Montreal seems like the place to be if you're starting small. Vancouver might have a stronger talent base but their startup culture is a little top-heavy -- it's mostly VCs and angels spinning off their own ideas, whereas in Montreal there's a vibrant startup community and VCs are actively seeking early-stage concepts to invest in (like here: http://montrealstartup.com/). And yeah, it's a beautiful city and housing is really cheap. I'd move there if I could but the only startups looking to hire talent are the well-funded ones in Vancouver.

I live in Montreal and I can only see advantages. Incorporation in Canada is simple and dirt cheap, cost of living in Montreal generally low(food + rent for me around 600$), you can have a small office for a ridiculous price (200$ for office with a shared conference room and reception). Fun city to relax and go out.

VC's? Who cares? If you reach the size to start looking for VC then move to another city if yoi think it's so important.

Montreal has some great VCs, but for early stage funding I think Waterloo is actually the most forward looking.

I don't know enough about Vancouver's scene to know the differences that way.

Winnipeg, Manitoba

Pros: We're in Canada for one, low cost of living (compared to anywhere in North America), great people, central time zone (only a couple hours off either coast), and a growing startup scene (www.manitobanewmedia.com)

Cons: Pretty cold in the winter (not that much worse than elsewhere in Canada though, I'm from Windsor, Ontario and at least it's a dry cold here!). Not many startup-minded people. The scene here is really small still, and it's tough to find coding talent here in general, and even harder to find ones who would work well in a startup.

Winnipeg is a great city for the arts as well, with some really cool stuff going on in music, film, etc. I find it a creatively inspiring city with a unique culture compared to the rest of Canada and the US. So I may not have the same volume of geek surrounding me ;), but Winnipeg provides creative influences of a different sort which I can see have definitely influenced some of my business ideas in a good way.

Go Canada! :)

I agree. Waterloo is a great for startup, Toronto is a great city with lots of entrepreneurs, and Montreal is pretty great too excluding the language barrier.

On that note, I wouldn't mind meeting up with smart folks to talk shop - any suggestions? Are the Barcamps good?

I assume you mean Montreal, Quebec.

Yes, just a typo due to too much Ontario in my post!

Better speak French if you choose Montreal because of the language laws. Otherwise you might be in for a shock when you discover that speaking English is not an acceptable job requirement.

That's true, but a lot of people in the core of Montreal also speak fluent English and there doesn't seem to be much attitude towards English speaking people (in that area)

And hey, French isn't too hard to learn :)

I'm a Bill 101 refugee (yes I'm old!) but I really loved living in Montreal. Other than the language issues (and you're probably correct in downplaying them) it's a great city. And (other than the language issues) a great place for startups.

Most of the startup stuff going on in Montreal is all in English.

Bill 101 kicks in after 50 employees. Not really an issue for startups!

My friend has been studying French for years and is quaking at the thought of the Test de connaissance du français