I myself moved to the Netherlands from Canada and now hire people at salaries greater than my own at our branch in the US.<p>I myself have no motivation to move to the USA. The increase in salary would be accompanied by a personal (stress on the personal aspect) loss in quality of life. Overall motivations for me staying in the Netherlands are cultural (the mindsets of Europeans are far closer to my own), environmental (sane cycling routes, pedestrian accessible city centers, high quality public transport), and ease of travel to a variety of interesting holiday locations. The difference between Canada and the US is not even close to the difference between Canada and the Netherlands, so you can infer my willingness to move home to small town Nova Scotia. If you cannot compete on salaries you have to compete on something else but what is that going to be? Universal health care and high quality public education are not unique to Canada and probably not the highest interest of people we are considering.