Moved out of Montreal when I was relatively young and quite a while ago. Attended English private elementary before moving to Ontario and pursuing French immersion and the international French school. Many of my friends went on to university in English even if they primarily spoke French at home. The English private schools have a long history in Montreal and are still viewed as more exclusive by many based on a long history when they were only private tuition. Most are located in more expensive areas in terms of real estate. Many around Westmount. They have limited enrolment. Not anything close to NYC private schools but you have lots of legacy children, children of well known Quebeckers, still have sIngle sex schools versus all co-Ed, etc. Personally think the more languages the better for children. Even though I really started my French education later in my schooling I was able to go through the French BAC and wouldn’t consider languages as my strength. Schooling also is very dependent on the child. What may work for one child may not work for the other depending on their strengths or interests.
Non-subsidized English schools in Montreal
- Thread starter frenchexpat1981
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Thanks for your response canuck78. I 100% agree with you on languages. It is way easier to learn new languages when you are younger. My sons both went to Lycée Français De New York for several years because I really wanted them to be able to speak French fluently despite living in an English speaking environment. I also had them take Mandarin classes on the weekends which many of their classmates, both Chinese and non-Chinese, were doing. I myself grew up in multiple countries due to my father’s job so some people would say my English is even better than my French, but I speak both completely fluently.Moved out of Montreal when I was relatively young and quite a while ago. Attended English private elementary before moving to Ontario and pursuing French immersion and the international French school. Many of my friends went on to university in English even if they primarily spoke French at home. The English private schools have a long history in Montreal and are still viewed as more exclusive by many based on a long history when they were only private tuition. Most are located in more expensive areas in terms of real estate. Many around Westmount. They have limited enrolment. Not anything close to NYC private schools but you have lots of legacy children, children of well known Quebeckers, still have sIngle sex schools versus all co-Ed, etc. Personally think the more languages the better for children. Even though I really started my French education later in my schooling I was able to go through the French BAC and wouldn’t consider languages as my strength. Schooling also is very dependent on the child. What may work for one child may not work for the other depending on their strengths or interests.
Thank you for your insight. Yes it is a shame that my sons cannot know go to my first choice schools but I would not consider those other private schools to be second tier either. They may not have the prestigious history behind some of the top English private schools but I am mainly looking for one that can provide a solid education with small class sizes. I was actually very impressed with Kuper’s facilities but their location is a huge inconvenience if you live closer to downtown. Unfortunately, I was really disappointed in the French private schools here as they more resemble large public schools than the French private schools that I attended growing up and the one my children attended in New York.Top English private schools have been taking subsidies from the government since before Bill 101 was even created. The trade off is that these private schools can’t accept anyone without a certificate from grades 7 to 11 since Bill 101 was enacted in the late 70s. However under a previous loophole, it took just one year of private English school in elementary school to qualify for that certificate as long as you had not gone to French school in Canada before. That loophole relied on the exemption that anyone who had gone to the majority of elementary school “so far” in English in Canada could qualify for a certificate. It was meant for children of immigrants who had started school in another province (in Ontario for example). However, many immigrants and Francophones in Quebec used it to get their children into the English school system by going to one year of private elementary school in English so the Quebec government closed it about 15 years ago. Under the old rules, pretty much all private English schools took subsidies from the government since it was relatively easy to get their students the certificate in elementary. Under the new rules specified in Bill 115 to replace the loophole, only A grade private English schools can give their elementary students a certificate of eligibility in as little as three years. It takes non-Anglophone students seven years in a B grade private English school to get the same certificate so many of these second tier schools can no longer take subsidies in high school or else they would have to kick out many of their non-Anglophone elementary students starting in grade 7. The three schools that you mentioned are all A grade private schools so they’re able to continue taking subsidies from the government. One of the criteria to maintain their A grade is that at least 60% of their students up to grade 3 have to already have their certificates so these schools have to maintain an Anglophone majority from the beginning of elementary. Of course being in Westmount and NDG, they have no issues meeting that quota. Unfortunately for you, it also means your children cannot attend these schools because you came to Canada too late to take advantage of Bill 115. You only have access to the second tier schools and your children’s children won’t be automatically entitled to attend English schools in Quebec either.
