Moving to Montreal from India with a family

[gargabhi]

Hi ,

I have an opportunity to move to Montreal from India with an internal transfer from my current organization. We are a family of 3 with a 5 year old daughter.
i have been offered 95K salary. So can someone help me understand if this is a good salary for a family of in Montreal ? Considering in India me and my wife both work and we already own a 2 Bedroom apartment. So once in Montreal , my wife wont have a job and we don't know French as well .
So I would appreciate any feedback from you guys.

 

[Naturgrl]

Depends where you live. Here is the tax calculator so your take home pay will be about $64k. So you need to figure out rent, utlities, food, transportation (will you need a car) etc. You can live on the West Island and never speak French. Your daughter will go to French school.

https://ca.talent.com/tax-calculator

https://montrealgazette.com/life/these-are-the-most-expensive-areas-to-rent-an-apartment-in-the-greater-montreal-region

https://www.averagesalarysurvey.com/montreal-canada

 

[Kostas]

Rent 1500-1700, groceries 800-1000, utilities 350, car 500-700. These are some approximate costs per month. Your wife can find a low pay job of 14-17$ / hour if she doesn't have any degrees or experience. In my mind there are 2 issues, that your kid will have to go to a French school or to a private (~15000/year) and how you are going to proceed with your immigration status. You don't want to be under work permit for ever. If you find your way to become permanent resident, you can move to Ontario for better salaries and to avoid the French at all. Also just note that I don't speak French and I live in Montreal for 4 years, but of course it isn't the best thing and I m loosing opportunities.

 

[rutils]

If you are on WP, your kids can go to public English school. You should be getting a closed work permit, wife will get open work permit and kid will get study permit.

if you choose to go with Quebec for PR, after CSQ, kid needs to go to French school.

 

[rutils]

If you are moving to Montreal with PR, Kid has to go to french school or expensive private english school.

 

[gargabhi]

Thanks, Everyone for your inputs, this does help a lot. I will be coming on WP so if my daughter can go to public English school then that is one big thing sorted. My wife is a Software engineer so we hope to find a job for her as well. I am not sure about the Area I will be living in but my office is going to be in Downtown Montreal, Near Rue du Square-Victoria. I would like to live somewhere within 30-45 mins traveling distance from office and be able to use public transport if possible. Can someone please give me an idea of the rental cost for 2 bedrooms in downtown Montreal or nearby areas?

 

[canuck78]

Thanks, Everyone for your inputs, this does help a lot. I will be coming on WP so if my daughter can go to public English school then that is one big thing sorted. My wife is a Software engineer so we hope to find a job for her as well. I am not sure about the Area I will be living in but my office is going to be in Downtown Montreal, Near Rue du Square-Victoria. I would like to live somewhere within 30-45 mins traveling distance from office and be able to use public transport if possible. Can someone please give me an idea of the rental cost for 2 bedrooms in downtown Montreal or nearby areas?

Your wife should be able to get a job in Montreal as a software engineer without French language skills. If you want to stay in Canada longterm would really suggest putting your child in French school from the start. The earlier children learn the language the better and it would be easier to start French schooling now versus having to change to French schooling in a few years. French immersion is actually really sought after in the rest of the country and many children compete to secure a spot in the French immersion program because the demand exceeds the amount of spots. There are many students that attend French school that go onto English universities. If you are both high skilled workers you have to examine why you want to move to Canada and what adjustments are you willing to make by moving to Canada. Many moving from countries where the cost of labour can be very inexpensive are not used to having to do most of the cooking, cleaning, shopping, childcare, yard work, etc. or having both spouses contribute to the domestic duties. If the move is primarily financial you are likely better off in India if you both have well paying tech jobs. Being away from extended family may also be a consideration.

 

[karsind]

My first post:
On the similar boat as OP. My husband has received job with the same salary, but he is a PR, he would sponsor later or we would apply QSW once he settles. We are considering whether we should really move there. We both have good Tech jobs in India and own 2 properties. We have 2 kids less than 6 years.
If finance is not the main reason, would considering kids education be a considerable factor to move. We know Canadian standards are high, but there is good education in India too. But it might become difficult for kids to learn French initially. We are fully settled in India, but we have seen Canada earlier and hence sitting on the fence whether to move or not.

 

[canuck78]

Kids won’t have issues picking up French especially so young. Really is personal choice.

 

[karsind]

Kids won’t have issues picking up French especially so young. Really is personal choice.

Yes, understand. We still have sometime to finalize, we will think through all this. Looks like QSW applications are taking a really long time too.

 

[gargabhi]

Your wife should be able to get a job in Montreal as a software engineer without French language skills. If you want to stay in Canada longterm would really suggest putting your child in French school from the start. The earlier children learn the language the better and it would be easier to start French schooling now versus having to change to French schooling in a few years. French immersion is actually really sought after in the rest of the country and many children compete to secure a spot in the French immersion program because the demand exceeds the amount of spots. There are many students that attend French school that go onto English universities. If you are both high skilled workers you have to examine why you want to move to Canada and what adjustments are you willing to make by moving to Canada. Many moving from countries where the cost of labour can be very inexpensive are not used to having to do most of the cooking, cleaning, shopping, childcare, yard work, etc. or having both spouses contribute to the domestic duties. If the move is primarily financial you are likely better off in India if you both have well paying tech jobs. Being away from extended family may also be a consideration.

I think our primary consideration is not Financial, its more about the Quality of Life in Canada that is more attractive. We have both lived in USA for some years so we do have some idea of what kind of changes we can expect in terms of day to day work. At this point Idea is more about getting to Canada and experience the life there and see if do want immigrate permanently over there. Hence the apprehension on French Language and school. But your point is right , in long term knowing French is more beneficial.

 

[nrmr82]

If your priorities in life can change everyyear then deciding on settlement for life will be a problem. If you have a rock solid future plan you would weigh out pros and cons and that would be true only for the moment we are living.

Just rewind to Feb 2020 and compare life decisions then and now. As far as i'm concerned priorities CHANGE (as much as we believe they don't).

I would suggest give it a try and not decide now unless you experience it first hand. A hundred comments on this forum and i'm sure you would like to read the ones that would suit your satisfaction but the ones against your mind is not going to change your idea about moving to canada...now can they?

 

[canuck78]

I think our primary consideration is not Financial, its more about the Quality of Life in Canada that is more attractive. We have both lived in USA for some years so we do have some idea of what kind of changes we can expect in terms of day to day work. At this point Idea is more about getting to Canada and experience the life there and see if do want immigrate permanently over there. Hence the apprehension on French Language and school. But your point is right , in long term knowing French is more beneficial.

Nothing is permanent so you should see how you like Montreal and Canada. If you don’t like it you can always move.

 

[gargabhi]

If your priorities in life can change everyyear then deciding on settlement for life will be a problem. If you have a rock solid future plan you would weigh out pros and cons and that would be true only for the moment we are living.

Just rewind to Feb 2020 and compare life decisions then and now. As far as i'm concerned priorities CHANGE (as much as we believe they don't).

I would suggest give it a try and not decide now unless you experience it first hand. A hundred comments on this forum and i'm sure you would like to read the ones that would suit your satisfaction but the ones against your mind is not going to change your idea about moving to canada...now can they?

That is true,we never know what the future holds. I am however planning to come to Montreal and see how things work out. I guess i cant plan or think too much at the moment and need to take that risk of moving out from my comfort zone and see how things are,
Thanks everyone for your replies , it was helpful in clarifying my doubts and helping me make the decision to come to Montreal. Now i hope the visa goes through and i can experience the life in Montreal.
I hope the forum will keep helping me in future.