Thousands of people endure the Canadian Immigration process each year. Why? Because Canada has a lot to offer. Job opportunities and culture are prevalent in ever city, even for someone working long hours. Montreal, a cosmopolitan and European city in Canada, in particular is a favored spot for immigrants with work visas and students looking to study abroad. Not only are there numerous restaurants and boutiques but the city boasts a collection of public sculpture that rivals that found in many museums. And anyone can enjoy it for free!

For those who tread the blocks of Montreal on daily basis, it’s easy to turn a blind eye to some of the miraculous art right here on the streets. Mont Royal, a lovely spot for picniking, jogging, or simply relaxing, devotes an entire field to sculpture. Aside from the famous angel by George William Hill that can be seen atop the mountain from numerous vantage points in the city, a sculpture garden offers work from such artists as Armand Vaillancourt, Pierre Szekely and Sergio Signori.

In the heart of Montreal’s downtown, on Rene-Levesque and Fort, there is a small architecture park tucked away at the side of a highway. The park overlooks the lower half of the city and is a preferred spot for students needing a break from stressful coursework.

You don’t have to plan a trip to enjoy the public art in Montreal. Many banks and offices house sculpture by prominent artists, so if you are here in Canada with a work visa, don’t be surprised if the statue in front of your office building is something that might otherwise be in a gallery. For example, a bank on Sherbrooke just a few blocks from McGill University has a Barry Flanagan statue of a horse, which is called “Kouros Horse.”

In fact, it’s hard not to walk around Montreal without noticing the sculpture, once your mind is open to it. Public sculpture invades our everyday lives and enriches it. Sometimes it is the intermingling of life and public sculpture that is most captivating. One of my friend that was attending Mc Gill University with a student visa, said to me: ‘I would chuckle every time I passed a certain statue of man named Norman Bethune. Not a day went past that a pigeon or seagull was not perched on his head’.