squash out the low cost of living, lots of parisian style inner-office politics, you will be considered a second class citazen if you don't speak french, and if you don't like snow the winters are awful.
i stayed up there for a couple months in '07
it is FRENCH
taxes are retarded
there's a tim horton's every two miles
people are generally nice, but some will roll their eyes if they have to speak English
a good mixture of people from all over the country
the weather in the fall is absolutely amazing
highways are run down
bag your own groceries you lazy fuck stick
gas is expensive
Couch
Montreal sucks, if you want to move to Canada move to PEI. PEI is becoming a hotspot for the video games industry in canada and yet its small enough that there is a real sense of community within the local collection of video game artists, comic book artists and profesional animators. Here in PEI you get all the great greenery of Scotland without grey skies 5 days a week. The cost of living here is crazy low and its not uncommon for a person making a decent wage to be able to own a nice house on the water and a fair chunk of land without having to get a mortgage for the next hundred years. Montreal is a great place to go visit on a weeks vacation but I would never want to live there.
I'm a bit disheartened to read some of the negatives for Montreal. It seems like such a cool and beautiful city, and a place where, maybe in the future, I would like to work in.
For those who work there, did you end up learning french? I always thought that it's okay to just know english. What's the food like? Transit system?
Transit is damn good. They just added a public bike rental system called Bixi's which is really awesome too (although they're still working out the kinks).
Good thing the transit is good, because there's almost no hope in hell you're gonna own a car in the city.
:P
Very Similar to New York in that regard. Cool thing is, everyone is drinking beer, and eating Poutine (fries/cheese/gravy), but they end up walking most of it off.
Food is up in the air.
Quebec food (Smoked meat, and Poutine) are good. I'm not a fan of any of the asian food I've had here, but the French and Middle-eastern cuisine are exquisite.
I arrived from France 5 years ago to work at ubi-factory in Montreal, then went to work 2 years in Vancouver and then back to Montreal.
No matter how many people you'll ask you'll end up with a very mixed bag of feedback.
I wouldn't make up a decision based on some random forums replies
However, and to add to the mixed bag of answers , if you like living in a cosmopolitan city you might enjoy Montreal. Be warned, summers are usually hot and damp which makes it difficult if you dont have any AC at home (although this year hasn't been much of a challenge on that side of things). To make a fair comparison, summers in Vancouver are so sooo much better than Montreal's. But IMHO not seeing the sun for extended (really extended) period of time in Vancouver during winter was really a hard thing.
But Vancouver scenery is a million miles ahead of Montreal's.
Winter are harsh most of the time, although the inner city is mostly well maintained during winter, if you want to live in the suburbs you might face some more challenges though.
Also, as everyone else has already told you, expect to hear -a lot- of french. However, most of the time people will talk to you in english (or try) if you can't hear a single word of french.
Everything regarding food, music, bars, women is a matter of taste, but the city has a lot to offer definitely.
One thing though, I don't know your situation, but what I have seen happening many times to other expatriates who arrived with family (wife and/or kids); they may have a harder time than you to make their place here and after some time might want to go back.
I just got back from a 3 month stint at EA montreal and it was super awesome. I was living right down in old montreal and all the buildings were super old and amazingly inspirational. It was smokin hot/humid towards the end of my stay but not unbearable. The biggest thing for me was you can walk pretty much everywhere, its all jammed in.
the nightlife there is fantastic, many good memories of going out the the bars and then having some late night poutine, which rapidly became me achilles heel. I would say like 80% of the people there smoke, and the women are super hot. everything seems much more laid back, there is festivals in the street where people openly drink in public, Piknik Electronik was awesome, a gathering in a big park where you can bring in your own booze or buy some there with a couple DJs spinning all day, happens every sunday till the end of summer I think.
Im glad I wasnt there during the winter but overall it was a super awesome trip, if the right opportunity arose I would probably move out there in a heartbeat.
You have to remember that if You dont want to live in the city in itself, there is a lot of nice town near by, of course there is traffic like fuck, but there good train system, where u can relax for 30min and be in the city afterward. If you have any specific questions , send me a msg, I was born Here. so i know. ALL. I SEE ALL.
ps. i love the food, the music (massive indie scene), the booze everywhere all the time, cheapness and the "scenery". Of course they like dorks as well. A lot of them are dorks.
psss. The only thing i don't like is bill.
edit2:
psssss. Also don't listen jaques. He's just crazy.
