Getting a van job in Canada with 500 hours - good luck with that one!
The reason Tropic requires 2500TT for direct entry into the van is because they fly single pilot, with 14 pax, into some pretty interesting strips. Plus with the way the market is these days they can ask for 2500TT and they'll get lots of resume's from guys with more time than that!
The pay is actually on par with what you would make flying the same aircraft in the US or Canada - but with lower taxes.