What Do American Business People Think of Quebec?

For 25 years, I have built a couple of global media businesses, building what is predominantly an American professional network. If you ask American business leaders what they think of doing business in Quebec and you ask them privately, candidly, without performative politeness, the answer is rarely hostile.

It is usually puzzled.

Quebec is seen less as difficult and more as an elegant contradiction.

Montreal, in particular, is widely admired. Americans see it as cosmopolitan, cultured, affordable, creative, and globally relevant in a way few North American cities are anymore. They love the talent, the universities, the design sensibility, and the bilingualism in theory. They often love the people.

When the conversation shifts from visiting to building, however, the tone changes.

Here are the patterns that tend to surface. Not judgments. Patterns.

1. Montreal is brilliant, but who actually decides anything?

One of the most common American perceptions is that Quebec has a surplus of intelligence and a shortage of decisiveness. Meetings are thoughtful, nuanced, historically informed, and often respectful to a fault. Americans leave impressed by how deeply issues are understood and confused about who is empowered to say yes.

In the U.S., decisiveness is a virtue. In Quebec, deliberation is a value. Neither is inherently superior, but they collide often. From the outside, Quebec can feel like a place where everyone is smart, but no one is clearly in charge.

2. Is this a business conversation or a political one?

American executives are often unsure whether they are dealing with a purely commercial counterparty, a quasi public institution, a politically constrained organization, or a cultural proxy for something larger.

In Quebec, business, politics, identity, and history are intertwined. In the U.S., they are usually kept artificially separate. The result is uncertainty. Not opposition, just uncertainty. The concern is not government involvement itself, but the sense that the line between commerce and symbolism can move mid conversation.

3. We love the talent. We are nervous about the system.

When it comes to talent, Americans are unequivocally impressed. Engineers, AI researchers, creatives, operators, managers. Quebec produces world class people.

The hesitation comes from the system around them. Regulatory complexity, labor rigidity, language compliance uncertainty, tax unpredictability, and long approval timelines create the impression that execution is strong, but permission is fragile. The concern is not competence. It is friction.

4. Why does ambition sometimes feel… suspect?

This is delicate, but real. In the United States, ambition is openly celebrated. In Quebec, overt ambition can still trigger moral scrutiny or skepticism.

Thankfully, the vast majority of my compatriots understand that my efforts to bring back the Montreal Expos are rooted in principle and purpose, and represent a long, imperfect test of patience, process, and preparation. It is a mandate well suited to a servant-leader mindset, one grounded in stakeholder management, a love of sport, and a genuine desire to make as many people happy as possible.

That said, I have no doubt that some roll their eyes, resenting if not the objective itself, then certain tactics, tone, or stylistic choices. I understand that. For my part, given the scale of the potential civic transformation, I admit to feeling oddly emancipated. Emancipated to move faster, to think bigger, to push harder, and yes, occasionally to go parabolic.

Which inevitably raises a fair question: if one is opposed to this effort despite the absence of public funding requirements, despite the economic and cultural upside, despite the broad-based benefits, then why? What, precisely, is the objection?

That question is worth asking openly, calmly, and without accusation.

Either way, large projects and big visions are sometimes met first with questions about intent and optics rather than opportunity.

From the American perspective, Quebec can sometimes appear more comfortable managing decline gracefully than embracing scale unapologetically. That perception is often unfair, but it exists. When the implicit assumption is that transformational projects, such as the return of an MLB franchise or the arrival of an NBA team, must pass exclusively through a small circle of long-established custodians of capital and legacy, many of whom may lack the incentive or appetite to pursue bold, long-term risk, stagnation becomes a real possibility. In every society, progress is ultimately driven by risk takers and new entrepreneurs, those who see what others do not and then move decisively to make it real.

5. The opportunity is always there. Tomorrow.

Timing comes up repeatedly. Americans often feel that Quebec sees opportunity clearly but prefers to engage once risk has been neutralized.

In Silicon Valley, risk is the price of admission. In Quebec, risk is something to be socially, politically, and reputationally managed. This leads to the belief that Quebec excels at adopting proven models but hesitates to be first mover when stakes are high.

6. We are never quite sure if we are wanted.

Americans do not need to be loved, but they do need clarity.

