Moving to Montreal? Here Are Some Useful Tips

 What To Know When Moving To Montreal

You’ve decided to move to Montreal! Well, congratulations! You’ve made an excellent choice. Montreal is an amazing city with a diversity of cultures and cuisines. Moving to Montreal is a decision that you won’t regret. But of course moving to a new city always requires some adjustment, so here are some tips for moving to Montreal that might help you on your journey.

Learn French. Montreal is a bilingual city, and mostly anyone serving the public can speak English and French fluently. That being said, living in Montreal is an excellent opportunity for you to learn to speak French. ILSC-Montreal and the GEOS Language Academy both provide part-time evening classes, and you can also find private tutors for a one-on-one experience.

To work in Canada, you’ll need a social insurance number (SIN). To get one, just visit your local Service Canada with your passport, work permit, and other supporting documents. As long as it isn’t busy, you should be in and out rather quickly.

Healthcare is free to Montreal residents. But to prevent health tourism, the public healthcare doesn’t start until you have lived in the city for three months, so you’ll have to purchase private health insurance until then.

Traffic and parking are bad. Montreal is an island, connected to its suburbs by bridges and a tunnel. With limited options in and out of the city, these roadways get packed during every rush hours. Also, the streets are narrow and can only fit a few cars, so finding parking is always a challenge. With all that in mind, it’s best to live in the city and use public transportation, public bikes, or taxis to get around. Trust us; you’ll avoid lots of frustration on the roadways taking this advice. But if you must drive in Montreal, avoid rush hours and check local traffic reports in advance.

Moving Day is an old Canadian tradition, designed to prevent disruption of young children’s school year. Given that, Moving Day is July 1st. About 90% people who move do so on July 1st. So most availability for long-term apartments rentals coincides with this date, so you should think about booking a long-term rental in March. And if you need a short-term rental in Montreal in the meanwhile, we can help you find one.

Since most people move on July 1st, that’s when the moving companies in Montreal are the busiest. The rest of the year, they are usually more available, but it’s still a good idea to book them months in advance.

Winters are cold and snowy in Montreal. Overall, we receive about 10-15 cm of snow per week, but the city’s snow removal team does an excellent job of removing the snow quickly. So make sure that you’ve got some warm clothes packed.

And if you need a short-term rental in Montreal for you or some visiting guests, contact us!