How are you comparing Tijuana to Vancouver? I have lived in Tijuana. It's one of the worst cities in Mexico. Guadalajara or Mexico City would make much more sense, but even they can't compare to Vancouver. I openly say that the bridge that connects the Tijuana airport directly to the United States is the best thing that ever happened to the city.
Going to 'Diet USA' is likely more seamless and convenient. I lived in Canada for several years and I honestly think that's a good description for it, you cannot really tell whether you are in Michigan or Ontario if you don't look at the road signs.
Or visit the museums, where all the exhibits have both French and English text.
As an American who worked in Canada for a summer, I can honestly say that the two countries are so similar you're surprised by any minor differences that do come up.
Have you been in Quebec? Montreal is more like a central European city than anything in the US. I haven't been to Quebec City but I gather it's not much different.
It's also starkly different if you look at share of wealth. Class divisions are smaller in Canada, noticeably so.
As a Chicagoan, being in Toronto can be a little bizarre. After a while I forget I'm not at home. That said, Canada is fairly diverse. Montreal has no easy American city comparison.
I'm a Canadian who lived and worked in the US for six years, and my impression on returning home is that Canada is the country you'd get if you took the U.S. and removed the extremes of wealth and poverty.
This will no longer be true as the divide in the GTA grows out of control.
Canada has a very small population so you haven't noticed these divides yet but they will only get worse with time unless our government takes a serious stance on ensuring the middle class doesn't shrink.
Other than the language barrier? I imagine its terrible crime problem is a mark against it as well. It had 100+ more murders than often-cited Chicago last year with 1/3rd the population of Chicago!
Also at $15,000 GDP per capita, its not exactly a wealthy place. Vancouver chimes it at 3x that and had all of one murder last year.
Another reason: despite being closer to the Bay Area, flights to/from Mexico from SFO are actually more expensive (by 100-200 dollars) than to/from Vancouver.
Unfortunately I haven't traveled Mexico much to recommend one from personal experience but my friends who have visited Guadalajara and Guanajuato have loved it.
Que Canada?