Jean Said:

International student moving to Montreal?

We Answered:

If you cannot speak French, Montreal will be "tougher" to live in than if you were bilingual, but you could still get around, and probably will pick up a few basic words and phrases in French when ordering a pizza, buying something at the store, etc.

As an international grad student, you may be entitled to a "student work permit" to allow you to make some money to pay for tuition while you are here. It depends on the grad program you are in and whether the school you are attending is a participating public or private post-secondary institution.

Any job you are looking to do in Montreal will require spoken French if you are going to interact with the public. That means that you would have to get a job such as restocking shelves after-hours, cleaning services, or at a company that deals exclusively with over-the-phone services to English customers.

Jobs are definitely slimmer in that category, since Canada has so many people out of work and willing to take any job they can find. If it comes down to two equally qualified candidates for a job, but one speaks only English and the other can speak both French and English, who do you think the manager will take?

My advice would be that if you really want to attend school in Montreal, that's fine. But I would approach it as follows if money is going to be a deciding factor:

1) Live in the college/university dorms or rent an apartment with one or more other students...don't try to get your own place as it will be too expensive in Montreal

2) Try to find a part-time job outside of the school hours that allows you to work on your school work but still get paid. And one that does not require high interaction with the public. An example might be night security for a building or factory.

3) If the flights/costs are not too high, return home between semesters and try to find a full-time job there for the summer season which pays better and can help supplement the tuition fees and school costs.

4) Take college/university beginner French classes to learn the language basics in your first semester, so you may be able to get a better job in Montreal area in future semesters.

5) Check with Student Services to see if you qualify for any loans or bursaries offered to international students. Often the loans programs are only for Canadian students, but some programs may be offered to international students to promote interest in the hopes they will stay in Canada or Quebec after their studies are done.

Raul Said:

Will I be able to find work in Montreal Canada if I do not speak french?

We Answered:

You definitley will, montreal is really a bilingual city, obviously there a lot of french oriented thinkers that believe everything must been done rigourisly in french, but i highly doubt you will have trouble finding work if you only speak english. I dont know what your qualifications are, but if you have the appropriate education, any job should be open to you as much as too a french person. There is no reason to lie about it though, it does help to be bilingual, i mean not perfectly but to have a basic knowledge of the language. But if you want some good spots to get a job (i dont know exactly where you are in montreal) but check out the reno depot, the airport, pharmaprix, jean coutu(these places are always hiring for the summer)
hope this helped