I'm no expert on Montreal's economic activity overall, but Montreal and Quebec have fared relatively well during this recession.
"A look inside the April unemployment numbers of 8.1 per cent shows Quebec, at 7.9 per cent, below the national average, and nearly a full point below Ontario's 8.8 per cent. You don't see that every day. In fact Quebec added 35,000 jobs in April and 91,000 since last July. When the May numbers come in, Quebec will likely have created more than 100,000 jobs in less than a year."
The language issue is always there, but Montreal's startup community is pretty bilingual. It's possible to do business here as a non francophone. But, if you want to establish a long term presence in Montreal, it's a good idea to at least try to learn French.
Montreal Start Up is a seed fund started a few years ago by a group of angel investors / entrepreneurs. It's on its way to a home run with one of it's investments. They are raising a new larger fund - http://montrealstartup.com/
Teralys Capital is a new fund of funds that has "$700 million" in capital commitments". I think 50% will be invested in Quebec.
http://www.teralyscapital.com/who-we-are
On a related note, it seems that Montreal didn't get the memo about the real estate crisis in the US. Prices actually rose in the past year. Housing is still cheap compared to major cities.
"A look inside the April unemployment numbers of 8.1 per cent shows Quebec, at 7.9 per cent, below the national average, and nearly a full point below Ontario's 8.8 per cent. You don't see that every day. In fact Quebec added 35,000 jobs in April and 91,000 since last July. When the May numbers come in, Quebec will likely have created more than 100,000 jobs in less than a year."
Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/health/Canada+recession+bette...
The language issue is always there, but Montreal's startup community is pretty bilingual. It's possible to do business here as a non francophone. But, if you want to establish a long term presence in Montreal, it's a good idea to at least try to learn French.
Montreal Start Up is a seed fund started a few years ago by a group of angel investors / entrepreneurs. It's on its way to a home run with one of it's investments. They are raising a new larger fund - http://montrealstartup.com/
Teralys Capital is a new fund of funds that has "$700 million" in capital commitments". I think 50% will be invested in Quebec. http://www.teralyscapital.com/who-we-are
On a related note, it seems that Montreal didn't get the memo about the real estate crisis in the US. Prices actually rose in the past year. Housing is still cheap compared to major cities.