Canada is similar to the States, but it has it differences.

As CGM touched on, assimilation is not encouraged in Canada to the degree it is in the States (I think this is a great thing, but it definitely undermines the formation of the type of patriotic national identity that you see in America. For instance, I feel I have much more in common with people in Seattle and Oregon than I do with those in the vast majority of my country, I doubt you'd see many Americans saying something similar). Canada is very culturally diverse place.

In terms of social policy (ie. welfare etc.) Canada is somewhere between the U.S. and Europe. We don't have a full-on welfare state like you would see in Scandanavia, but the government is still very active socially (IMO another good thing, though it has been greatly reduced under the Conservatives [who I, unsurprisingly, loathe]).

I suggest you take up an interest in hockey. Just do not become a Maple Leafs fan whatever you do. It's a fate worse than death.

The West Coast, where I live, is probably (almost certainly) the most liberal, laid back part of the country. For example, where I live the marijuana industry is the 2nd or 3rd largest employer in the Province. It's still illegal, but the cops are only after big grow ops etc. because they're most often run by organized crime. Vancouver is a world-class city, consistently voted among the best places in the world to live (I assume those who decide on such things ignore the lower-east side which is as impoverished as anywhere in North America - bar Mexico - and I believe has the highest incidents of HIV infections for an areas its size on the continent as well).

The economy is also very heavily regulated, which means the recession didn't hit us as hard as other "Western" nations.

I really don't know what to tell you, I'm not much of a patriot or anything like that but I will state that it is a great place to live for the most part. I'd stay out of Alberta if I was you, along with the rest of the Praries it's essentially Canada's bible-belt.

If you have any direct questions I'll be happy to try and answer them for you.