The Plateau for its staircases and cafés, Griffintown for new-build near downtown, Westmount for families: what each neighbourhood costs, who it suits, and what nobody tells you before you move in.

Certificate of eligibility for English school, daycare waitlists, parks and snow-clearing: the five questions we ask every family before they sign a lease, so you don’t pick the wrong borough.

Lease season, the city-wide Moving Day on July 1, the previous tenant’s rent hidden in Section G, and the Tribunal administratif du logement: how to rent without nasty surprises, even from another city.

St-Viateur or Fairmount for the bagel, the Mile End tables we keep for clients, the Old Montreal rooms worth the reservation: the little black book we hand to everyone settling in.

Winter at -20 °C and the underground city, summer terraces, the Jazz Festival and Osheaga, the July 1 day when the whole city moves at once: what a Montreal year actually feels like, season by season.

The greener, quieter side of the city: century-old townhouses, top-rated schools, anglophone and francophone roots. Why families looking for space and good schools land here.