My tax rate doubled when I moved from the Midwest. So did my cost of living. My salary did, too. But I am saving more now than I was there, and I will easily be able to retire and live very nicely back home: much better than I would have had I stayed. So for some (many?) the "tax" you describe is worth it.
An in exchange, I suspect a much larger percentage of the population in these areas will see their cost of living gradually (like a frog in a pot of slowly heated water) increase to the point that they'll never be able to save money for retirement. I have a very strong feeling that this is what's happening in places like Vancouver, people spend so much (and relentlessly increasing) of their income on rent, but the same thing is happening to almost everyone, so it seems "normal" to them. Or they think just work my ass off for another year or two and "some day" I'll land a good job so I can afford to live here....next thing you know 5, 10 years have passed, and you eventually realize that "some day" is never going to come, and you're middle aged with no savings and no career.
I don't know what Canada is going to do with the 30% of its population who hasn't gotten rich in the real estate boom as they get older, have no savings, no pension, and when they can no longer physically work are priced out of rent due to the ever increasing levels of immigration from wealthier nations. Maybe we can just hook them up to machines that feed them basic nutrition and pain killers with a VR headset on.
