The surrounding areas are suburban, not farmland, just like any metro area for most of these cities. Greater Montreal is about 4m people for example. Canada is a whole hell of a lot more than just Vancouver and Toronto. Actually Vancouver is relatively small with its 600k population and greater metro area of only 2.4m. Toronto and Montreal are the real population and economic centers and Vancouver coming in 3rd place.
I'm a US citizen and I've been to some of these places. It blows my mind how dismissive people are of Canada. It has more than a little diversity, distinct regions, amazing people, and the population of California and almost its GDP. Its 10th on the GDP scale globally. This isn't some farmland country, its a economic powerhouse.
Actually Vancouver is relatively small with its 600k population.
That's just a coincidence of lines on a map. Vancouver is very much like San Francisco in this respect; unless you're a local, when you say "San Francisco" you're probably including areas like Oakland and Berkeley, and you might be including areas as far out as San Jose.
True, but that's also true for a number of those other cities. Ottawa has both Kanata and Hull for example (and possibly Orleans depending on what you consider Ottawa). My aunt and uncle own a berry farm within a short drive to Ottawa as well so there's a number of small towns around it (within about 30 minutes drive or so).
My sister lives in a city right by Montreal, but most people would consider it to be Montreal if you don't live in the area.
"Ottawa has both Kanata and Orleans for example (and possibly Hull depending on what you consider Ottawa)"
NCR, or Nation Capital Region refers to Ottawa + Gatineau (Hull is part of Gatineau) and surrounding areas. [0]
However, for those who aren't from Canada, Gatineau is in fact in the Quebec Province, and Ottawa in the Ontario province. They are separated by a river. You can walk over the bridge from Downtown Ottawa to Gatineau in about 5 minutes.[1]
In terms of housing prices though, Gatineau and Ottawa are completely different animals. Even inside Ottawa, the range is quite large.
I was more thinking about that Hull and Kanata are both enough outside Ottawa that they're in the NCR, but not Ottawa. But, Orleans is right by the main part of Ottawa so I know a lot of people who just thought of it as Ottawa.
I lived in Ottawa for about 3 years (and my aunt, uncle, and cousins all live in the area).
> Fwiw Toronto is quite affordable still; you can live like a king in a brand new condo with curtain glass walls overlooking the city for under US$500k.
Is this sarcasm? USD 500K translates to 660K CAD. Is this supposed to be affordable? I love Toronto but the real estate prices are out of control. They should implement similar measures in Ontario.
As a senior engineer you don't get anywhere close to what you're paid in SF or NYC either. And (sadly) the depth/volume of engineering jobs is a lot poorer.
I have numerous friends with several children and who live in a condo. Hell, the Mayor of New Westminster moved _out_ of his house and into a condo; he has three daughters. As usual, there's a Vancouver blog for this[0].
Fwiw Toronto is quite affordable still; you can live like a king in a brand new condo with curtain glass walls overlooking the city for under US$500k.