The land mass of British Columbia is 35% larger than Texas. Quebec is a staggering 120% larger. And Quebec isn’t even the largest territory! Canada doesn’t just feel big and empty.
That map projection isn't maintaining proportion though, which might detract from your post... Alaska isn't almost as big as the rest of the States combined.
No but Alaska (1.7m2) is still 2.4 times bigger than Texas (0.7m2) and larger than Quebec (1.5m2). The mercator projection is misleading but the north is quite vast nonetheless!