My advice to immigrants and Francophones who want their children to go to English schools is to send them to private English school at the earliest chance. Otherwise, you’re penalized for every year your children go to French school which makes it much harder for them to gain a certificate. The only people in Quebec who can send their children to French school and then switch to English school without any restrictions are people who already have their certificates. I personally know several people who went to French elementary school then switched to English high school but that was only possible because they had one Anglophone parent.
Actually attended Lycée Claudel which is the Lycée Français in Ottawa sounds fancy but certainly wasn’t. They have done some renovations so it looks a bit better than they used to but the English international school in Ottawa is definitely a more typical international private school. My plan had been for my children to have a Mandarin speaking nanny and then continue on with Mandarin classes but unfortunately It was not a good idea for me to have children for medical reasons. Children are such sponges when it comes to languages. Not unusual to have a few languages come out in one sentence and it seems completely normal. So much harder to pick up language as adults. Hope the schooling and move works out. Covid seems to have prompted many to reconsider living in NYC. Pretty typical for many Canadians working in NYC to return to Canada once their kids start school and they calculate they cost of schooling. There is also the debate of whether to move out of NYC and get a home but spend your life on a train. Good time to move back to Canada. The exchange rate is good and Montreal housing prices have only started increasing 5+ years ago. Montreal has only recently started attracted foreign buyers. Still relatively cheap compared to many other cities and a steal compared to NYC. Assume you may end up in Westmount which requires some good snow tires! Best of luck. I’m sure your children will enjoy having a back yard and you’ll enjoy being able to watch them from inside versus having to go out to a park.Thanks for your response canuck78. I 100% agree with you on languages. It is way easier to learn new languages when you are younger. My sons both went to Lycée Français De New York for several years because I really wanted them to be able to speak French fluently despite living in an English speaking environment. I also had them take Mandarin classes on the weekends which many of their classmates, both Chinese and non-Chinese, were doing. I myself grew up in multiple countries due to my father’s job so some people would say my English is even better than my French, but I speak both completely fluently.
Late reply but thank you so much again for sharing your personal experiences. We actually made the decision to move to Montreal before this whole pandemic. I relocated here in January while my wife and kids were supposed to come after the school year finished but ended moving here in March after all the schools in NYC shut down. They have been remote learning since then and it looks like the fall semester will be remote as well with their new school in Montreal. For privacy reasons, I would like to keep my school choice private but this thread certainly helped me with my decision. Thank you everyone for your responses.Actually attended Lycée Claudel which is the Lycée Français in Ottawa sounds fancy but certainly wasn’t. They have done some renovations so it looks a bit better than they used to but the English international school in Ottawa is definitely a more typical international private school. My plan had been for my children to have a Mandarin speaking nanny and then continue on with Mandarin classes but unfortunately It was not a good idea for me to have children for medical reasons. Children are such sponges when it comes to languages. Not unusual to have a few languages come out in one sentence and it seems completely normal. So much harder to pick up language as adults. Hope the schooling and move works out. Covid seems to have prompted many to reconsider living in NYC. Pretty typical for many Canadians working in NYC to return to Canada once their kids start school and they calculate they cost of schooling. There is also the debate of whether to move out of NYC and get a home but spend your life on a train. Good time to move back to Canada. The exchange rate is good and Montreal housing prices have only started increasing 5+ years ago. Montreal has only recently started attracted foreign buyers. Still relatively cheap compared to many other cities and a steal compared to NYC. Assume you may end up in Westmount which requires some good snow tires! Best of luck. I’m sure your children will enjoy having a back yard and you’ll enjoy being able to watch them from inside versus having to go out to a park.
Not sure if you are aware but Selwyn House School (one of the subsidized private schools you listed as a top choice) will no longer take grants from the government starting next year so you will be able to enroll them even without a certificate.Late reply but thank you so much again for sharing your personal experiences. We actually made the decision to move to Montreal before this whole pandemic. I relocated here in January while my wife and kids were supposed to come after the school year finished but ended moving here in March after all the schools in NYC shut down. They have been remote learning since then and it looks like the fall semester will be remote as well with their new school in Montreal. For privacy reasons, I would like to keep my school choice private but this thread certainly helped me with my decision. Thank you everyone for your responses.
They ran an ad in La Presse this month announcing this:
http://mi.lapresse.ca/screens/5dbce2af-50bc-4abb-a967-ae846ac6506c__7C___0.html