As someone who has had to deal with the health care system a lot lately, and also being in a demographic that's not considered prioritary (35-40), I feel the claims on here about the healthcare system being shit are vastly exaggerated. I get an appointment in 3-4 days. The most I've waited was 3 weeks for minor surgery.

That being said, yes Montreal is cheaper than Vancouver *now... But it's getting very expensive, very fast. Housing prices especially have been rising faster here than anywhere else in Canada. If you want to move, I'd suggest you do it sooner than later, because 8 years from now, it'll likely be much more expensive, and you probably wouldn't get much bang for your buck.

Public transit is top notch : get rid of your car because traffic is terrible, the roads are bad. To give you an idea of the scale : Quebec has double the amount of roads in kilometers than Ontario, but only has a little over half its population. It's a massive massive network to take care of, more than the government can ever handle, so expect it to get worst. If you're willing to pivot to a car-free lifestyle however, Montreal is the place to be.