[Sylvanfan]

Well I do find that because of the value of our dollar right now, the US is provides good value as a vacation destination. Just basic things like food and clothing in particular seems really cheap there right now compared to what we pay in Canada.

Certainly housing values in Canada do impact this...but again the article claims that Canadians on average have 4 times the equity in our real estate holdings. Mind you if my mortgage interest could be written off...I would probably keep it borrowed out, and if I used it to make good investments, I could be really well off. If I used it to buy more stuff, which a lot of people like to do...I would be in really bad shape. Essentially our system in Canada tends to force a lot of people into paying off their houses. Unless it's a revenue property, there really is no way to make the borrowed part of your mortgage interest free....even to use the Smith manoevre, you still have to build equity into your house to get an interest break.