Université de Montréal

The Université de Montréal is a French-language U15 research university and the largest university in Quebec, with around 34,335 undergraduates and roughly 10,000 international students. It offers more than 600 programmes across 13 faculties, one of the widest ranges in Canada, and attracts over 600 million Canadian dollars in research funding annually. It hosts MILA, among the largest academic concentrations of deep learning researchers anywhere, which for a student in machine learning is a stronger argument than any ranking. The language is the gate. Teaching is in French and admission requires a minimum B1 proficiency, evidenced through the TFI or an equivalent test. For a Kazakh applicant with no French that is a substantial undertaking rather than a formality. What it buys is worth weighing. French-language universities in Quebec charge international students materially less than the English-language ones, and Quebec's own permanent residence programmes favour French speakers heavily. A graduate leaving with both the degree and the language is well placed to stay.