Canada, unlike the
United States, didn't spring fully formed into the world.
While that statement isn't literally true about the U.S., there are very specific events that can be pointed to: the Declaration of Independence, the adoption of The Constitution, the adoption of The Bill of Rights.
Canada, like everything, is a work in progress. The first Canada Day, for all the hoopla, was the celebration of a country that wasn't yet. There are many more events to point to than for our American neighbours. (We too often see ourselves in that distortion mirror.)
It makes things much easier, I agree, to see a specific start point, then we can say those are the real Canadians--it is much harder to accept that there is no model of what a Canadian is, no melting pot in which the real Canadians will be made.
This is forever the problem of being the flea on the elephant.
But I shall be celebrating my Canada Day privately, enjoying my freedom to be what I am--whatever the hell that is, or will be--noding here on Everything, walking down the street, thanking Sophia that I can be what I am, and must conform to no model!