This needs to be more visible.

I'm a Canadian working for a US FAANMG company, and I've been based out of both their Canadian and European offices.

I make way more in Vancouver than my peers in ANY European office (which include Zurich, London, Berlin)

And those places are more expensive than Vancouver (not counting buying real estate which is not relevant to me as a renter)

But of course I'm keenly aware that I'd make 30% more in Seattle, and 50% more in Silicon Valley.

Does it bother me? Not really. I've been to those places and I would take the lifestyle quality of both Vancouver and Canada over any part of the US. Plus these days, I don't see a way of living in the US, and not feeling complicit in all the evils of the country. Not without radical participation in trying to destroy the system from within.

And despite what people say about the similarity in work culture, it's more reasonable in Canada from sick leave to vacation, to day-to-day expectations of work-life balance.

Sure you could add other cities, but the result of the graph is the same for Canadians. We are getting absolutely hosed on salary considering that nearly everything (minus housing) in Canada is pegged to the US dollar. It makes it really hard to attract talent when someone looking for a job could move 4 hours south and make 50-100% more money to have more purchasing power. Other countries being similar to our level doesn't change this fact, they are also being screwed over in purchasing power, but they at least have some insulation from being directly dependent on the US.

Fact of the matter is good talent can choose between Canada and the US, and it's pretty easy for a Canadian engineer (especially early in their career) to move to the US to work. The US is close to Canada geographically and culturally so of course it's going to be the logical alternative. Especially when the pay is so much better. Of course no one from Vancouver or Toronto will move to Sydney or Berlin for best-in-class career prospects. You go to the USA for that, so long as you're willing to stomach the environment.

Each company faces different constraints, and in particular there can be downsides going to Europe that don't exist for Canada, e.g., language, timezone, regulations, travel costs, culture.) A sandwich in Ohio is reasonably called "cheap" when I've been living in NYC, and I don't feel the need to say "but it would be really cheap in rural India".