There are loads of houses well under $1M Canadian, the average price would likely be 700k.
In USD that's about 500K. a far cry from the 2 to 3M USD in Palo Alto. 1M CDN (720kUSD) houses in Ottawa, are what you'd pay $5M for in Palo Alto.
Inflation is not unique to Ontario, you'll see the same sort if thing in SV too
A $3M home in Palo Alto is comparable to a Ottawa home in the core of the city. And not a townhome, a detached single family home.
Palo Alto is like Kanata, price wise. Ottawa core is like San Fran.
And it's not just the house itself, goods and services associated with real estate have blown up with it. Home renovations and maintenance work on your home (if you can even find a contractor) are just stupid. So even if you bought in years ago (like I did), the carrying costs are very high.
Housing has exploded in Canada over the last decade. Even in smaller cities like Ottawa, the prices are more expensive than cities like Chicago.
Then layer on top low salaries, and housing affordability is worse in Canada than many US cities.
How one can take a 67% pay cut and have housing still high means you have more in your pocket you’re going to have to explain.