I agree with your point in genera but in my experience as a developer who works in Vancouver, but has also worked in SF and NY, the salaries are about the same in number if not in currency. The CAD has dropped 30% in a couple of years though which does mean we effectively are getting less.

I think Vancouver actually pays tech workers pretty well because there is a high demand, a few big companies and lots of smaller innovative ones.

Vancouver doesn't have the typical jobs that pay for $1m houses and yachts though. Opportunities in finance and corporate HQ positions are minuscule compared to big US cities and Toronto.