Why are Canadian Banks generally praised?

Generally on Reddit and elsewhere Canadian banks are praised as good and safe investments. Some questions:

• What makes them better than say American banks like BoA or Chase?

• Is this a good time to get in? BNS is trading at near pre-pandemic levels. Interest rate is going to remain elevated for at least next year (good), but recession might be worse than people think (bad). Do these good-bad cancel out? Already priced in?

• The banks all look very similar (BNS, BMO, CM, RY). Do they have any different characteristics? Like one is more investment, one is more mortgagtes/auto, one is more deposits driven, etc? Which one do you like the most?

• (Edited to add) What are some positive/negative catalysts to look out for? For example the housing bubble, or a huge downturn in energy?