You stand a very good chance of running into hardbooters in Quebec and Southern Ontario. Out west, seeing a hardbooter is like a Bigfoot sighting - very rare and no one will believe you.
However, the best riding is in BC and Alberta. For your first trip to Canada, I recommend Banff. It's very accessible (less than 2 hours from Calgary), relatively inexpensive and a great experience. You can ride three big resorts with a lot of variety - Sunshine Village, Lake Louise and Nakiska. The nightlife in Banff is also a blast - something for everyone.
I've never been to Red Mountain but take a look at it on the map. It's tough to get to and a bit isolated. Same thing with Fernie.
As for Whistler, I'm not a big fan. It's too expensive, overly commercialized and the weather is very, very iffy. It's rained 50% of the time I have been there.
Kelowna area is also good - Big White, Silver Star and Apex. Choice riding at those mountains but I think a notch below Sunshine and Louise. They are also very family oriented and pretty quiet at night.
And while we'd love to have you in Ontario, it's pretty flat here. MSLM is a pimple compared to the Western or Quebec resorts.
In Quebec, they have real mountains but I find the runs are not carve-friendly. Mt. Tremblant has some nice wide groomers on the southside but the place is overpriced and over-commercialized. Quebec also gets freaking cold in January and February. Might freeze your kiwis there.
Good luck, bonne chance.