Ive heard from numerous friends also in the industry that if your an anglophone working at Ubi Montreal you'll be treated like a second class citizen regardless of your french ability or not. Any truth to this?
montreal has great nightlife, it's a city that never sleeps, lots of festivals, lots of street festivals, lots of walking or transit if you live downtown. In fact if you live downtown not knowing french is not terrible, since it can be fairly touristy most people are bilingual. The farther out you go, the more frenchy it gets, though I think there's an english quarter in the west end somewhere.
I'm two hours up the road in ottawa.. the town of in bed by 10 and a massive inferiority complex for every other major city in canada.
Montreal is great fun.
people from PEI or the maritimes is what people outside of canada consider to be typical canadians... SUPER polite... they'll say good morning to complete strangers on their way into a horny tim's. It's very laid back out on the east coast, lots of fun, friendly people. They also say aboot and eh out there moreso than people from ontario or BC.
I'm from the East originally (NS), am now in Vancouver and have only visited Montreal. Definitely a beautiful place, but I can't say what it's like to live there. I just wanted to chime in on the East Coast PEI thing, it is super cheap and people there are really laid back (like what sir-knight said) but it's not like there's big projects there or even a strong talent pool. So, I guess it would depend on what stage of your career you are in, but it's not like big blockbuster titles are being made there. From what i remember, there's HB that does stuff for EA, but nothing big, and there was Backbone (which got bought, i think)...Unless things have changed
I'm from the East originally (NS), am now in Vancouver and have only visited Montreal. Definitely a beautiful place, but I can't say what it's like to live there. I just wanted to chime in on the East Coast PEI thing, it is super cheap and people there are really laid back (like what sir-knight said) but it's not like there's big projects there or even a strong talent pool. So, I guess it would depend on what stage of your career you are in, but it's not like big blockbuster titles are being made there. From what i remember, there's HB that does stuff for EA, but nothing big, and there was Backbone (which got bought, i think)...Unless things have changed
HB now has 2 good sized studios, there are a number of small studios in NB, a studio in Newfie land and in PEI we have , Other Ocean Interactive, Bight Games, longtail Studios, Telos Productions and ANother Castle Studios. The talent pool is solid and contains people like me from Ontario and out west, allot of brits and even some talentted people from pei...There is tones of gov $$$$$ in atlantic canada right now and alot geared towards people that want to start there own company. People work out here because they dont want to work at a mega studio and they want companies that will alow them to have a life.
So, like I said, it would depend on where you are in your career. Looking at the companies you listed, it sounds like a bunch of casual games and start ups. That's how I started, so obviously I have nothing against it..and for some people it's an ideal situation, I'd just never do it again. But like you said..there's no mega companies there..so, if you would be looking for AAA work, would you ever find it there? Not trying to argue, I'm just interested in the situation, the last I heard from my friends there, it wasn't exactly booming or exciting. If it's changing, very cool.
So, like I said, it would depend on where you are in your career. Looking at the companies you listed, it sounds like a bunch of casual games and start ups. That's how I started, so obviously I have nothing against it..and for some people it's an ideal situation, I'd just never do it again. But like you said..there's no mega companies there..so, if you would be looking for AAA work, would you ever find it there? Not trying to argue, I'm just interested in the situation, the last I heard from my friends there, it wasn't exactly booming or exciting. If it's changing, very cool.
Anyone know how hard it is for a U.S. citizen to get approved to work full time in Canada? I'm thinking of applying to some Canadian studios once up update my portfolio.
LoM Chaos: Because most of the people there speak it. There are areas like this in the United States except everyone speaks Spanish.
Incidentally, I was watching one of those real-TV type shows while modeling yesterday, and there was a fire that got out of control in Montreal Canada. When the new reporter interviewed the fireman, they were speaking French. Just goes to show ya.
LoM Chaos: Because most of the people there speak it. There are areas like this in the United States except everyone speaks Spanish.
Incidentally, I was watching one of those real-TV type shows while modeling yesterday, and there was a fire that got out of control in Montreal Canada. When the new reporter interviewed the fireman, they were speaking French. Just goes to show ya.
