Best treatment of this subject I’ve seen. I am speaking from a parent perspective. I believe this is a must-see and invaluable resource for everyone striking out on their own for the first time. Good luck.

I applaud everyone who made this video. If the “landlord” is an actor, kudos to him for generally capturing the personality and timely “forgetfulness” of most Montreal landlords. Also, the apartment is pretty indicative of what’s available in the McGill Ghetto. Dirty, falling apart, old appliances, etc, etc. Fact is that if you live in the Ghetto, you are overpaying. Period. Being able to walk to school in winter has a certain appeal, to be sure, but if you are willing to live a 20-30 min metro/bus trip away, you will get more for your money, and potentially live in a more “Quebecois” neighbourhood, assuming you’re not purposely trying to avoid francophones while you live here (not a joke….some people are.)

I have to say, however, that I feel the video is unrealistic in terms of how much landlords will accommodate you. Some apartments are shown to 10 or more people (often 4-5 at a time) and it will be the person with the fewest demands and acts the quickest who will make it through to the final lease signing stage (assuming their credit and/or references are good.) Asking for floors or pipes to be changed as a condition of you moving in will 100% guarantee you don’t get the place, because there is always someone who will be fine with them at the asking price.

Also, if you’e signing a lease and you haven’t already seen the laundry facilities, you probably failed at using the checklist that Natalie mentions near the beginning. Also, checking the general repair of the building is a good way to gauge how the landlord will respond to your maintenance requests.

In Quebec, I would say that the biggest problem is that there are no security/damage deposits, and therefore no incentive to do move-in/move-out inspections. If a tenant breaks something, the landlord will have a hard time recuperating them money because the tenant will say “it was always that way”. So landlords will often let places fall into disrepair and not fix things until they start impacting the landlord’s ability to rent the place for the $$ they want.

Generally, students would be much better served by renting a two-bedroom with another person. You have to share common areas and especially kitchen/bathroom, but you’re also sharing cost of any Internet, landline phone, TV, electricity, dishes, cleaning supplies, and even food if you want to. So long as you find someone who is quiet at night, and who helps keep the place clean, you probably won’t see them enough to care about much else (if you’re studying on campus and enjoying a social life outside of your apartment, which is a must in Montreal.) Also, because the rents are higher, there is less competition in the market, and the tenants have a bit more leverage to get things fixed (things like locks, faucets, lights, etc….you still won’t get the floors redone as a condition of moving in…I’m almost laughing at that one.)

As an aside, the video is correct that the Social Insurance Number (just “SIN”…not “SIN number”) should not be given out, and all efforts should be made to provide something else, if possible.

Best of luck!