The other thing I'm taking into account here is demand though, there aren't many people willing to work in such an environment with established and unsexy tech.

The other thing I'm taking into account here is demand though, there aren't many people willing to work in such an environment with established and unsexy tech. And with the amount of brain drain to the US from Canadian institutions, I believe this might be a good way to get in and work with some interesting hardware despite my credentials.