Working in Montreal as a non-French speaker
#1 2008-11-26 05:24:30
- jpdutchman
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- From: Montreal
- Registered: 2008-11-26
- Posts: 1
Working in Montreal as a non-French speaker
Hi all, I'm an Irish expat currently living in Wellington New Zealand but am seriously considering getting a working holiday visa for Canada and moving to Montreal with a view to obtaining sponsorship from an employer so that i can stay for a few years (or decades, who knows!?). My issues are that I'm unsure of the how difficult it might be to find a job in my area of expertise, banking, considering the fact that I do not speak French? The attraction of Montreal to me would be the ability to work in English while still learning French (compared to, say, living in Paris, where you would certainly need fluent French). Am I being naive? Maybe its the same in Montreal, or is business conducted in English?
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2008-11-26 05:24:30
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#2 2008-11-26 08:22:29
- bluefish
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- From: Næstved
- Registered: 2008-06-22
- Posts: 9
Re: Working in Montreal as a non-French speaker
Hi there, I've been living in Montreal for 16 years now. Your need to be bilingual especially in banking area. A lot customers will demande to be served in both languages. Also, there has been a long time language conflict in the province of Quebec. So be ready to encounter hostile and unfriendly French-Canadians, if you ever decide to move to Montreal.
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#3 2009-01-30 15:06:18
- ddon
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- From: Laois
- Registered: 2009-01-30
- Posts: 1
Re: Working in Montreal as a non-French speaker
Hi Im Eddie also irish and am thinking of myself and my girlfriend travelling on a working visa to Montreal for a year and maybe longer than that.We both speak french not fluently but could have a basic conversation and were wondering how wed go about getting a visa for Montreal is it a seperate visa from the rest of Canada or do we apply for the normal working visa?Any help would be much appreciated.
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#4 2009-03-02 11:15:25
- sams
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- From: Stockholm
- Registered: 2009-03-02
- Posts: 1
Re: Working in Montreal as a non-French speaker
Hi! If you speak some French and are able to have a conversation then people will be happy to work with you because you're trying!! You might encounter the odd person that won't be happy but you'll easily be able to avoid them.
Bonne chance à Montréal!
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#5 2009-07-06 01:41:14
- Alto2
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- From: Houston
- Registered: 2009-07-06
- Posts: 2
Re: Working in Montreal as a non-French speaker
ddon wrote:
Hi Im Eddie also irish and am thinking of myself and my girlfriend travelling on a working visa to Montreal for a year and maybe longer than that.We both speak french not fluently but could have a basic conversation and were wondering how wed go about getting a visa for Montreal is it a seperate visa from the rest of Canada or do we apply for the normal working visa?Any help would be much appreciated.
DDon, No there is not a separate visa for Quebec. You still apply for the Canadian visa process. If you can get along in French conversationally, you should be OK. But keep practicing your French. I was born and raised there and only learnt to speak French in my 20's but am glad I have it now. I still cannot write it but did get along till I immigrated to the US almost 10 years ago. Best of luck.
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#6 2009-08-12 00:22:14
- sourire
- Contributor
- From: Montreal
- Registered: 2009-08-10
- Posts: 128
Re: Working in Montreal as a non-French speaker
Hi!
I'm also Irish and live in Montreal. You would be better off going to Toronto (the number one city in Canada) where the language spoken is English everywhere. Montreal (Province of Quebec) requires people looking for jobs here to be bilingual. Canadian French (different from European French) is the first language of Quebec (Montreal). You can always come to Montreal for weekends or holidays but Toronto is the place for jobs. Montreal is six hours (approximately) by car from Toronto on an excellent highway. I've lived in Toronto for a number of years and it is a very up-to-date City and everything goes on there.
I happen to love Montreal because I was educated half French and half English so can fit in without any problem. It's a small City with a mountain in the middle; very scenic.
Let me know if I can help more.
Sourire
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