What needs to be done to get a cheap & small appartment in Montreal,
without holding Canadian citizenship? Some prices would also help.

Hi, 

I have found two apartments for rent at under $500/month.  Both are
available to students, so I guess that would cover foreign students,
and hence non-Canadians in general, although you would have to confirm
this.  This site is in English:
http://www.places4rent.com/search/searchr.asp?LOCID=816&DPQ=0&QAT=502&BDO=3&BD1=0&BTO=3&BT1=1&RAO=6&RA1=390&RA2=465

At http://www.hebergement-montreal.qc.ca/page2.html there are details
of several apartments currently available.  The cheapest costs
$850/month, and there are some at approx. $1000-1200/month.  These
people specialise in renting to foreigners. It is possible to pay a
deposit using a credit card. On arrival, you prove your identity with
a passport.  You then have to pay the first month's rent in advance. 
This has to be done in cash or using travellers' cheques (credit cards
are not accepted for this purpose).  The web site owners say they can
assist in finding accommodation if you provide them with name, date
and length of stay, number of people, type of accommodation required,
available budget.  The web site is in French. The contact details for
accommodation requests fax:(514) 524-6558, email:
catherine@hebergement-montreal.qc.ca

This place has studio apartments at US$800/month:
http://www.fcc.net/premier/montreal/ They are rentable by the week,
month or year.  The fact the price is stated in US$ would imply they
are available to foreigners.

More rooms and apartments, including ones priced as low as $350/month,
and accepting students etc are listed at
http://www.places4rent.com/search/directory.asp?LOCID=816
It is also possible to insert an accommodation wanted ad on this site.

http://pages.globetrotter.net/lestudio/english.htm  has studio flats
from $440/month upwards.  These include cooking facilities.  Toilets
and showers are either included or shared, but available on the same
floor.

A few places for rent are also listed on Montreal small ads sites:
http://www.montreal-classified.ca/ ;
http://montreal.worldweb.com/ClassifiedAds/index.html?vid=24451045&vid=24451045
; http://www.toutmontreal.com/english/cetm/annonces.html

http://canadavisa.com/ is the web site of a firm of Canadian
attorneys.  It provides information in several languages about visa
requirements for temporary and permanent residence in Canada.

Hope this helps, but please do request clarification if you think I
need to answer your question more fully

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Request for Answer Clarification by j_philipp-ga on 11 Jun 2002 02:11 PDT

Thanks a lot, Tehuti.
Can you tell me, what is a "studio flat" or "studio appartment"?
And can you explain what it means to "pay a deposit" using credit card?

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Clarification of Answer by tehuti-ga on 11 Jun 2002 03:42 PDT

Hello j-phillip,

A studio apartment (or flat for those of us in the UK!) is an
apartment with one open space which is used both for living and for
sleeping.  Usually, there is also a cooking area in one part of this
same space rather than there being a separate kitchen.  At their best,
studio apartments can be fantastic, when they take up the whole floor
of a building and provide a large, airy, open space.  Traditionally,
they are on the top floor - the concept comes from the habit of
artists to rent an attic space with windows in the roof for good
lighting, where they would live and work, moving the easel around the
whole space in order to get the best light conditions at any time. 
However, the term is now used to describe any apartment that consists
of only one room.  The worst studio apartments are small, cramped
rooms with minimal cooking facilities.  I would advise you to make
sure you know the size of the places being offered and also details of
what cooking and bathing facilities are included.

A deposit is an advance payment you make to secure a rental.  The
amount varies from renter to renter.  A sum equivalent to one month's
rental is very common, although some people ask for more.  Often, you
have to pay the deposit and then start paying the full rent as soon as
you move in.  In such cases, the renter keeps the deposit until you
move out.  Provided no damage has been done to the apartment during
your stay, you get the deposit back in full.  Otherwise, the renter
keeps back however much money is needed to repair the damage.  Again,
this is an area in which you need to be careful.  Some less honest
renters try to pretend you have damaged something in order to avoid
giving back the deposit.  It is useful, as soon as you move into an
apartment, to go through very carefully, checking that everything
listed in the inventory is actually there, and also checking for any
damage to paintwork etc.  List anything that is wrong, date and sign
the list, give one copy to the renter and keep one for yourself.

Thanks for the answer and great additional information.