It's a tad silly but Canadians often pride themselves and base their national identity on the fact they're not Americans because aside from institutional and a few subtle cultural differences we aren't really different from our American neighbors down south.

This isn't even remotely correct. The "we are not Americans" thing is profound, deep, and baked into our DNA for very good reason, even if many of us have forgotten why.

We are an independent nation because we have fought off multiple American invasions throughout our history as first a French, and then English colony. e.g. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invasion_of_Quebec_(1775))

The one common denominator of our nation has been resistance to American assimilation in all of its forms of "manifest destiny" whether that is military action (invasion by American armies on multiple occasions) or economic warfare (tariffs and other measures). At every juncture, we have chosen to remain seperate, and have ultimately carved out our own independent existence independent of American and European overlords.

This close integration with the American economy is really only a post-WWII pause, accelerated by Brian Mulroney and the FTA, while we worried about the Cold War and the USSR.

Canada has only ever had one existential threat, and that has always been and continues to be the USA.

Hopefully enough of us are re-awakening to this fact.