There is a difference between a sought after place to live (and I agree that Canada is a sought after and beautiful country due to its historically strong economy, a strong safety net for the unfortunate, a less extreme political environment, more liberal cultural views, and of course the sheer natural beauty from the Maritimes to Victoria) and overvaluation of hard assets due to cheap money, government assisted mortgages, and economic growth resulting primarily from a commodity price run up. I am assuming the "trash" you are referring to implies either immigrant, foreign investors , or both?
But, much of Canadian prosperity has been brought about by these new immigrants over the last two decades, as Canada has a higher hurdle for immigration for qualified immigrants than the US. May be there has been too much immigration which is not so qualified that is straining the government resources now. However immigration is a double edge sword, the good and bad come together and as long as the good outweigh the bad, it's a net positive.
As to the foreign investors, we can argue that the paper wealth built up in the housing bubble has been to the credit of these foreign investors. But, one thing that is undeniably "Canadian" is the failure to see the downside of anything "made in Canada". The over levering of the Canadian consumer is a very big problem brought about by Canadians themselves. And, no, it's not different this time, as it is never different when the fundamentals of demand are de-linked from the valuation of the underlying assets fueled by cheap money and excessive leverage. Higher taxes and lower disposable incomes at a personal level won't help either when the ultimate de-leveraging of the Canadian consumer occurs which it has to, as the current levels are unsustainable for the country's long term economic growth.
