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If she has her BEd for elementary education then she can get a job in the English school district(s) without French.
The English (as a second language) jobs require bilingualism here. You don't need to be fluent in French but you need enough to speak to parents/teachers.
My personal advice: don't move to Montreal. 35k is a miserable salary, even for Quebec. And why should your wife give off that job paying a nice 50k?
The rents are still high in Montreal. Even if taxation-wise, 35k is low enough to not get taxed extremely dangerously by the Quebec revenue thieves, you still have to compare what you gain and what you lose. Sometimes, simply making more money - no matter what taxation - is still better.
My advice: move away from Toronto and go to other closer cities in Ontario: take Kitchener Waterloo area for example. Or London. DO NOT MOVE TO MONTREAL, you will feel sorry for that decision.
I say go for it, OP. You only live once and your desire to leave Toronto suggests you to me you don't want to live out the best years of your life on the basis of economic soundness.
I also find there is less job market competition. Hard working, qualified workers can make a pretty penny in this city. My sister and her boyfriend make roughly 35k each (both HS teachers) and live very comfortably. They're both 30 and recently became owner-occupants of a nice triplex. Investments will generate the same returns as in Toronto for the most part. Capital gains are taxed the same way.
Carpe diem.
Last edited by LEFTIMAGE; 07-17-2013 at 11:16 PM..
if you really want to live in Montreal go for it, and if you come to visit to have a first taste , of course you will like it.
35k is just anough for 2 people , no dining out , and the grocery should be done in (sammy fruit) an (Bonanza).
if you want a clean apartment with low rent go for ville Lassalle (i never understood why the rent is cheap there since is one of the cleanest area and verry close to downtown) or if you want a cheap rental in the old side of downtown called "Pointe saint Charles" it's cheap and very artsy.
Westmount is more English than french i would say , and Ville marie is the district that Downtown is a part of.
the law (bill 101) permit to companies to fonction entirely in English if they have 50 employees or less.
so your wife have to try to find something within small buisnesses (daycare...etc) while she learns French and apply for licence for teaching.
Hi, hope you are doing well. I don't have the answer to your question concerning your salary, I have no idea if 35k would be enough to live comfortably here (but overall the cost of living is cheaper here than it is in Toronto so I guess you'd be alright but as I said I am not sure). What I can actually give you an answer for is regarding your wife and if she'll be able to find a job as an english elementary teacher; most probably yes, she will. One of my good friends' parents are unilingual english professors (university and college but still) and they're doing more than fine. She might want to check the job offers at the Montreal english school board, or any other private english elementary schools for that matter, before you take your final decision. And not speaking french, although helpful, won't pull you down if you apply at the right places. Hope this helped at least a little and that you'll enjoy Montreal if you move here and very sorry if this comment sounded a bit aggressive, I didn't mean to. Have a nice day. P.S Maybe what I said is crap, I just felt like giving you an answer to the best of my abilities but I am no reliable source.
I was recently offered a job in Montreal. My wife and I are from Toronto.
The job offer salary is $35,000. Nothing to jump for joy about. With that said, although I wouldn't call it a dream job (just yet anyways), I can see myself enjoying this job very much.
However, I cannot discount the fact that the salary offered is quite low. I know the cost of living (especially housing) is lower compared to Toronto, but my wife and I would like to live comfortably just as we are now.
Speaking of my wife, she is an elementary school teacher here in the Toronto area. If you are unaware, despite the occasional teacher strikes that occur here, teachers in Ontario have it pretty good. She is in her second year, making roughly $50k a year as of now, with increases every year.
If we move to Montreal and I accept this job offer, I would be the only source of income, at least until my wife finds a job as a teacher. She does not know French (although is willing to learn) and my French is subpar at best. My job does not require French.
So here are the questions:
1) Is 35k/year enough to live comfortably in a nice 1 or 2 bedroom apartment/condo in a nice area, have a car, do groceries, go out for a movie every now and then (or whatever kind of entertainment), and occasionally go out for dinner? We don't care about living lavishly, just comfortably.
2) Will my wife have difficulties finding a teaching position in an elementary school, especially since she does not know French? Can anyone provide the differences between the school boards in Montreal vs. Toronto?
We are trying to figure out if the move is worth it. I do believe my wife will find a job eventually, but who knows how long that would take.
We are living pretty comfortably here in Toronto, we both make fairly good income, all of our friends and family are here, this is where we grew up, etc. The flipside is that we hear good things about Montreal as a city, it's more "artsy", not as rushed as Toronto is, and we are intrigued at the thought of starting completely anew and building our own family.
But money is money, and if $35k is not enough for both of us PLUS if finding a job will be difficult for my wife, then the "dream job" wouldn't be much of a dream job.
Any advice would be great. Thank you in advance.
i know this is an old thread but i just want to say that it would be crazy to move to montreal. teachers in ontario max out at 94K a year after 10 years, teachers in quebec max out at 79K a year after 16 years (i believe). plus we pay much higher taxes in quebec. coupled with the fact that everyone you know is in toronto and you have a comfortable life there, and don't speak french well, it seems crazy to me to even consider moving to montreal. the cost of living is lower but so is the net salary, much lower. so it's a wash, your house might cost $20,000 more a year in toronto for something comparable but you're taking home $20,000 more a year which completely offsets it. BUT in 30 years you'll probably one million dollars richer because of the value of your home compared to someone in montreal.
This setup sounds like complete poverty to me and angers me a little. Accepting a $35,000/year teaching job is positive reinforcement for the school board to pay you less. Your education is worth more than that. Also, without advanced French, the school system and even CEGEPs are *impossible* to get into (I've tried). You will be expected to write a French proficiency test to teach in the system even if you're an English teacher.
If your wife already has full-time status as a teacher in Ontario, she should hold onto it for dear life. People would do anything for such a coveted position.
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