This is inspired by a recent poll about the US.
I picked Montreal, but what I really mean is “anywhere but Toronto”. 
It would really depend on the person and what they like, oh, and what season they are visiting. I don’t recommend the maritimes in spring. PEI doesn’t open until June and Nova Scotia was pretty bare. No leave on the trees, and no snow to make them look pretty.
For big cities, I would say Vancouver or Toronto, smaller cities, Victoria, or Fredericton. Banff would be high on the list no matter what season.
I have never been to Montreal, but it is high on my to-do list.
But when push comes to shove I picked other.
Banff all the way.
I agree with Banff, or Jasper. Though this depends on the person. Some people are city folks, some are outdoorsy folks.
Yes, Banff or Jasper.
As of now, it’s Toronto, Montreal, Quebec city and “Other”.
“Other” I get because of Banff and Jasper.
Toronto and Montreal are the two biggest cities.
Why Quebec city though?
Quebec City is spectacular and really one of the must-see cities of North America, in large part simply because it was established in the 17th century and retains a little of the feeling of old European village. The landscape is beautiful, and the city itself is loaded with attractions.
Yeah, I’ve never been to Quebec City, but have heard it is beautiful there.
Most of these cities have their merits. I’ve been told St. John’s, Nfld is amazing as well, and I was just in Victoria for three weeks in October and it was lovely there (and amazing SCUBA diving too).
I noticed you don’t have Calgary listed, and it’s a pretty major city.
I noticed too and assumed that the OP is not Canadian and probably just went through the provinces listing their capitals.
Really, if someone was going to pick Alberta to visit, and for some reason Banff and Jasper were out of the question (fear of mountain goats? terror around large rocks?) Calgary would be a much better stop than Edmonton.
That being said, neither would be near the top of my list - there are just too many other Canadian cities that outshine them both in awesomeness.
As I said in the U.S. thread, there really isn’t any one place you can visit to “get” Canada.
Well, he did include Saskatoon and Sydney, so the list is not all capitals. He also included Montreal, but that may be expected, due to its size. Still, Calgary is a curious omission.
With the exception of Whitehorse, I’ve been to all the cities in the list, and they’re all different in various ways. It would be hard to recommend just one.
I chose Montreal out of nothing more than bias… I love this city. It’s a beautiful city with lots of cool things to do and see, and it’s old enough to have a great historical side of it.
The more I think about it, though, if only one city could be visited I think Quebec City - for it’s beauty and history - or Ottawa - home of our government, nice historical sites and great museums - might be better choices for people who want to try and “get” Canada.
I haven’t visited most of the other cities, and of the ones I’ve been to, I haven’t seen much (my sister was sick when I visited her in Charlottetown and a handful of hours driving around and a having lunch in Calgary doesn’t really give the best feel for the city…though it was fun!)
This is a tough one…so I’ll go back to my original choice of Montreal, because I live here and my foreign friends can come visit ME! 
I’ve recommended Montreal and Quebec City to many people as a travel destination. But they’re not really Canadian cities - a person who visits them will have visited Quebec rather than Canada. It would be like a person visiting America for the first time and going to Hawaii - a beautiful place but not typical of America.
Of the ones that I’ve visited (Ottawa, Toronto, Montréal, Québec City, Vancouver and Victoria), I’d say Québec City.
Edmonton of course. If they are my friends they should be coming to visit me! Besides that they could spend a week or two shopping in West Edmonton Mall.
I can’t believe I’m the first to pick Ottawa. It has a nice balance between English/French culture… lots of history, museums, art galleries… and the surrounding region is beautiful.
Sorry guys, it was a mistake. I’m not Canadian. I’ve also only been to the eastern half of Canada and am more familiar with it.
:dubious:
You think someone visiting Vancouver, for example, would have a better claim to having visited “Canada” than someone who went to Montreal? Last I checked, Québec was still part of Canada, and pretty damn instrumental historically in the existence of the country. Montreal isn’t much different as a modern city than other cities in the country.
No single city actually represents “Canada” - that’s the basis of this thread and interesting fodder for discussion. But to suggest that major Canadian cities aren’t “really Canadian cities” is, frankly, a little insulting.
I added Calgary to the poll, per the OP’s request. I didn’t see a way to edit the poll so that it appears above “other,” though; sorry about that.
I wasn’t sure which to pick.
Toronto is the largest and most important city.
Quebec is the most historic, and probably the most beautiful, though Vancouver could give it a run for the money.
Montreal is the most interesting (IMO).
No city is the most “Canadian”. Every city is too different from the others.
In the end I picked Montreal.