I'm in QC as well and was lucky enough to land a 65k job right out of school, so it was awkward to see my classmates not only accepting 45-50k salaries but also trying to rationalize them. I think you might be right about the taboo.

But otherwise I love Montreal. My salary today is definitely peanuts compared to SV but I live comfortably here and I saved way more than 12k during school thanks to internships and the low tuition costs you mentioned. The city is very culturally rich and I just really enjoy it here.