I'm Canadian and when I was in high school a lot was made out of Canada's role in liberating the Netherlands during the Second World War, not much specifics were given but it was strongly implied that Canada played a very big role, at least proportionality. Is this actually true or is this just a sort of mythology that has arisen?
The Canadians did a lot of work in liberating the Netherlands. They were part of every major operation on Dutch soil, except for the early stages of Market Garden.
The Canadian 2nd infantry division was part of the operation to secure Walcheren (that overlooked the Scheldt estuary), which was of great tactical importance as it meant that the Antwerp harbour could be used for supplies.
The 4th Canadian armoured division took part in Operation Pheasant and secured Bergen op Zoom and pushed towards the Meuse river near Rotterdam.
At the Nijmegen front, the Canadian First Army took over the front in November from the American 82th and they were part of operation Veritable to conquer the Rhineland.
The most important part the Canadians played in the liberation of the Netherlands was the liberation of the Northern Netherlands (above the Rhine river). These parts had remained under German control after Market Garden had failed to secure the Rhine bridge at Arnhem. For the people living in the Northern Netherlands the very harsh winter of '44-'45 hadn't been kind. There were shortages of food and coal and many people starve to dead. This was what's been called the hungerwinter and was caused in part by German repraisals after the '44 railroad strike where food transports were blocked by the Germans. Most notably people in the heavy populated West of the Netherlands suffered from this.
The Canadian first circled back after operation veritable and liberated the North-Eastern part of the country and for these people this was not only liberation from Germans, but also from hunger. Therefore making it pshychologically more impactful.
The cultural importance can be illustrated by this song 'Trees (Dutch womans' name) has a Canadian' in which a Dutch girl falls in love with a Canadian soldier after the liberation.
The ties between Canada and then Netherlands were furthermore tightened by the fact that the Dutch royal family stayed in Canada during the war (as thanks for which the Dutch sent 100.000 tulips to Ottawa, sparking the Canadian Tulip Festival).
The Canadians did play a big role in the liberation of The Netherlands. They weren't the only liberators, but as they were a part of every operation it was a common theme in Dutch culture. The factor of them ending the hunger winter and them being the guardians of the royal family contributed to that perception.
Sources:
De Jong, Louis, D. Meulen, and Peter Romijn. "Het Koninkrijk der Nederlanden in de Tweede Wereldoorlog." (1994).
Swarts, Maarten. Einddoel Maas: de strijd in zuidelijk Nederland tussen september en december 1944. Weesp [Netherlands]: Gooise Uitgeverij, 1984.
Kroon, Theo J. Hongerwinter in Nederland: 5 september 1944-5 mei 1945. Stichting IVIO, 1994.