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"Major impressions"? Hmmmm....in the 2+ months I've been here I've noticed a few things:

1) The people in Toronto are TERRIBLE drivers.
2) The mass transit people are MAJOR overpaid (although I must admit the buses/subways/trolleys do move people [LOT OF THEM] very efficiently.)
3) Being a Catholic, there are lots of churches closeby.
4) Most shopping centers are within walking distance.
5) Everyone says "out" kinda "about" funny.
6) Milk is in plastic bags - not plastic gallons.
7) LOTS of Chinese, Filipino, Korean, Italian, Jamaican, etc ("foreign") people -- so much so that I feel in the "minority" up here. In the States that wasn't the case.
8) Most of the Canadian papers/intelligencia have a visceral dislike of anything American.
9) The politicians are all Liberal (and therefore corrupt).
10) Some fries served with vinegar (YUK!!!!!!!!).
11) NO Baby Ruth bars up here.
12) LONG lines in the doctor's offices (lots of beaucratic tape too).

Those are some of the things....incidentally, I left my "Bush/Cheney", "Peace Through Strength" and "Vote NO On Taxes: Vote Republican" on my car when I moved here from Missouri. I now have the same bumper stickers on my car -- except now with Ontario license plates....feels GOOOOOOD!!!.

Overall, the general feel is the same: same sort of stoplights, etc except everything is in metric. As a result, I am having ONE DIFFICULT TIME figuring out the REAL cost of food items.....

1) The people in Toronto are TERRIBLE drivers.

From what I hear, same as in any major US city.

5) Everyone says "out" kinda "about" funny.

I pronounce "out and about" like "oat and a boat", not "oot and a boot". How the heck do you pronouce it?

6) Milk is in plastic bags - not plastic gallons.
Or plastic jugs, or carboard cartons. Depends on the area you're in.

7) LOTS of Chinese, Filipino, Korean, Italian, Jamaican, etc ("foreign") people -- so much so that I feel in the "minority" up here. In the States that wasn't the case.

Probably also true in many major US cities. If you go most anywhere else in Canada outside the "Golden Horseshoe" or Vancouver and skin that is other than white, you will be very visibly in the minority.

9) The politicians are all Liberal (and therefore corrupt).
Ontario's government is conservative, both by name and by nature.

10) Some fries served with vinegar (YUK!!!!!!!!).
Only if you ask for it or put it on yourself. Many would argue that ketchup (or catsup) on fries is the true abomination.

12) LONG lines in the doctor's offices (lots of beaucratic tape too).
If it's not an emergency, I call my doctor's office, get an appointment, and go see her. They have my OHIP (gov't health insurance in Ontario) info in their system already for billing purposes. I can't help but wonder if this is much worse than dealing with an HMO like many (most?) working Americans. The difference being in the US you can end-run the HMO if you're willing to pay. Single-tier health care sucks, that much I will agree with.