The majority of Canadians live within x number of miles of the US border, and thus many can receive U.S. television direct from across the border.
This is not unlike those in northern Mexico receiving t.v. from their neighbor to the north (the U.S.) from places like El Paso, TX, San Diego, CA, etc.
Many stations in the U.S. were placed near the border to allow them to serve audiences in Canada, before stations in Canada were licensed. Google "KVOS TV" for example.
Canada was also one of the first countries to develop cable television distribution, to allow for those not "fortunate" enough to live in easy reach of cross border stations to have access to U.S. programming.
Thus, when color t.v. came to Seattle, WA, southwest British Columbia had color programming, even before the Canadian locals were color. The same is true for Windsor, ON, and Detroit, MI.
My grandfather had a CT-100 in the 50's (he was in the t.v. business). My dad vividly remembers watching specials then Disney in color. His home was in a part of Vancouver, BC that one could easily receive broadcasts from the major network outlets from Seattle, Washington (no coincidence, he probably bought there for that reason) with a rooftop antenna.
He and my uncle drove down to Seattle to pick the thing up, and then spent the weekend making the thing work. Apparently when my grandmother vacuumed, it really messed with the set's purity, which they learned to great dismay when they had everyone over to see this marvel of modern technology in action.
After a year or two of "that thing", as my uncle sarcastically referred to it, they moved up to a CTC-4. What I wouldn't do to have the CT-100 now.
From what I gather, the switch to color (colour) in Canada was an economic rather than technical one. Many stations in Canada didn't startup (in B/W) until the mid 50's, and were government owned (CBC).