Moving from Great Britain to Canada may have its ups and downs, but for British expat Hayley and her boyfriend, it seems to be mostly an upbeat experience. Here she describes some of what she likes the best and least about living in Montreal, the cost of living there, and her enthusiasm for roller derby!	Hayley

-Where were you born?

I was born in a small town called Maidstone in the SE of England although I moved when I was 18 to live in Edinburgh, Scotland and lived there for around 7.5 yrs before moving abroad.

-In which country and city are you living now?

I am currently living in Montreal, QC, Canada.

-Are you living alone or with your family?

I live with my "Boyfriend" of 9 yrs.

-How long have you been living in Canada?

Almost 18 months.

-What is your age?

27 

-When did you come up with the idea of living in Canada?

My boyfriend was offered a job with a company here although we had considered a move to Canada a while before the job offer came up.  A few friends of ours had already made the move to Montreal so that helped us make our decision to pack up and move.

-Was it hard to get a visa or a work permit?

No, as my partner's company did all of that for us. 

-Was it difficult for you to get medical insurance before you went there or when you first arrived?

When we arrived we immediately registered for a health card for access to medical services; however, it will only become active 3 months after you land.  In the meantime you can get temporary private insurance; however, we chose to take out private insurance with my boyfriend's company so we were covered through that in interim.  Be aware that Quebec DOES provide a free/low cost drug plan for the public, but it must be applied for separately and is not immediately activated when you receive a health card.  If you do not opt for private cover and do not apply for this you could be stung for very large drug costs when you get ill and need medications.

-How do you make your living in Canada? Do you have any type of income generated?

It took me about 2 months to find stable work - I started off in a call centre for market research, found via craigslist, then moved onto nannying through an agency.  It was hard, but not impossible.  Pretty much all of my British friends here have a job of some sort, albeit not necessarily in the fields they have education/experience in perhaps.

-Do you speak the local language and do you think it's important to speak the local language? 

I have taken some French lessons at the local YMCA but they are VERY expensive.  According to my work permit I am not allowed to study at all in a proper institution (such as university or college) so there aren't that many options open to me and I am not eligible for funding or free government subsidised lessons on a Temp. work permit - I would need to obtain residency which is not something we wish to do currently.  My level is currently "basic" and I understand way more than what I can actually speak.

Day to day French is useful but not 100% necessary, but this depends a lot on the area you live/work in.  The West Island, for example, is predominantly English-speaking and you will have little to no issues with no French language skills here.

Provincial government requires that all services be offered in French first so when you go into a shop, by law the person serving you must greet you in French first, signage must be in French and if English is also provided it must be in writing no more than 50% smaller than the French and other such slightly bizarre rules apply.

Downtown and in other heavily bilingual areas shop assistants greet you with a "Bonjour, Hi!" leaving you to respond in either language.  Sometimes even if you respond in English they will continue in French.  Often if you don't understand and respond politely with a "Sorry, I did not understand. Do you speak English?" or similar they will repeat in English.  Only once or twice have I encountered people who do not speak English at all and this was with older individuals. 

-Do you miss home and family sometimes? 

Of course!  My family and friends are all back in the UK and flights aren't cheap.  My parents have visited once; however, we have not seen friends or my boyfriend's parents since we moved.  We are lucky that we have friends from back home living here so we aren't completely alone and I have made friends playing my chosen sport - roller derby!

-Do you have other plans for the future?

We plan to make another move, this time to Amsterdam in the Netherlands in March 2011, again for my boyfriend's work. The distance from home is too much for us and I am hoping this will be the last move for a while!

-What about housing, have you bought, or are you renting a home? How much do you pay for it? 

We are renting a 6 1/2 (2 double bedrooms, two smaller bedrooms/offices) unfurnished for $1270 near to my boyfriend's work in a district called The Plateau.  It's pretty reasonably priced considering the location and space we have.  I will certainly miss it a lot when we move again!

-What is the cost of living in Canada?

I found food/groceries to be very expensive here.  It's not unusual for people to make the 1hr drive over the border once every couple of weeks or so just to do their food shopping in the US to save some money!

Mobile phones are also expensive compared to the UK.  A lot of plans you still pay for incoming calls/texts and the technology is very behind.

Rent is pretty cheap and you get a lot more space for your money here.

Eating out and going to bars has a pretty variable cost; however, a lot of nice restaurants do seem to provide very affordable, very delicious lunchtime special menus.

-What do you think about the locals? 

It depends a lot on the area you are in but on the whole people are friendly and welcoming, especially if you attempt to make an effort with French - that is very much appreciated by the locals.

-What are the positive and negative aspects of living in Canada?

 +ve proximity to USA means easy travel by car to visit a number of cool places.  Weather can be really nice - generally there is a hot (but humid) summer time and the sun shines for a large portion of the year. There is a wealth of outdoor activities nearby. Various music and arts festivals throughout the year for the artsy types. There is also a very big culture of using/buying second hand furniture which we found very useful when we arrived - there are some great items out there to be found for bargain prices.

 -ve Tax isn't added on items you buy until point of sale which we always forget about and it can get confusing if you aren't used to this. Winter is VERY cold (winter brings lots of snow from about Nov/Dec through to about March/April and temperatures can drop to -30 degrees Celsius UGH!), you can't get good bacon here.

-Do you have any tips for our readers about living in Canada?

Learn French to improve job prospects if your move isn't work related, get a VERY warm winter coat and boots, look out for items of good furniture left on the kerbside (free to a good home) in the summer, especially on 1st July (moving day) and explore the wonderful places around you by going on a few extended road trips!

-Do you have any favorite Web sites or blogs about Canada?

www.britishexpats.com - awesome forum for british expats worldwide which has a very active Canadian section.

www.craigslist.com - Where I found work, and apartment and a ton of great second hand furniture. 

www.livemocha.com - to start learning French!

www.mtlrollerderby.com - once you've discovered roller derby there is no turning back! The leagues season runs from the end of April til August and promises fun times for all.  For those that want to get involved, bootcamp starts in August for would-be skaters and referees!