I've lived and worked in both Toronto and Silicon Valley, and it's not even close. SV has a way better quality of life than Toronto, even for the marginally higher rent. I paid $2600 for a two bedroom in San Jose -- split that with another person and it's only $1300. I'd be paying more for a studio in downtown Toronto anyway.

And you can't just look at it from the perspective of money. I need to be in a city with things to do, preferably one that isn't practically uninhabitable 6 months of the year. You couldn't pay me to live in Kitchener-Waterloo.