Daily Life

Most Quebecers don't have an assigned family doctor, and that will be your case when you arrive too. It's not a dead end: you can see a doctor at a walk-in clinic, use the First-Line Access Point (GAP) for a one-off need, or call 811 (Info-Santé) for free nurse advice, day and night. The pharmacist can also treat several minor issues and renew certain prescriptions. RAMQ covers doctor visits and hospital care, but not adult dental care or most medications — plan coverage for those.

Every city has its own public-transit network, with its own fares and reduced rates — find yours as soon as you settle in. If you opt for a car, know that auto insurance works differently here: bodily injuries are covered by a public plan run by the SAAQ, on a "no-fault" basis, while vehicle damage and civil liability fall to private insurers — and that liability insurance is mandatory to drive. Buy a used car carefully: check the history and mechanical condition before signing.

First, the displayed price is almost never the price paid: two sales taxes, the federal GST and the provincial QST, are added at the register — about 15% more. Second, tipping: at restaurants, bars, hairdressers or in taxis, you usually leave 15 to 20%, and it's not included in the bill — staff rely on it. Third, your credit history doesn't cross borders: you start from zero, and building that credit early will make renting, plans and loans easier.

Quebec winter is long, bright and beautiful, but you don't get through it by improvising. A real coat, proper boots, winter driving, heating: you need to gear up before the first cold, not during it. For many newcomers it's the biggest shock — and, well prepared, one of the finest discoveries.