[b112]

https://www.realtor.ca/on/ottawa/real-estate

There are loads of houses well under $1M Canadian, the average price would likely be 700k.

In USD that's about 500K. a far cry from the 2 to 3M USD in Palo Alto. 1M CDN (720kUSD) houses in Ottawa, are what you'd pay $5M for in Palo Alto.

Inflation is not unique to Ontario, you'll see the same sort if thing in SV too

[refurb]

You need to compare like for like. If you're talking about homes in Kanata, then you need to look at homes the same distance in the East Bay where you can buy for under $1M as well.

A $3M home in Palo Alto is comparable to a Ottawa home in the core of the city. And not a townhome, a detached single family home.

[b112]

If you're going to compare in this way, wouldn't 'most expensive in the metro area' be San Fransisco compared to 'most expensive in the metro area' downtown Ottawa?

Palo Alto is like Kanata, price wise. Ottawa core is like San Fran.