# Internship in Canada (Quebec) ?



## Draki (Apr 4, 2014)

Hello,

I hope to find a few people from canada here who could give me some information^^

At the moment I'm studying computer science (bachelor degree) in Germany/France (Europe). Next year in April - September I have to do an internship and my bachlor thesis in an French-speaking country. I'm searching in France at the moment but actually my dream would be to visit a new country and last year my French teacher came from Canada (Quebec) and I really like what he told us about his country. 

Like their education system seems to be very good and people are very kind. I liked especially that they seem to like independent and responsible students because I pretty much miss this in the French culture. They rather have a "I'm the teacher and you do what I tell you" approach. My canadian teacher said he doesn't know this from Canada.

Sorry I'm rambling. So I know I'm already a bit late for searching an internship in canada but I would like to try it at least. 
Do you have any tips how to do it? How is the situation in canada? Is it easy to get an internship or not so much? My French is not perfect, but that's why my intership has to be in a French-speaking country. Are there certain well-known internet sites where I could search? 
It doesn't have to be Montreal or a big city by the way. Actually I hate tourism and want to see the "real" daily live of the people. 

I'm thankful for any tips^^ Or just write a little bit about Canada, I'm so curious to learn more about it^^
Even if I don't get an internship for next year I could do another internship after my bachelor degree perhaps.


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## Nymma (Apr 24, 2010)

You could potentially participate in the International Co-op internship program: 

Eligibility Criteria for the International Co-op (Internship) CategoryThe International Co-op (Internship) category is designed for German citizens who are registered students at a post-secondary institution and who intend to complete a work placement or internship in Canada (maximum 12 months) to fulfill part of their academic curriculum.
To be eligible for the International Co-op (Internship) category you must:


be a German citizen who normally resides in Germany;
be between the ages of 18 and 35 (inclusive);
have the equivalent of C$2,500 to help cover your expenses at the beginning of your stay; and additional funds of $833 per each month of unpaid internship;
be prepared to take out health-care insurance for the duration of your stay – you may have to present evidence of this insurance when you enter Canada;
pay a participation fee;
be registered as a student or in an apprenticeship;
have received a signed letter of offer or contract for a work placement or internship in Canada that meets the requirements of your academic curriculum in Germany; and
not have participated in the International Co-op (Internship) category before. As a German citizen, you may participate in the International Experience Canada twice but each time in a different category.
If your application for a work permit is successful under the IEC ”International Co-op (Internship)” category, you will receive a work permit that is valid for you to work for one specific employer only, i.e. the company or institution that made the job offer to you. Once your application has been approved you cannot change the employer.

Travel and Work in Canada | Temporary Work Permit for Canadian Internship Abroad for Students from Germany | International Experience Canada

To learn about Canadian etiquette, I refer you to this site: 

http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/resources/global-etiquette/canada.html

Somewhat stereotypical, but it gives you an idea. But to get the best feel of Quebec, may I present you this video:






and this one:


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## Draki (Apr 4, 2014)

Thank you very much for all these information! I'll look into it  
Are you from Quebec?


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## Nymma (Apr 24, 2010)

> Thank you very much for all these information! I'll look into it
> Are you from Quebec?


I am a French Canadian from New Brunswick, but I have been to Quebec least 15 times. From the perspective of a New Brunswicker, it's, err, different Here in NB, our French vocabulary is rubbish. It's the only officially bilingual province(although Ottawa, despite being in Ontario, is required to offer services in both languages, being the country's capital), so what happens is you'll often hear a mixture of French and English in a person's sentence when they speak 'french'. Basically inserting English verbs with French endings in a French phrase and adding the random English noun in there. 'J'ai démarré la voiture/I started the car=J'ai starter le car'. The province has English-speaking villages, French speaking villages and fully bilingual cities. Most people from villages hardly manage their second language as their exposure to it is low(and the only second languages teachers who accept to teach in those mostly dead-end regions are people who grew up there themselves and thus don't really know more about it than their students). City folks from french or French-english families usually grow up without an apparent dominant language, whereas Anglophones often have a serious lack of basic French. They can understand most of it but can barely handle a conversation in the language. That's because even though you have access to services in both languages(hard to find a job in NB if you are not bilingual), the reflex for workers is to serve you first in english and most customers, whatever their primary language is, will automatically default to English. It's not rare to find a group of Francophones dialoguing between themselves purely in English, without one noticing the other(s) share their dialect. 

In Quebec that's another story. Though the country is bilingual, the province only recognizes French. The 'language police' parody I have linked in the second video pretty much shows the sentiment of a significant portion of Quebecers in regards to the English language...All because of a long history of unfair abuse/attempted assimilation by Englishmen dating from the 1700s. Many separatists like to pretend Quebec is a country(lol), they even have a political party called 'Bloc Quebecois' to vote for in the provincial/federal elections to represent Quebec interests only. The French education is much better there, although the verbal French sounds nothing like the one from France. Hence my showing you the first video in my previous post-gives you an idea of what to expect when you hear Quebecers speak. As you can note, there is quite a lot of church-related swearing in the average Qc talk. When I first visited, I was taken aback by the high dose of 'Ostie de Calis de Christ de Tabernacle!' uttered. 

