This is a difficult question. Just as you "hate having to get a general census of "German" behavior and personality traits", I hate listing any, only for it to turn out they don't apply to your acquaintance at all. Also, while I do know some US-Americans, I don't know any Canadians, so I may be wrong on some common differences.
Also, do you know where abouts in Germany he is from? North, South, West, East? There are different typical mentalities between the regions.
But I'll give it a shot:
1. Germans generally don't smile as frequently as North Americans usually do. Neither do they tend to express and "exaggerate" their emotions as much as we feel North Americans often do. He may thus appear more reserved.
2. Germans tend to use last names far longer then NA do, before getting to a first name basis. Althought this is less pronounced in the younger generations. Also they generally differentiate between friends and acquantances more than NA often do. A friend in Germany is usually someone you already know pretty well and trust.
3. This I realy only know from hearsay, so take it with a large grain of salt: Apparently Americans (US-Americans at least) kiss earlier in a relationship, whereas is Europe kissing is generally taken as a signal that one is ready for further intimacy as well. But I have different experiences with this even with German girls, so maybe this is just a myth.
4. This may be shaky territory for me as well, not being a Christian. But generally European Christians (Protestants at least) have a somewhat different approach to the bible than NA do. As one German bishop put it a few years back, people try to "follow the spirit of the book more than the letter". Meaning, many of the specific biblical rules aren't followed as literally as many NA Christians do. This also applies to things like prematrial sex. Generally I would say, German Christians - as I experienced them - are more concerned about the universal Christian message of love, peace and understanding, as exemplified in the sermon on the mount; and less about about Paul's moralistic teachings.
This may or may not apply to your acqanitance, I don't even know your stance on the matter. But in any case, if you haven't already, it might be a good idea to have a respectfull talk about both your understandings on the Bible, Jesus and being a Christian in general.
5. Also, connected to this: Christianity is much less involved in poitical disputes than it is at least in the USA. I don't know the situation in Canada, though.
Anyway, the dangers of nuclear energy or global warming are much more present in German poltics than traditional family values or abortion (maybe I have a skewed perception of NA politics, though
).
6. Germans generally have a somewhat ambiguous relationship to our home country, mostly due to the Nazi time, which still casts its ugly shadow over our self-perception as Germans. Being proud to be German still reeks of sympathizing with Nazis.
As a result, we often do have a rather low self-esteem concerning our national heritage, while supporting intercultural/international relationships and understanding.
This doesn't mean though that you need to be overly careful about such topics. If at all I'd say most Germans gladly talk about our history and relationship to our home country. Just maybe don't joke about it to be on the safe side.
7. Connected to the above: Germans often exhibit a somewhat strange mixture of being bound to our German roots, and desiring to get away from them. We like our comparatively ordered and neat road traffic, and at the same time complain about Germans being to protective of their cars. We like to travel, preferably to warm places with beaches or where we can go hiking, with not too foreign customs and food. But we do not want to mingle with other Germans while there. We hate our vast and complicated set of laws, yet we couldn't live without it...
8. Speaking about hiking: Germans love to go for a walk, go hiking, go on a camping trip, whatever. Also cycling is very popular here. This is probably especially true for a German who comes to Canada, since extended trips into the vast Canadian countryside are probably the first thing that comes to mind when we thing of Canada.
9. Any kind of charitable donations etc. are generally considered a private matter. Boasting about them, or even publicly announcing them are considered bad taste.
10. Soccer is not! a girl's sport.
11. German pancakes are different from American ones. Still, no-one will probably say no to Canadian maple-syrup
12. sausage is made of animal products only
13. Many Germans aren't too fond of white bread, especially the kind sandwiches are usually made of (such bread is only good for toast). Germans are used to a range of more "wholesome" breads (rye breads, multi-grain breads, etc. up to pumpernickel).
Pure white bread is welcome in breakfast buns, though.
14. Other than the bread, Germans are generally open to international cuisine, especially Italian, Greek and maybe Chinese.
15. Do you have marmite or something similar? if so, warn him about it first. I once misunderstood and thought I would get a marmelade bread. Not a pleasant surprise...
Ok, lol, that got a little longer than I thought it would. Well, maybe you can find some things in there that can help you, most are probably non-issues though.
If you have any particular issues or questions I am of course glad to help as well as I can.
