The deal used to be that it cost less to live here, so the lower pay was mostly made up for. Now it doesn't because housing costs hyper-inflated under low interest rates, lax regulation, and high immigration.

That said, while senior SWE salaries here absolutely not even close to competitive with the Bay Area or NYC they are not that far off from other places in the US (like smaller midwest cities etc). While Canadian salary packages are depressed, it's also partially a result of: they're not inflated.

The bigger concern is more the lack of interesting work.