I'd say you are wrong about pretention. Canadians can be just as pretentious as Americans, though maybe in different ways. Canada is generally more "politically correct" than the US, imo.

Canada is often thought of as a cultural mosaic, whereas the US is a melting pot. In Canada the government tends to bend over backwards to help minorities preserve their identity, whereas in the States the government says, you are on your own in that regard.

The Canadian economy is more dependant on natural resources than the US. More dependant on things like Fishing, Forestry, mining etc, whereas the US has more manufacturing.

In Canada the wide open spaces are bigger, the population is no where near as spread out as it is in the states. Canada has far fewer people than the US, but more square miles to put them in.

Canada has a socialized medical system, the US does not. I think that's a good thing, but Lyle will tell you something different.

That's a start anyways. I'm sure others will have their own take on this stuff.