Here are some pieces of extremely basic advice in no particular order, maybe you'll find them helpful as a starting point if you're indeed a complete newbie:
Even the most experienced people in finance can't, on average, predict the future. Putting large stakes in any narrow segment of the markets, or trying to time when to buy and sell what, is extremely risky. In very rare cases it's spectacularly profitable, which is why it gets a lot of attention and generates lots of dangerous advice. Best stick with a very diversified portfolio at all times.
You want low-cost index mutual funds (or ETFs), as more expensive or actively managed funds tend to underperform the market on average despite frequent claims to the contrary. (This doesn't mean there aren't a few good active or expensive funds out there, which may be sensible choices in some unusual situations, but as a newbie your chances of identifying those funds or situations are almost zero, just like your chances of identifying those people who could give good advice about them.)
You most likely don't need a financial advisor given that you can get plenty of help here and extremely simple investment portfolios can work really well. However, if you do hire one, stay away from those that work for a percentage, you'd probably be much better off paying a flat fee.
There may be good reasons to subtly vary the weights of various market segments (e.g. stocks of small companies) in your portfolio and you'll see lots of discussions about such strategies. But the potential gains are modest and as a newbie you'd have a hard time deciding if something like that may be appropriate for you. Best stick with broad total index funds at least until you become much more experienced.
Canada is a tiny economy and even the USA is smaller than the rest of the world and it's relative weight is shrinking. Even in today's globalized world any single country could lag behind others and be badly affected by local economic conditions, natural disasters, political turmoil etc., especially in the very long term. Whatever the international situation may look like at any given moment, I wouldn't put all my eggs in one basket. Don't forget international stocks.
Get some specific advice about Canadian tax rules, retirement accounts etc.
The most important decision you'll have to make is the percentage of equities (stocks) versus fixed-income (bonds). For people nearing retirement, a sizable bond allocation is usually recommended because you need some stable value in your portfolio that you can withdraw retirement money from even during times when the stock market is down, which could last years. Keep in mind, however, that the longer your time horizon (and considering today's life expectancies it could be very long), the better off you are with a higher percentage of stocks.
There are some mutual funds that do all rebalancing for you to ensure that your selected asset allocation (the percentage of bonds, domestic and international stocks etc.) is always maintained. As long as it's a very low cost fund, it's a perfectly acceptable option in case you decide you want to keep things as simple as possible.