If salaries and housing prices in Canada were at all reasonable, I know many fellow Canadians would move back from the Bay area in an instant. Toronto is the other major tech center which is stupidly priced (hopefully the new govt measures slow things down). If you can speak french, consider Montreal.

If you can't speak French, move to Montreal anyway, like everyone else!

Be mindful that there is (mostly) terrible weather everywhere in Canada except in Ontario/South BC(Vancouver)

Depends on your definition of terrible, I suppose. I never feel more alive than when I go for a walk on a crisp, sunny -20 degree morning. I used to get mornings like that quite often in Ottawa, and I've missed them the past couple of years in Toronto.

"Less terrible" in Ontario, "not great" in BC

How about the Tri-Cities[1]? I have several friends who live there, seems like there are lots of tech jobs around.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tri-Cities_(Ontario)

I live about 50 minutes from Cambridge/Waterloo/Kitchener. I'd totally move that way but my wife wants to stay close to her mom. If we made that move I'd be mortgage free after selling the Mississauga house for $200k more than the Guelph/Cambridge house would cost.

Still very limited job opportunities compared to US tech hubs, but the cost of living is indeed not out of control.

The biggest problem there is you have to be OK living in a place like Waterloo, which is great if you like suburbs and want lots of space, not so great of you're into city living.

The Club Penguin shutdown is a devastating blow to the Kelowna tech industry!

(seriously, their headquarters are there)

They didn't shut down the offices. They just moved to a mobile Club Penguin game instead.

The Okanagan is actually a great area to live in as far as tech goes in Canada.

That's interesting. I grew up around there and would definitely consider moving back one day to be around family.

What are the big tech names around there these days?

You might already use this site, but if not, definitely add it to your job search:

http://www.viatec.ca/jobs

I moved to Canada in 2005 or so. It set me back a little financially to wait for my visa and build up a credit profile here but 12 years later I think it's one of the best decisions I've ever made.

Would might net worth be slightly higher if I had stayed in the US? Yes, because I spent around $30k to get established (that was also a personal choice, I needed a break after a rough startup go between '98-2005.

I, too, like BC, but SW Ontario has more jobs.