Quebec often sends mixed signals. We say we want foreign investment, but not too much. We welcome global capital, but only on our terms. We seek growth, but hesitate if it risks changing us. To outsiders, this can feel like being invited into the house and then gently reminded not to touch anything. That dynamic does not breed resentment. It breeds hesitation.

I am fortunate to have a global network, and I see myself as an ambassador for the city, the province, and the country every time I travel, whether for business or leisure. And yet, at times, I find myself wondering whether inviting outsiders to build and invest here is truly encouraged. The Expos initiative has already delivered enough insight, utility, and satisfaction to so many to make that question worth exploring. I have little doubt that Quebec Inc. will ultimately support the effort as it takes shape, gains momentum, and becomes inevitable (the application, the decision itself is Major League Baseball’s, which alone will determine which cities are awarded franchises). On a personal, selfish note, becoming more patient is certainly an area I can improve, so I welcome the process and accept the timeline. I also see – slowly but surely – our friends in the various levels of government taking an interest and in their own way, express support. It will take a village, after all, but entrepreneurs operate between the improbable and impossible.

7. No discrimination, but little invitation.

This part matters personally. I have never experienced discrimination in Quebec, in Canada, or in the United States. Not from Quebecois, not from Canadians more broadly, and not from Jewish communities in finance or media. Any perceived overrepresentation in certain sectors is far more plausibly explained by historical circumstance (views on usury), cultural networks (working with people you know/have experience with), and legacy constraints (not allowed to own real estate early on), not conspiracies. People naturally work with those they know and trust, and that instinct is human, not malicious.

That said, the absence of discrimination does not automatically translate into inclusion. Quebec is not uniquely exclusionary, but it is not especially inviting to new entrants either. This is all normal for a small, tightly knit ecosystem built on long-standing relationships. It simply becomes more visible at scale (same could be said about Hollywood, while NY is the GOAT city because anyone can technically meet with anyone if you can value and help people – and go for it and make the ask).

And if I may be candid, that reality is arguably one of the main reasons I felt compelled to pursue entrepreneurship in the first place.

8. Custodians of capital, not risk takers.

One pattern stands out: Quebec and Montreal have a surprising number of wealthy families and individuals. Capital is not the issue.

Risk appetite is.

Much of that capital behaves as a custodian rather than a catalyst. Conservative, careful, preservation oriented. Ironically, not particularly creative when it comes to deploying money into bold new ideas, despite Quebec’s cultural reputation.

9. Access paradox.

It has often been easier for me to meet A list entrepreneurs, executives and investors in New York, sometimes Los Angeles, London, and even Toronto, than in Montreal. Los Angeles is also closed by design, but its gatekeepers are visible and professionalized. You know where the walls are.

Montreal can feel needlessly opaque. Networks are tight, informal, and relational. If you are not already inside, it can be hard to tell how to enter.

Now, I am not everyone’s cup of tea. But I also bring no baggage with a pretty impeccable governance record, financial performance & job satisfaction reviews, etc.

The quiet truth.

Most American business people do not think Quebec is hostile. They think it is brilliant, complex, cautious, and slower than it needs to be. They believe Montreal could punch far above its weight and sometimes wonder why it does not.

They do not dismiss Quebec. They struggle to read it.

And in business, unreadability is often more limiting than opposition.

What Would Change the Narrative

If Quebec wants to shift how American business leaders perceive it, the answer is not to abandon its values, history, or caution. Those are strengths. The answer is clarity.

Clarity about who decides.
Clarity about timelines.
Clarity about risk tolerance.
Clarity about what is encouraged versus merely tolerated.

Quebec does not need to become Silicon Valley. It does not need to worship speed or glorify excess (even though, if we can be candid, it has seen multiple flameouts). But it does need to signal, clearly and confidently, if ambition is welcome, scale acceptable, and when doing something bold is not viewed as a threat to identity, but as an extension of it.

The irony is that Quebec already has the talent, the capital, the creativity, and the global relevance. What it sometimes lacks is permission, not from government, but from itself.

When ambition is treated less as a moral hazard and more as a civic tool, the narrative changes quickly. And when that happens, Quebec does not just become easier to do business in. It becomes impossible to ignore. Follow the Peanut Project here.