For Montreal & Quebec Companies
Montreal is North America's gaming
capital and its most important
AI research hub outside Silicon Valley.
Engineering, AI, and leadership talent. Placed right.
For Montreal and Quebec companies hiring in India, the AI and gaming roster is heavyweight: Ubisoft Montreal (largest single Ubisoft studio globally), MILA (Yoshua Bengio's AI research institute), Element AI (ServiceNow), CAE, and a dense gaming and AI ecosystem have built Montreal into a technology market unlike any other in Canada. The India mandate profile is distinct: gaming engineering and the production AI research-to-deployment gap are the two primary mandate types, both requiring domain-specific sourcing that generic engineering recruiting cannot reach. See how US companies hire in India.
COMPANIES WE HAVE PLACED FOR
The searches that failed before us
had three things in common.
Most Montreal teams that reach Talhive have already tried. Posted on LinkedIn and got applications with no signal. Used a contingent agency and got volume CVs with no technical depth. Tried to run the search without anyone who understands India's notice periods, competing offers, and motivation structures. Talhive exists for teams that need the search done once, done right, by a partner who owns the outcome end to end.
Job-board posts do not reach engineers who are not actively looking but would move for the right mandate.
Offer-stage dropouts are a motivation problem, not a compensation one. The process never surfaced what matters.
60 to 90 day notice periods mean counteroffers land after your process ends. Without a retention strategy, the candidate walks.
3 Principal AI Engineers, Writesonic
A prior agency and six months of inbound had produced zero hires. Talhive identified that the real talent pool for production LLM roles sat inside platform teams at Google and Amazon, not among self-labelled AI engineers on LinkedIn. We rebuilt the sourcing thesis around deployment evidence and closed all three within 6 weeks.
Roles we place for Montreal companies.
Ubisoft-profile game engine, multiplayer backend, and live service engineers
Ubisoft Montreal and the broader Montreal gaming studio cluster create India mandates for game backend engineers, online infrastructure specialists, and live ops engineers. India's gaming engineering community in Bengaluru and Hyderabad is growing and accessible through domain-specific outreach. View role profile
MILA-adjacent production AI engineers, the gap between research and deployment
Montreal's AI research ecosystem creates companies that need engineers who can take research to production. This is a distinct profile from generic ML engineers, production LLM deployment, ML infrastructure, and model serving engineers accessible through Bengaluru's production AI community. View role profile
CAE-profile flight simulation, safety-critical systems, and aerospace software engineers
CAE's simulation technology creates regulated engineering mandates for safety-critical software, embedded systems, and simulation platform engineers. India's aerospace and embedded engineering community in Bengaluru and Hyderabad has this depth. View role profile
Brief to signed offer. 6 weeks.
India vs Montreal salary benchmarks.
2026 cash salary benchmarks at funded product companies. Not IT services rates. Total compensation with ESOPs adds 15 to 40%.
The India GCC Hiring Playbook: compensation, cities, and models compared →
Three hiring models for Montreal companies.
We help you choose the right one.
Senior and leadership hires where a mis-hire costs 6 months
One search partner, defined timeline, technically evaluated shortlist. 4 to 8 weeks to signed offer. Fee: 20 to 25% of first-year CTC. How retained search works →
1 to 15 engineers, no entity, you manage the team
The EOR handles payroll and compliance in India. You own the work. 2 to 4 weeks after candidate identified. EOR vs entity →
20+ engineers, long-term presence, full control
Register a subsidiary. Full HR, payroll, benefits. 3 to 6 months setup. Makes economic sense after the team model is proven at scale.
Ready to build your India team?
Share the role, team size, and timeline. A founder will respond within 24 hours.
Book a consultationOur services for Montreal companies.
Engineering leadership, gaming specialists, production AI engineers. EST-compatible async process.
GCC or founding team. Bengaluru for gaming and AI; Hyderabad for enterprise and simulation engineering.
Scale hiring for Montreal companies with multiple concurrent India roles. EST-aligned reporting.
Tell us the role, team size, and what you have tried. A founder responds directly.
Strictly confidential. Reviewed by a senior Talhive team member.
Received.
A senior team member will be in touch directly.
Frequently asked questions.
5 questionsHow long does it take to hire an engineer in India from Montreal?
What does a senior engineer in India cost compared to Montreal?
Do I need to set up an Indian entity?
How do I manage the timezone difference?
What are the biggest risks?
Resources for Montreal companies hiring in India.
Executive Search
Retained vs Contingent: When Each Model Works
The data on outcomes for senior India hires.
India Team Build
Bangalore vs Pune vs Hyderabad: Where to Build
City comparison for global companies.
India Team Build
Managing India Notice Periods Without Losing the Hire
Why offers slip at 60 to 90 days.
Montreal company.
India engineering for gaming and AI.
If you are a Montreal or Quebec company hiring in India, share the mandate. Talhive will build the sourcing thesis for India's gaming and production AI communities, both require domain-specific approaches.
More across the cluster