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Hello there, new here. I'm from Portugal, but am currently living in the UK.

My girlfriend (who is british and excellent at French) got an amazing offer in Montreal, and we're both very excited about it, however... I am not fluent (at all) in French, though I am very good at English!

I have a bachelor degree but quite honestly I don't like it and essentially just got it to please my parents, and as such I've been working at a record store these last 2 years.

So, considering I'm not legally bound to my girlfriend, how would I go about getting a "permit" of sorts to work in Montreal (basically, how does that work, where do I go and what do I have to do), and how would I got about finding a job in which my lack of French isn't an issue? I'm extremely proficient in English and Spanish (as well as Portuguese, my main language) and I actually see this as a great opportunity to improve my French (I know enough to get around, but not nearly enough to live), as Montreal is such a bilingual city.

Now, this is just to get settled in, so I don't mind working as a custodian or anything "low" level like that at all. I just need you kind folks to point me in the right direction.

We will probably be going over to Montreal sometime around October/November (although I might only be going around March 2014).

   

Start learning, you will have little to no chance without some French.

Take courses.. now.

   

Really? Oo I will literally work ANY job... is it that hard without French? (I do speak some french, had 1 year of french classes in uni. I got around just fine in Paris on my french alone, I can express almost any idea in french, I just speak cavemen style)

I can't really afford courses right now, everything is ridiculously expensive in this city (I live in London) and the plan was to save up as much money as possible before going...

How would I go about legalizing myself for working there, in the first place? Guess I'll have to go to the embassy, right?

   

If you want to work in Montreal and you don't speak French, you're boned.

   

Not really. My son can't speak a word of French and managed to live and work there for 3 years.

   

As a common law partner, you can apply for a spousal visa attached to her work visa (if I recall correctly). Depending on her job, you may not be allowed to work for the first year.
Her boss should supply her with an LMO and she can apply for a visa and include you.

Check here: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/work/apply-who.asp

   

You'll find getting a job in quebec difficult... Draconian language lows and such.

   

"damn foreigners ..stealin our jerbs"

What kind of job did your gf get? How did she get it? Is she getting paid 15% less than the going rate?

   

Not true. Not true at all. I live and work in Montreal and speak no French.

Most of the French speakers who live in Montreal are bilingual, so you should be fine. If you live and work in the West End or the West Island part of Montreal for a lot of jobs you don't have to be bilingual, however English is generally a must as the majority of the citizens living there are English speaking.

There was an undercover job search operation done not too long ago in downtown Montreal. A fully bilingual journalist working for a French language newspaper went around the downtown stores pretending to apply for jobs. In some cases the journalist pretended to speak only English, and in other cases only French. It turns out that the journalist got more job offers in the cases where he pretended to speak only English. So in some areas of Montreal, English is still a very powerful language. In the downtown area for instance we have two English language universities, so a large English presence there.

In summary, if you have a good knowledge of English, you should be fine.

   

I see that there are a bunch of non-Québeker experts on Québec here.

I worked years in Montreal with a bunch of people who couldn't speak French to save their life but it is a lot harder to find something. Makes it easier if you have connections in the city. Try to learn the language as fast as you can... I'm sure you can find some French speakers in London to help you out.

Good luck.

   

   

Watch out Gunny, you'll get on his ignore list.

   

http://static.quickmeme.com/media/social/qm.gif







edit: crap, I can't get it to show.... oh well

some reference to the West Island 'ghetto'.

   

ex Montrealer, thanks.

Learn how to troll someone properly, you muppet.

   

Just teasing this time... and I knew that part of your history.

Jughead is the other extreme... I can't understand someone who's family has been in Québec for generations it seems, and still can't speak French. Well maybe I can understand it because I know people in the same situation... and it makes me a little sad.

To each his own, I guess.

   

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