You are spot on. There are many people I run across that view Canada through rose colored glasses and feel that we are in our very own Disneyland of sorts.
I strongly believe over the past decade that the country has been riding on the backbone of the commodity boom and the main driver that kept it out of the Great Recession, and hence, the real estate boom. With commodities (not just oil) taking a major hit over the past 9-12 months, I think the carnage should just now start to rear its ugly head, such as the technical recession that has appeared during the first 6 months this year. And now that the dollar has descended to its multi-generational average, Canada will have no choice but to resume its 1990's efforts of transitioning to a manufacturing based economy. Look how well that played out then.
The local government and media are trudging up pieces of positive data and strewing it together to portray the view to the general public that the economy is rosy. Yet, as you point out, everyone else with the external vantage point can see the forest beyond the trees.
Case in point, I have been working on a ground up commercial 'build to suit' development project in Ontario for a US-based tenant for the past 4 months, but just last week, they pulled the plug on the deal. Their explanation was that results from their existing Canadian operations have been quite dismal YTD, and are therefore putting their expansion plans in Canada on hold as their outlook for the country as a whole is negative. This is a $10B+ company so their decision is likely backed up by solid research.
A very disappointing setback and 4 months of effort, but as they say "C'est la Vie"!