Details

• Canada
• BBE-18
• Undergraduate
• SoSe 2026
• Time spent at the partner university: 4 months
• Contact: Login to see contact information

1. Preparation

Book flights as soon as possible as there is a large demand for the dates when the semester starts and they tend to get expensive. Bring warm clothes for the winter semester and possibly ski gear if you plan on going but keep in mind luggage for such long haul flights gets pricey. Upon arrival get a virtual SIM card, I used fizz and was satisfied. I would recommend learning a few basic French phrases as you will find that sometimes English will not suffice. However in the downtown area English will work just fine. I would recommend having a few days as a buffer before arriving to settle down and get a bit acquainted with the city. In my case having a friend who lives there was a great help as he told me all the insights.

2. Accommodation

I had a different situation as I was living with a personal friend of mine who has an apartment in Montreal. I did not have to search for accommodation. The apartment was located right next to McGill university. I would recommend looking for apartments in downtown / the McGill ghetto area or on St Laurent boulevard as those places are well connected and you will be spending most of your time around those areas anyways or at least that was the case for most of my cohort. The commute to the university is just fine either by bus or taking the new metro line from downtown that goes under the mountain. Safety was never an issue, the only inconvenience for me was that there are virtually no grocery stores in downtown but I recommend going to Costco a few times a month via uber and getting groceries there, it saved me a lot of money but it might not be convenient for everybody.

3. Academic life at host university

The campus was spread over three buildings, the one in downtown is only for masters students but the library is accessible to everyone, I recommend it highly as a nice place to get work done. The other two campus buildings: Decelles and Cote Sainte Catherine were approximately 15 minutes away by foot or one metro stop. The Cote Sainte Catherine also had a spacious library with study rooms overlooking a scenic forest. Academic culture and teaching style were comparable to WU, the courses put an emphasis on individual work, group projects and independent reading assignments/ research. The university is mostly francophone which was noticeable but never posed any issues for me personally as I was able to get around just fine with practically no French skills. I would recommend the International Business course in particular. I liked that it taught concepts in relation to current economical and geopolitical events which in turn provided me with a much more tangible and relevant idea of the course contents. I would recommend socialising with other exchange peers as it is then much easier to find groups for the various group assignments In the courses.

5. Every day life in the host country

Public transport was comfortable and pretty well connected, I recommend getting the OPUS card as soon as possible which grants you access to buses and the metro system. I would occasionally use Uber which was not too expensive most of the time. I never felt unsafe at any moment during my stay and did not hear of anything unpleasant happening to anyone from the exchange in this regard. Social/ leisure activities are endless but weather is a big factor. The few warm days I got to experience opened up doors for a lot more activities outside. I would recommend igloofest, an open-air music festival in the Old Port that takes place over a few weekends in the winter. Skiing is decent but really expensive, if one wishes to go I would recommend Mt Tremblant for a day or two. When the weather allows it the bixi bike-sharing app is a really good option for transportation. The university also has an on site sports facility CEPSUM which I did not use but heard positive things on from my peers. The city offers a wide array of charming cafes, pubs and clubs that fit every vibe and personality.

6. Testimonial

I enjoyed my exchange mostly thanks to the great people I got to meet and the vibrant culture of Montreal. I never thought I would make so many memories and experience so much in such a short period of time. Now I have couches to sleep all over the world and formative memories that really moved me on a personal level.