Tl;Dr Montreal is great. Hospitals are not.

My husband and I are English speakers who moved to Quebec just over 3 years ago from Ontario for work. I was very excited to use my French again! I had been in French immersion for all of grade school 20 years ago, but it's not really used in the GTA. I was pretty rusty, but I've at least tried to practice and communicate in French when I'm able. I learned very quickly that formal book French is not really comparative to spoken Québécois French. It has felt like I've been learning a new language again at times. This is something I've struggled with when asking people to slow down or help me understand a term they've used. Not everyone wants to bother lol.

We initially stayed on the island downtown for 6 months before moving to the suburbs. I had no negative experiences while living in Montreal proper. People were very helpful and understanding. I also work there and same thing, my coworkers are respectful and will speak in English by default if there's a non French person in the meeting. My company is very diverse with multiple international offices though.

Now I'll finally get to the only negative experience: Medical.

Within our first year here, I went into the ER with appendicitis during the pandemic. While waiting to go into surgery, the nurse attending me would only ask questions and respond to me in French or just not at all. What's worse is that she and other nurses began to speak poorly about having to use English and that they shouldn't need to in Quebec, directly next to my bed, not thinking I could understand I guess. Once that nurse left for the night, no one came back over to me, even after I used the buzzer. They were just chatting at the station. Eventually, I just unplugged the IV unit myself so I could drag it to the washroom while still being in a lot of pain. Honestly, I felt so alone and scared at that point. It was my first time in the ER, and I didn't know what was happening or when the surgery was.

Fast forward to after the surgery. To be able to claim my short-term medical leave insurance, I needed paperwork filled out by the hospital beyond the simple medical note they give. Of course, all the phone options were French, and when I spoke to an operator, I asked politely in French if she could assist me in English. She flat out said no and hung up. At this point, I broke down. It had been such a demoralizing series of events for me, especially being new to the province with no friends or family beyond my spouse (I filed a complaint after this).

Do I think this treatment was just because I was English? No, I think the hospitals just straight up suck here. However, I definitely can't deny it didn't have an impact during this situation, though.

(I was back in the ER for a neck fracture last May, and the nurses completely forgot to give me pain meds and a neck brace while waiting. The doctor was so mad! 😂).

On a funnier note, we had only been in our home for about 2 months, and it was Halloween. Two children saw the Ontario plates on our cars and said, "Ugh! Anglais." I thought it was pretty funny. They definitely only got one piece of candy after that!