Earlier quoted context omitted.
Halifax is still livable/affordable as a remote dev-- far more affordable than places like NYC or SF. On remote engineer salary the increases in cost of living aren't so much the killer as the insane income tax is.
halifax is still livable if you get money from someplace that isn't halifax, but what does that say to the future of halifax? Who will provide all the services when they can't afford to live there on halifax incomes? What's the healthcare availability in NS compared to other provinces - Halifax healthcare was in crisis even before COVID. Just in October they announced that the child healthcare system was at capacity…
The answer for us is that all the local service providers live far outside the core urban areas and have terrible commutes. Or they double or triple-up, multiple families per unit. As the area becomes increasingly unlivable for people that do the local gruntwork, a number of them leave the metro area. Those that stay have less competition, and so they start charging higher wages. Eventually the local economy equalizes at a much higher price point; local service workers find they make a livable wage again; globalized tech workers find that most of their income is eaten up by daycare, housecleaning, gardening, and restaurant meals out (to say nothing of housing); and the whole region settles into an uneasy truce, yet enjoys great geographic arbitrage opportunities over other regions. We can go make Halifax unaffordable and live like a king there, for example.