America's very richest are a lot richer than Canada's very richest, meaning America has a lot more billionaires than Canada. The richest Canadian billionare is $28 billion or so. But it's not hard to get to over 1 million net non-primary residence (like if you buy it for $200,000 and you sell it 10 years later for $600,000, there is zero tax on the $400,000 gain), and you don't have to worry about health care.
How much tax did the Canadian pay over those 10 years through personal income, VAT, and all that jazz?
No doubt the taxes in Canada are high. I have Canadian relatives that complain about it all the time. But their total burden is nowhere as high as in the failed American blue states (NY/NJ/CT), which I believe is the highest taxed region globally. Here you pay 2.5% to 3% of your home value in property tax. Health insurance (which is basically a tax) costs about $1,700 a month for a minimum coverage Bronze plan (with $15k annual out of pocket before insurance kicks in). Then there's high state income tax and sales tax of around 8.5%.
I live in Alberta. I pay about $3.90 per U.S. gallon of gas, 5% federal GST (similar to a VAT but only the end consumer pays) on most stuff, am sitting in the 42% combined federal-provincial marginal tax bracket on $200K, average rate of income tax is about 36% for me. Capital gains tax incl. rate is 1/2 my marginal rate; there is no distinction between long term and short term. Haven't filled out a health care insurance form yet in my life, and I think I get excellent care in Edmonton. You can buy a prescription drug insurance plan but I just pay cash. You cannot deduct mortgage interest from your taxes but there is zero capital gains tax on sale of your primary residence anywhere in Canada no matter how much you make on your house. I pay higher taxes than the U.S. average but I feel like I get a lot for my taxes, as long as the government doesn't do silly things with people's money. I use Interactive Brokers Canada.
Not sure, however question for you. Wouldn't this explain bubble property values there in most good Canadian cities, real estate is a good investment no tax even better!