[Cyclical]

I had the exact opposite experience moving from Canada to San Francisco. While wages are much higher, the cost of living is not even comparable - anecdotally much, much higher in SF than either Toronto or Vancouver (both of which I have lived in). Healthcare has been a horrible experience here too, with Kaiser putting my through endless levels of bureaucracy in an effort to avoid paying for my medication.

[cmrdporcupine]

But when did you leave Toronto? Because the situation is getting exponentially out of control. The housing market in southern Ontario & lower mainland BC is a pyramid scheme. When my wife & I first bought our house in Toronto in 2005 in a "bad" neighbourhood (Oakwood-Vaughan) it was a bit of a squeeze on our dual tech-worker salary, but we were able to do it. Fast forward almost 20 years, we would not be able to afford what that house goes for unless we financed to like, a 35 year mortgage, and my compensation has gone way up from back then.

Meanwhile COVID f'd up the health care system extremely badly and there's no real commitment from the province to getting the funding situation under control.

[thfuran]

>a 35 year mortgage

Is that much longer than normal in Canada? 30 year is the standard in US.