Tell me about Canadian universities!

My son, who has one more year of high school, is rethinking his decision to go to CU-Boulder, where he'd get in-state tuition, a perfectly good undergraduate education, and to go skiing every weekend.

I don't know where he got this idea, but he's considering McGill and University of Toronto. Canada is cool, he says. And Canadian universities are very reasonably priced for their quality. Did you know that? I did not know that. His father suggested the University of Minnesota, which is also excellent and has very reasonable out-of-state tuition, but Minnesota is not cool. (I do not understand how Canada is cool but Minnesota is not. Apparently it is an If you have to ask, you'll never know.)

So, what's it like, being an American undergraduate in Canada? Especially in Montreal? Will he be miserable and lonely if he doesn't speak French?