Hey everyone,
I was thinking to move to Montreal permanently. I live in the East Coast and used to come to Montreal for work and also used that opportunity to see SPs. Now that the work is ending, I was thinking of moving elsewhere and looking for a nice, calm, quiet place with decent cost of living. I know it is bad everywhere and prices are skyrocketing lol. Would not have expected this a couple of years back, but I do need some decent place to live lol. I do speak French fairly well. What are your thoughts? I'd really appreciate any help.
For many many years, I have thought about moving to Montreal.
And it came down to 2 things blocking for me. Job & speaking French.
Requirements of speaking french: Having hung out with SPs and having other hobbies in Montreal, I have made friends. However, it is still very difficult for me to hang out with them and really "belong" to Montreal because everyone defaults to French in their everyday conversations. They always have to switch to English for me, so I would never be a true Montrealer unless I got fluent in French. I'm sure if I ever moved, I would get fluent, but it would take a lot of time. Since you already speak fluent French, I don't see that being a problem.
Now for problem number two, job: Very few high paying jobs in Montreal, and they simply pay so much less than everywhere else. When looking into moving here, I have spoken to colleagues and contacts. If I were to transfer to Montreal with the same job, I would have to take a 50% salary cut, and I'm told my bonus cut would be well into the 6 figures, so that is a hard NO. Even with the adjusted cost of living factored in, it is a huge loss. If you make about the same in Montreal vs where you are from, and adjusted for cost of living is similar, then this is not a problem either.
If neither of those are a problem, I would move to Montreal in a heartbeat.