Living in Montreal

Come study English or French in a city where both languages cohabit in harmony. Montreal is Canada’s only truly bilingual city; it is Canada’s second largest, and oldest, metropolis; it is also the biggest French-language city in the world after Paris.

Montreal is a north-American city with a rich history. Bilingual, diverse, vibrant, it is a thriving, modern and internation city that celebrates artists from all around the world during its many festivals. From late June to early September, the city welcomes a variety of music, theatre and film festivals; it also celebrates both Quebec’s national festivities, and Canada day.

Montreal is an underground city, with a network of tunnels that connects nearly all of downtown with several buildings and shopping centres. Here, one can find hundreds of boutiques, restaurants, movie theatres, hotels, a train station, universities and numerous other services.

Montreal is home to several museums : the Redpath museum (natural sciences), McCord museum (Montreal history), the Fine Arts Museum, the Museum of Contemporary Art, the Architecture Museum, and can boast to have the only humor museum in the world! These fine establishements all have permanent collections, and present traveling exhibitions of international standing.

Montreal is home to four prestigious universities : McGill university, Concordia university, Universite de Montreal and Universite du Quebec a Montreal (UQAM). It is also a highly industrialized city; numerous corporations working in telecommunications, multimedia, aeronautics, biotechnologies and industrial consultation have settled there.

Montreal is considered one of Canada’s safest cities. Its quality of life is exceptional. – Bilingual, diverse, animated, safe, it’s an extraordinary city where newcomers feel at home, in winter and summer!

Montréal en direct : Réseau de caméras en direct du Grand Montréal qui permet de découvrir dix points de vue touristiques du Montréal métropolitain, captés en temps réel 24 heures par jour, sept jours par semaine, par des caméras reliées à l'Internet.

Tourisme-Montréal

Montreal’s main attractions :

- Old Montreal and the old port
- The underground city and shopping malls
- The Olympic stadium
- The botanical garden and the Chinese garden
- Sainte-Helen’s and Notre-Dame islands
- Museums of history, art, architecture, archeology and humor
- Montreal’s International Jazz festival
- The Francofolies festival (french-language music)
- The Just for Laughs festival (humor festival)
- The World Film Festival
- Mt-Royal park and St-Joseph Oratory
- The International Fireworks festival
- The Canadian Grand-Prix (F1 racing)
- The Montreal Casino, the Imax theatres and La Ronde amusement park

Climate information

Montreal has four seasons, all very different from one another. During the summer, temperatures vary between 16c et 30c (60F et 86F). During the winter, temperatures vary between +4c and –25c (+40F and -13F). During spring and automn, thermometers indicate temperatures between 5c et 18c (40F and 65F).

Light cotton clothing is recommended during the summer. But we advise to bring sweaters and a raincoat for the spring and automn seasons. During the winter, a thick, waterproof winter jacket is essential, along with gloves and waterproof boots.