Anyway, despite the linguistic vulgarity and anti-Anglophone feeling present in around 30%-ish ******* Quebecers,they are some of the most open and inviting people in Canada. While, for instance, New Brunswick is mostly community-minded and friendly, people tend to be more contained. In Quebec, there is a culture of extreme assertiveness and jovial behavior. Quebecers tend to wear their heart on their sleeves, their opinions on their tongues and their personal differences as a badge of honor. Within minutes of meeting Qc folks, I was already asked what was my stance on trans people, my political preferences and where I stood on other hot topics! People there get personal really fast with you, so unless you are in a business setting, don't bother being formal. Hell, even in the average Canadian workplace, you are bound to get shocked by the informal atmosphere. I am laughingly formal compared to my Canadian peers and I dropped the 'proper titles' really fast after seeing I was the only one bothering to do so. 

Hierarchy is not emphasized at all. Seriously, to show you how extreme this is...In school AND university, we were on first-term basis with teachers/administrators/etc. In my(English litt) program, there was the regular prof-students gatherings in popular restaurants...The odd professor requesting the 'proper address' was uncommon. In all the places I have worked(3 so far), employees were/are in the habit of addressing even the top boss(even the owner in my current workplace) by his first name(maybe because he left out his surname off the introduction...)! So yeah while obviously it's not wise to test the waters immediately after securing a post somewhere(unless invited to do so), as soon as you observe fellow employees ignore the 'code', you can relax the manners you've groomed yourself to use so proudly

Happy to answer further questions, and hopefully I have not put you off from Quebec


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## Draki (Apr 4, 2014)

Nymma said:


> Happy to answer further questions, and hopefully I have not put you off from Quebec


Now I'm even more interested  NB seems awesome, we have an Erasmus student (european student exchange programm) and he doesn't speak French very well so we sometimes speak in English but there is always a bit French in it. It's quiet funny. But we don't invent new words. it's like: "oui, on peut parler en anglais, I speak English better anyway, qu'est ce que tu as fait , err, what did you ... " And like I said I study in Germany and France (and also the students are French or German, we both learn the language of the other country, some are already biligual, others not perfectly), so we often have this "bilingual promlem" I love it 

I also have more questions, but I'm quiet busy at the moment (have to do a big presentation tomorrow and important class on thursday and friday). So I'll come back later to this!


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## Mercury33 (Nov 1, 2014)

Hi there!
After reading the post I thought you'd find my own experience a bit helpful!

So here's the thing: I've spent three months for an internship in the region of Quebec this summer, in Sainte-Rose-du-Nord to be more acurrate. It's pretty far away from cities like Quebec and Montreal, so you better be warned: if you want to enjoy all the facilities a city can offer, this might not suit you best. But if you're fond of nature, then it's one of the places you shouldn't miss.
I found it thanks to a placement agency. It costed a large amount of money (a bit less than 1000€ though), but the good thing is that I paid only when the internship contract was signed by the company, my school and myself. But that's not the point of my message, I'm just giving you the context ^^
My experience in Canada (well, in Quebec) was delightful! I've seen unique landscapes, visited villages and spoke to inhabitants that were always helpful and happy to share with a stranger. Well, I'm French so I admit it was easier to be understood haha!
However, I didn't experience much trouble with the local accent. Of course there were some words I just couldn't understand and expressions I had never heard before, but that's link to the fact I was working in a hotel so the people were used to talking with French people and were always making efforts to make their language more understandable to tourists.

But I had a few days off to go and visit the cities of Montreal and Quebec. To my personal opinion, they are nothing alike and it was a great discovery! I think Montreal shares a lot with American big cities, with some skyscrapers, straight roads and straight walking lines, and a great metropolitan and multicultural aspect. I especially enjoy the Montreal "Chinatown" where the ambiance was nothing like I've experienced in London. It really was as if I entered another city within the city! in comparison, Quebec looks more like a typical European big city. It was "cute" and the atmosphere was really pleasant. There was more rush in Montreal.

Oh and one more thing, you'll be mazed by the "Frites Poutine", a specialty of the region of Quebec. If ever you're given the chance to go to "La Banquise", they have the best in town in Montreal (a local showed me the way ^^). People usually really like it, and hate it, so I hope you won't think I sent you to a wrong place 

Well, for now I don't know what else to tell you... If you have more questions, please ask! I hope I'll be able to answer


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## yentipeee (Jun 19, 2013)

The Language Police video is funny. I went to college in Montreal, I think all 3 major universities there are bilingual (but not like in Switzerland). Quebec French is different, though any French speaker will "get it". Enjoy.


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## monemi (Jun 24, 2013)

I lived in Montreal for five years. I'm English. I picked up French socially and learned some in school. It still isn't fantastic but I'm deaf, so picking up auditory languages is very hard for me. Fortunately, I worked in aviation (English was more important than my French to do my job, although work meant going out of town a lot.) I moved there from London, England. I found younger Quebeccor's were more friendly but their English usually wasn't as good as older Quebeccors. My husband is half French Canadian and half American. He has a lot of friends there. I didn't really get the opportunity to make my own circle of friends there but I got along well enough with his friends and brother and his girlfriend. 

Montreal was a great town to live in. It's affordable for a large city. I'd recommend going for an internship there.


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