HELP! So much information...can't make sense of it!

Hi! My name's Amanda, and I'm from the US, but hoping to move to Canada soon. I'm engaged, and my fiance' is from Montreal...I know that the standards for acceptance there are different from anywhere else in Canada, and I just can't make sense of all the information. I think I'm drowning in rules, regulations, exceptions, and deadlines.

We're getting married in October, and from what I've read, the processing/wait time before I could be able to move up with him could be as long as a year or more. I'm not overly-excited about the prospect of spending my entire first year of marriage, just seeing each other on every other weekend and on holidays. Once the marriage is official (we'll be getting married in the US) and we have it validated in Quebec, is there any way that I can move up there, AND be able to work while we're waiting for the processing? I'm 28 years old, and will be 29 by the time the wedding rolls around...I have a college degree, and plenty of work experience in banking, but I don't speak French. If I applied and got a job offer on the western side of the island, would I be able to apply for a worker's visa WHILE living up there on a visitor's visa? I know I can't work while on a visitor's visa at all.

Help! I'm so confused, and I want to be able to move in with him as soon as we can after we're married, but I'd also like to be able to work, so that he doesn't have to completely tow my weight and bills.

Thank you so much in advance!