A salary will be like 25% less but cars are 25% more expensive? Yet I see some really fly automobiles flying around the TO.
Except the big one of health care. Daycare, tuition, infrastructure, etc. are also mostly covered depending on where you are. So a lot more is paid for by taxes.
> job offers I turned down from Toronto based tech companies.
Tech salaries are much lower here to be sure, but we just have satellite offices of large tech firms beyond Shopify.
The brain drain south is a well known issue up here. If it were not for the healthcare nonsense in the USA, I probably would have gone too.
1. Canada's immigration system is merit-based. Firms in Canada import skilled immigrants to fill tech vacancies in a way that US-based companies cannot. In Canada, it can take as little as a few weeks to get a temporary work permit for a foreign tech worker. Once they are in the country, they can apply for permanent residency through a provincial program and have PR status (this is like a green card) within a year.
2. Canadian tech firms are generally smaller. It is well known that smaller firms pay less across the board, in all industries, let alone tech.
Base salaries for our industry look like they've been improving lately in the GTA. But not so much for other industries.