Montreal, Quebec is a city that defines itself according to its history and culture, so anyone selling their downtown Toronto condominiums to move there or just planning a vacation should take pains to familiarize themselves with these aspects of the city. Use this article as a jumping off point.

Montreal is one of the oldest cities in Canada. Native people lived on the island for about 2,000 years before French explorer Jacques Cartier showed up to claim the Saint Lawrence River Valley for France in October of 1535. Native rights have become the subject of many suits of class action in Ontario, but the French have a slightly better history of dealings with North American indigenous peoples, sometimes even teaming up with them to fend off their mortal enemies: the British.

By the time Samuel de Champlain established a fur trading outpost in Montreal, most of the Natives had moved on, and the city became a bastion of French influence in the colonies. This lasted until 1760, when the British defeated the French in the Seven Years War and came to dominate most of Canada. Though the British were in nominal control, the French-speaking citizens were still largely masters of their own affairs by the time the industrial revolution rolled around and sheet metal shear was introduced into industry.

This state of affairs exists to this day. Even though Canada as a British colony has become Canada the bilingual nation, Quebec as a province remains somewhat aloof. The fact that Montreal was once the capitol of Canada and that so many Americans had dealings with the city during Prohibition promoted the use of English in the city, so Montreal remains one of the most bilingual places in the province. This is very helpful if you're an Anglophone trying to get a taxi. Weston hotels, their competitors, and most tourist attraction staff can speak both languages.

Montreal is sometimes referred to as Canada's cultural capitol because it's the center of the French television and film industry in Canada as well as a major patron of classical art, music, and architecture. The many ethnic groups residing in Montreal make it an on open and welcoming place where you can find real estate listings for Troncones, Mexico as easily as a schedule for the Montreal symphony. The largest religious and language groups are Catholic and French, as evidenced by the elegant churches and cathedrals and the fact that the signs are all in French.