As Québec’s metropolis, Montréal is a premier destination for career advancement and quality of life. Montréal is a safe, cosmopolitan, multicultural, and diverse city with a rich artistic personality. It offers a great urban, green and active living environment.
Québec City unites history and modernity, culture and nature, and is a reflection of its residents. Dynamic, innovative and effervescent, it enjoys a thriving economy and incomparable quality of life. Festivals and large-scale events follow one another and punctuate the seasons. Québec City is not only a city: It’s a welcoming environment where each family member can find a place and thrive.
If you’re considering settling in Québec for a predetermined period for a precise job,
the status of temporary worker suffices. You’ll get a work permit authorizing you to work for one to three years for a company. Under certain conditions, you can ask for a renewal, for a total duration not exceeding five or six years. And if you want to switch employers, you’ll need a new work permit.
If you’re rather thinking of building your career in Québec and making your life here, request a permanent resident visa. Valid for an unlimited period and for the members of your family, it grants you the same rights as Canadian citizens, with the exception of voting rights and the right to a Canadian passport.
Entry to Canada for foreign workers who settle in Québec is a competence shared by both levels of
governments. In Québec, the ministère de l’Immigration et des Communautés culturelles manages the selection of immigrants and supports their integration. As for the federal government, it grants admission to applicants.
Living in Montréal
Québec first
Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC)
Ministère de l’Immigration et des Communautés culturelles
This unique number ID is mandatory to work, study, receive government benefits, and pay income tax.
Several banks will allow you to open an account even before your arrival in Québec without a cash deposit.
This allows you to hit the ground running. No matter which institution you choose, you’ll receive:
A debit card to pay for your daily purchases in stores and make deposits and withdrawals at banking machines;
Some cheques;
An online access to follow your transactions and pay your regular bills (phone, electricity, etc.).
In Canada, credit cards are independent from bank accounts. Each month you’ll receive a statement of your expenses indicating the amount to be paid, the deadline and the interest rate that will apply to the amounts that remain due upon that date. It can be difficult to obtain a credit card without a credit history/record in Canada. Your financial and employment situation can, however, influence issuing banks.
Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC)
Bank of Montréal
Laurentian Bank
National Bank of Canada
Royal Bank of Canada
Scotia Bank
Toronto Dominion
Caisses Desjardins
HSBC
Personal income tax: In Québec, you must fill out two income-tax returns each year: one for the federal
government, and the other for the provincial. Income tax is calculated according to progressive tax rates.
Taxpayers must declare their income and pay their taxes in the province where they resided on December 31st of the tax year. If you’re employed by a company, an amount will be withdrawn at the source, directly from your salary. Once a year, however, you must produce a tax return to deduct certain expenses, benefit from exemptions and include your foreign profits.
Fiscal agreements exist with some countries to avoid double taxation. On top of usual personal exemptions, foreign workers benefit from exemptions for taxes paid abroad.
Taxes on goods and services: In most stores and restaurants, prices displayed are BEFORE TAXES. At the cash register, two taxes are added: the federal tax on goods and services (GST, 5%) and the Québec sales tax (QST, 9.975%). Companies and self-employed workers can get refunded for the taxes paid on the goods and services required in the course of their commercial activities.
With highly competitive prices for daily purchases, affordable tuition and free healthcare,
Québec City and Montreal are great places to live.
Thanks to a low cost of living, buying power here is one of the highest in the world. It’s true for
lodgings, which can be half the cost of other North American or European major cities. It’s also true for healthcare, child rearing and daily expenses (food, clothing, etc.).
To benefit from free healthcare, you must register with the Régie de l’assurance maladie du Québec upon
your arrival.
Drug insurance is also mandatory.
Régie de l’assurance maladie du Québec
Signing up for health insurance
Drug insurance
Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association (CLHIA)
It could be interesting at first to settle temporarily in a furnished apartment rented per week or month.
This way, you can get a feel for various neighbourhoods and evaluate your needs. You can then rent an apartment or a house by signing a 12-month lease with a landlord. Most leases start on July 1st, making that day “Moving Day”! The Régie du logement du Québec is the agency that manages your rights and obligations as tenant. In 2013, the average rent for an apartment with two rooms, a kitchen and bathroom was $720 per month in Montreal and $760 in Québec City.
Ministère de l’Immigration et des communautés culturelles
Régie du logement du Québec
www.lespac.com
www.craigslist.org
www.montreal.kijiji.ca
Under certain conditions, it is possible to keep your foreign driver’s license. In most cases, however, a Québec driver’s license is required. Depending on your country of origin, you’ll obtain your Québec driver’s license in exchange for your current license or after a driving exam.
Société de l’assurance automobile du Québec