What is the difference between the Canadian mosaic and the malting pot in the United States?

The idea of the Canadian mosaic claims that Canada is home
to ethnic minorities who do not assimilate and become generic Canadians.  Instead, like
Francophone Canadians, they retain a distinct culture even as they are contributing
members of Canada's society.

This is seen in contrast to
the United States where there is a melting pot.  In the US, it is said, immigrants
simply become Americans.  They lose their cultural distinctiveness in the "melting
pot."

This is a concept that is very hard to prove,
however.  Many Canadians feel that this is an incorrect view of Canada's society.  As an
example of why this vision of Canadian society may not be true, look at the statistics
on intermarriage shown in the "statcan.ca" links below.  We are told
that

In 2001,
11.3 million people, or 38% of the population, reported multiple ethnic origins, up from
10.2 million, or 36%, in
1996.

If 38% of the
population is made up of more than one ethnicity, then there is clearly some degree of a
"melting pot" dynamic occurring in Canadian society.

Even
so, Canada tends to see itself as a society where ethnic minorities remain distinct
parts of a "mosaic" rather than becoming generic Canadians through a "melting pot"
mechanism.