[esquire]

I look at this question from the standpoint of a host wanting to show a visitor from abroad the "real Canada". If I wanted to do that, where would I take them?

Probably Ottawa or Edmonton. Both are big and cosmopolitan but not obsessed with global status either. Neither one is especially regionally-oriented the way that Quebec, Victoria or St. John's might be. They both seem fairly representative of the types of places most Canadians live, in that someone from the GTA suburbs as well as someone from a smaller place like Lloydminster or Brockville wouldn't feel out of place there.

"Least Canadian" is much tougher. If I wanted to show a visitor a place that is not really representative of Canada, not many places readily come to mind. Maybe Niagara Falls, just because of its weird combination of heavy tourism and depressed industrial town vibes, combined with its location right on the US border?