Yup. I moved to Europe directly after my undergrad and was offered the equivalent of 90k CAD for a junior position. And I was entitled to 20 days paid vacation per year, by law. Not Paid Time Off (PTO) like they have in Canada.

Get sick? Go to the doctor and stay home. It's not vacation (since you're sick) so you keep your vacation days. I've heard if you get sick while on vacation you can reclaim the days, though that's never happened.

I've thought about moving back occasionally. But if I took my current European contract to any Canadian employer I'd be laughed out of the interview.

Besides, it's nice here. Nearly the whole continent is <3 hours away by plane, so there's always somewhere new and interesting to visit with your copious annual vacation ;-)

I eventually ended up in a small university town on the east coast. Great combination of low cost of living, walkability of the town, many cultural events, and other things that allow a small town to punch above its weight in terms of general activity and things to do.

I'm generally surprised, looking at the cost of living in some Canadian cities, like Toronto and Vancouver, that more people don't seek out interesting towns with lower costs of living--especially for remote workers.

All the numbers you quoted are for mid tier in SF. Yes cost of living is higher here, but the salary taps out quite a bit lower.

Three of my colleagues own houses in San Francisco. Multiple of others own homes in Oakland or San Mateo. None of us are very special people, in other words just normal ICs and people who work hard, but not endlessly.

To work as a Senior Dev in Toronto means topping out at 160k. To work as a senior dev here in SF means starting at 210k and only going up from there. That's more than cost of living differences can cover.

As far as I know, for all domestic students tuition is still free (unless it's a private university).