In general Canada "costs" more:

http://www.nationmaster.com/country-info/compare/Canada/Unit...

However, this does not adjust for free healthcare and education.

On the other hand, tech cost of living is skewed by SF and Vancouver.

SF is the #1 tech city in the US whereas Vancouver may be #2 in Canada, but the US is a larger country so SF may "dilute" more. Without stats, this is just guesswork.

I feel like if you are at the top of your game, and can make it at any of the major tech companies or can start your own startup without trouble at finding funding, the U.S. is way better. Most of my friends, including myself, earned 1.5-3x what we'd earn even in a major city as Toronto.

And if you happen to join a great tech company, chances are the health insurance you'll get is superior to the general public healthcare system in Canada.

About what I heard on the housing price topic from both sides, yes. EDIT: California VS Montreal

California vs Montreal is cherry picking the data. You could easily say Chicago (cheap) vs Vancouver (not cheap).

The major economic tech centres in Canada are Toronto and less so, Vancouver. Montreal and Ottawa (because that's where Shopify is HQ'd) are the next biggest.

Toronto and Vancouver are hugely unaffordable when it comes to housing; Montreal and Ottawa are much more affordable.

On the flipside, Vancouver is apparently more expensive than anywhere in the US for housing and median salary is much lower than somewhere like New York City.

Moving just a few hours south to Seattle will give you a huge increase in salary and lower cost of living.

Montreal is a big city, so I concede you have a (partial?) point. I have heard horror stories about cost of living in Vancouver here on HN, as well as from people I met in real life.