As for a career that you can work up in Canada in english in any of the major cities (including Montreal), have you thougth about
Technical Writing(some
job postings on Monster)?
Another major question aside from what do you want to do fro work is: What do you want to do for play? Maybe you are a Skier, maybe you like to party or love restaurants, or hunting and fishing.
What you want to do with your free time should be an important factor as well as the different cities in Canada are very different in these respects as well.
By the way, the winters in Toronto and Montreal will be very similar to Northern PA. Montreal and Toronto will be several degrees colder (in celcius maybe 10-15 degrees F?) and may get more snow but it won't be anything shocking. There are some cities in Canada that have a much milder winter and some that have a much more harsh winter. In general, among the major cities listed so far the ones with milder winters generally have a smaller variance between their coldest winter day and their warmest summer day than do the cities with the harsher winters. For example, Vancouver's coldest day in the winter will be warmer than Montreal's (or Toronto's for that matter) coldest day but Montreals hottest day in the summer will be hotter than Vancouvers hottest.
Not enough representation of Montreal:
Let's start with the cons
- While you can live with English only it is a real benefit to know French. If you don't know French you will not be able to take advantage of Montreal's full Potential. That said, however, French can be learned and improved especially if you are willing to use it. Also there are many English only people that love Montreal and would no think of living anywhere else.
- Employment: In general Montreal's employment scene is good. It however is no comparison to Toronto or Calgary (from what I hear about Calgary right now). I am not sure how it compares to Vancouver - it is probably less favorable than Vancouver).
- The taxes. Quebec is one of the highest taxed privinces overall (income and sales) although not that much different than Ontario.
- The Quebec separation issue that is always hanging over our heads. It is probably more the uncertainty that will likely always be there that is the worst part about it. This is one of the major reasons why cost of living has remained low in Montreal while Toronto has skyrocketed.
- The expos are gone
- I may have more to add later...
The Pros
- The women (if this is important - I can't talk about the men becuase I really don't pay attention to them). I don't care what you all think about the women in the cities where you come from (or live) but if you have spent time in Montreal (especially in the summer) then you know what I am talking about.
- Oh the summers. Summers in Montreal are amazing. The weather is spectacular, the Festival season (
Jazz Festival,
Comedy Festival,
The Grand Prix, Food Festivals, film, fringe, take a look at
this for more) like no other city.
- Food (Restaurants)
- Nightlife
- In city Suburbs (and other residential type areas). It is possible to live in a suburb that is a 10 minute drive from downtown with no traffice issues. There are the regular traffice issues if you commute from the suburbs outside the center of the city but nowhere near as bad as Toronto.
- Cost of living. Of the big three cities in Canada (Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver) Montreal's cost of living is significantly lower. This includes housing (buy or rent), recreaton, parking, oublic transportation...
- The Montreal Canadiens
- Proximity to U.S. Northeast. Montreal is within driving distance of Boston, New York and almost anywhere in PA.
- Proximity to Toronto (ys I am saying this). You can benefit from everything toronto has to offer by taking a 4.5 to 5 hour drive down the 401 without having to live there
This is all that I have come up with so far.
I am not trying to argue for Montreal, I am just trying to represent it so that you have more info.