That's a shame. Given that Vancouver and Toronto both have higher rents and are less attractive cities than Montreal, I was hoping that it'd be heating up in terms of jobs.
There is some aspect of the French law that keeps companies far, yes, though there's a limit (the law doesn't apply to small companies in some aspects)
Some say it's ok. There are some startups, but most of the environment seems to be "corporate oriented", and .NET is very popular