Ah, right. Thank's for clearing that up Brad. Lol.
canada has 2 official languages.. though unless you live in new brunswick or in ottawa, it's pretty much only french or english... a small % of the population are fluent in both languages.
Replies
Good:
Low cost of living. If you're coming from the UK, many brits seem to REALLY love it here. The summers are EPIC (festivals n beer), and the girls are ridiculously hot.
Bad:
Taxes squash out the low cost of living, lots of parisian style inner-office politics, you will be considered a second class citazen if you don't speak french, and if you don't like snow the winters are awful.
it is FRENCH
taxes are retarded
there's a tim horton's every two miles
people are generally nice, but some will roll their eyes if they have to speak English
a good mixture of people from all over the country
the weather in the fall is absolutely amazing
highways are run down
bag your own groceries you lazy fuck stick
gas is expensive
Couch
For those who work there, did you end up learning french? I always thought that it's okay to just know english. What's the food like? Transit system?
Good thing the transit is good, because there's almost no hope in hell you're gonna own a car in the city.
:P
Very Similar to New York in that regard. Cool thing is, everyone is drinking beer, and eating Poutine (fries/cheese/gravy), but they end up walking most of it off.
Food is up in the air.
Quebec food (Smoked meat, and Poutine) are good. I'm not a fan of any of the asian food I've had here, but the French and Middle-eastern cuisine are exquisite.
No matter how many people you'll ask you'll end up with a very mixed bag of feedback.
I wouldn't make up a decision based on some random forums replies
However, and to add to the mixed bag of answers
But Vancouver scenery is a million miles ahead of Montreal's.
Winter are harsh most of the time, although the inner city is mostly well maintained during winter, if you want to live in the suburbs you might face some more challenges though.
Also, as everyone else has already told you, expect to hear -a lot- of french. However, most of the time people will talk to you in english (or try) if you can't hear a single word of french.
Everything regarding food, music, bars, women
One thing though, I don't know your situation, but what I have seen happening many times to other expatriates who arrived with family (wife and/or kids); they may have a harder time than you to make their place here and after some time might want to go back.
cheers.
the nightlife there is fantastic, many good memories of going out the the bars and then having some late night poutine, which rapidly became me achilles heel. I would say like 80% of the people there smoke, and the women are super hot. everything seems much more laid back, there is festivals in the street where people openly drink in public, Piknik Electronik was awesome, a gathering in a big park where you can bring in your own booze or buy some there with a couple DJs spinning all day, happens every sunday till the end of summer I think.
Im glad I wasnt there during the winter but overall it was a super awesome trip, if the right opportunity arose I would probably move out there in a heartbeat.
B
so figured I would find out what folks thought of it.
greuh - if i got homesick I would just think of gordon browns face then I would feel better:)
Goodluck
edit:
ps. i love the food, the music (massive indie scene), the booze everywhere all the time, cheapness and the "scenery". Of course they like dorks as well. A lot of them are dorks.
psss. The only thing i don't like is bill.
edit2:
psssss. Also don't listen jaques. He's just crazy.
I'm two hours up the road in ottawa.. the town of in bed by 10 and a massive inferiority complex for every other major city in canada.
Montreal is great fun.
people from PEI or the maritimes is what people outside of canada consider to be typical canadians... SUPER polite... they'll say good morning to complete strangers on their way into a horny tim's. It's very laid back out on the east coast, lots of fun, friendly people. They also say aboot and eh out there moreso than people from ontario or BC.
Vancouver is awesome too.
HB now has 2 good sized studios, there are a number of small studios in NB, a studio in Newfie land and in PEI we have , Other Ocean Interactive, Bight Games, longtail Studios, Telos Productions and ANother Castle Studios. The talent pool is solid and contains people like me from Ontario and out west, allot of brits and even some talentted people from pei...There is tones of gov $$$$$ in atlantic canada right now and alot geared towards people that want to start there own company. People work out here because they dont want to work at a mega studio and they want companies that will alow them to have a life.
Your correct on all accounts
Incidentally, I was watching one of those real-TV type shows while modeling yesterday, and there was a fire that got out of control in Montreal Canada. When the new reporter interviewed the fireman, they were speaking French. Just goes to show ya.