Personally, I live in New Brunswick and am very happy. There is a decent tech sector (nothing compared to Toronto/SV/etc obviously). Housing costs are relatively low, I purchased a two story 4 bedroom home in a nice neighborhood for <200K.
I make more money where I live than I would in Toronto at an equivalent job when you factor in cost of living. There is absolutely no way I would have the standard of living I do now in a big city.
My healthcare costs are low as I have good insurance through my employer.
I do not have children so I can't really comment on that but I did grow up in the area and had an excellent childhood in my opinion. I will be raising my own kids here someday.
Public transit where I live is not very good. Bike lanes are also limited.
Most places outside of major cities in Canada will require that you own a vehicle.
I can probably help answer any other questions if you are interested in anything more specific.