[mast]

I think you need to consider more than just the differences in salary with Silicon Valley. You also need to compare the cost of living and other benefits as well. Canada is a huge country and some places are much more expensive (and so require higher salaries) than others.

> miserable weather

The weather is as miserable as we let it make us. Canadians in general love to complain about the weather but I don't think it is that bad. It can be cold or hot, snowy or rainy but most days are quite nice. When I lived in California I missed the changing seasons, fall colours and snow at Christmas.

[gesman]

I prefer winter-on-demand - (Tahoe!) vs. 4-5 months of misery in the air and on the roads enforced upon you - like it or not. Add to that quick car depreciation due to salty roads.

I am happy to pay for air tickets and buy a dinner for my Canadian friends during fall colors season. After all - I'll be coming back to summer, but it's all downhill for them from that point on, weatherwise. Some people are managing to convince themselves that Canadian weather is great but I don't have these masochistic talents. Having said that - I loved hot and often humid Canadian summers (Eastern Ontario and Quebec) - but these are too short anyways.

Sluggish resale housing market (my personal repeated experience). I lived in a real nice area in Kanata (West Ottawa) and it took us 1.5 yrs to sell a house.

With Silicon Valey salary i luckily was able to afford to pay single house rent here + Canadian mortgage payment.

California taxes are high, but Canadian are higher.

I better stop. :)