Lifestyle and language considerations for PhD programs in Vancouver, Montreal, and Toronto

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I'm thinking of applying for a PhD in those listed cities though I've never been to any of them. Could people from there or been there, give me their opinions on the lifestyle eg. The people, transportation, weather etc...

Everything in Montreal is French (which I don't know), would the language barrier be a difficult obstacle?

Just lookin for opinions :biggrin:
 
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I'll give you the jist of it...

Size of the cities are all relatively the same.

Cost of Living - Montreal (Cheapest), Vancouver (Most Expensive)

Cultural Life - Montreal (First), Vancouver (Last)

Foreigners - Vancouver (Lots of Asians), Montreal (Northern Africa - Tan/Not Black), Toronto (Asians and India/Pakistanians)

Note: There are other cultures, but those above are the dominant ones.

The life is probably similar in all of them. Montreal I'm sure has more events though.

Also, Montreal does not have many huge sky scappers like Toronto and Vancouver. The waterfront in Vancouver is the best. Toronto still has a pretty nice once. The least favourite waterfront is probably Montreal.

The weather is Montreal is the coolest, and Vancouver is the warmest.

Montreal is NOT all French. There is a lot of English in Montreal. (I tend to talk English people into not going to Quebec because I want French speaking people there. Technically, I should be telling you not to go.) Just saying.

Montreal and Vancouver have mountains nearby, and Toronto does not.

Vancouver and Toronto have beaches nearby. Montreal does not.
 
Just comparing the cities (not the Uni)
Montreal - pretty old town, unbelievably ugly 70s for most part (the bit of Paris they copied were the slums on the peripherique). Do NOT attempt to drive (or cross the road) here.
In theory full of chic bars jam packed with beautiful French Canadian women - who aren't going to talk to you because you are a physics geek.
Great place if you like smoked meat or poutine.

Toronto - Ice storms in winter, 200% humidity in summer. Cultural highlight is Niagra falls.
Great place for a bacon sandwich or laughing at homeless bankers.

Vancouver - most beautiful setting for a city (so there Sydney!). if you can see it through the rain. Haven't posted much today because it snowed (a few cm) so the entire city gridlocked and everybody automatically crashed into lampposts. So instead we all went snowboarding (for $2.50 you can take a city bus to the ski hills!)
Multicultural - I went to a french music festival yesterday staring an Indian band playing Irish folk music including a korean heavy metal sitar player - this is considered standard!
Otherwise culture consists of shopping for gortex, the entire city wears MEC gear for all occasions.
Jogging, roller bladeing, kayaking, cycling etc are compulsory - anyone with a BMI higher than a triathlete is rounded up and shipped to Alberta.
In theory has every kind of cuisine in the world - but everybody lives on power bars (see above)
The recent house price crash means that cardboard boxes may soon be available for under $1M.
 
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mgb_phys said:
Just comparing the cities (not the Uni)
Montreal - pretty old town, unbelievably ugly 70s for most part (the bit of Paris they copied were the slums on the peripherique). Do NOT attempt to drive (or cross the road) here.
In theory full of chic bars jam packed with beautiful French Canadian women - who aren't going to talk to you because you are a physics geek.
Great place if you like smoked meat or poutine.

Toronto - Ice storms in winter, 200% humidity in summer. Cultural highlight is Niagra falls.
Great place for a bacon sandwich or laughing at homeless bankers.

Vancouver - most beautiful setting for a city (so there Sydney!). if you can see it through the rain. Haven't posted much today because it snowed (a few cm) so the entire city gridlocked and everybody automatically crashed into lampposts. So instead we all went snowboarding (for $2.50 you can take a city bus to the ski hills!)
Multicultural - I went to a french music festival yesterday staring an Indian band playing Irish folk music including a korean heavy metal sitar player - this is considered standard!
Culture consists of shopping for gortex, the entire city wears MEC gear for all occasions.
Jogging, roller bladeing, kayaking, cycling etc are compulsory - anyone with a BMI higher than a triathlete is rounded up and shipped to Alberta.
In theory has every kind of cuisine in the world - but everyboy lives on power bars (see above)
The recent house price crash means that cardboard boxes may soon be available for under $1M.


And Toronto isn't cultural?

I sense a lot of bias in your descriptions.
 
To me, pretty much all of English-speaking Canada is culturally dead. So Montreal wins by default. And the food is better.
 
mgb_phys said:
In theory full of chic bars jam packed with beautiful French Canadian women - who aren't going to talk to you because you are a physics geek.

THIS is all I need to know to cancel my application to Montreal. - Well said.

In conclusion,
Montreal: Cheap, cultural society filled with unintelligent beautiful women. :frown:
Vancouver: Beautiful, expensive city filled with Asians. :rolleyes:
Toronto: Drastic weather accompanied with many Indians/Pakistani's. :frown:

C'mon guys, two people's opinion isn't quite a sample/population to go by...
 
Vancouver is awesome if you love asian and seafood food. It also has a great hipster scene. Being close to seattle is a plus too. Great for winter sports. I found Toronto to be a very americanized city. It has some great districts, but overall culture was lacking. Very comfortable and I could see myself living there.
 
n0_3sc said:
THIS is all I need to know to cancel my application to Montreal. - Well said



It's not true. I'm a Master's student and never had trouble picking up in Quebec.

I find the women in Quebec very open. Toronto women on the other hand... they're not as friendly.
 
It's about time high school students start using this forum actively ..
You might find something useful (just use the search function)

http://forums.studentawards.com/yaf_topics5_Social-Scene.aspx
 
n0_3sc said:
Montreal: Cheap, cultural society filled with unintelligent beautiful women. :frown:
Or just selective! (Jason tells them he is really a secret agent)
Vancouver: Beautiful, expensive city filled with Asians. :rolleyes:
Vancouver is full of beautiful Chinese/Japanese/Korean women who aren't going to talk to you because you are a physicist!
However UBC is full of beautiful asian women who will talk to you - but only because you are their TA.
Toronto: Drastic weather accompanied with many Indians/Pakistani's. :frown:
But not enough to displace Tim Horton's as exotic cuisine.
 
Montreal is probably the nearest Canada has to a world class city (perhaps Winnipeg in spring)
Toronto is a dozen square blocks of banks and a surrounding sprawl of commuter suburbs.
Vancouver is in a nice location but doesn't really compete with London or Paris or even most of the USA in museums, art galleries, architecture etc. The MEC store is the heart of the town for most residents.
 
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If you aren't worth to look at, nobody is going to talk to you period.
 
Werg22 said:
If you aren't worth to look at, nobody is going to talk to you period.

So if I walk around naked people will have something to look at? Will they talk to me then? :-p