In Canada the estate pays the tax not the beneficiaries. In Canada the estate is considered a sale.

"The deceased is considered to have sold all of his or her capital property for fair market value immediately prior to death. This includes, with certain exceptions, all the deceased person’s non-registered assets (personal belongings, cars, investments, business assets, etc.).

If any of these assets have gone up in value since their acquisition, the estate will owe taxes on the capital gain in the year of death. Capital gain is the difference between the fair market value of the item when purchased and the fair market value item of the same item at the date of death."

See this website:

http://turbotax.intuit.ca/tax-resources/inheritance-tax.jsp

That's not an estate tax, that's the estate paying taxes owed on property.

In Canada, if you die with $20M in cash, you are free to give it to heirs with no tax penalty.