It's not that Canada is a richer country, it's just not as crowded. Per capita you can probably make more money in some jobs in the UK, it just doesn't go as far as the cost of living is higher.
If you look at jobs in the financial sector in the UK, even lowly ones like IT support, the salaries are sky-high compared to working on Bay St. in Toronto, but the flip side is that try finding somewhere to live in the centre of London and look at the overall cost of living there.
The only thing off-hand that I can remember being noticeably cheaper in the
UK were certain types of fresh foods, presumably because of the transportation distance.
Steve.