I dunno that their winters are any worse than toronto's...I've been there both is summer and winter and there really isn't much difference....even the traffic used to be worse than toronto but now IMO it's about the same.....
I will say this: in the summer? Montreal is infinitely better than toronto. It seems the city embraces summer and just about every street has something to do, see or eat at. I forget the name of the street down around st catherines where they close the street off and it's wall to wall bars, eateries, night clubs.....and on friday and saturday night? rock on.......
Not to mention the women....hell, in montreal you can smile and say 'allo to a hottie and she won't look at you like you've got a penis growing out of the middle of your forehead...unlike toronto......
oh yeah, you don't need to learn french, montreal is about as cosmopolitan as toronto and has a big portugese and italian communities.....you can get along fine without it but if you do learn it, you'll be more widely accepted. I know when i was dating a woman who was originally from quebec city by the time we broke up i could speak it well enough to get by......like order some beers, dinner, and a hooker lol.....what more do you need?
Now quebec city, if you don't speak french you're fucked...NO one speaks english up there......
