Thanks everyone - lots of useful info there. Thanks as well, jetgate, for directing me to that other post... it looks like you remember your time in Canada fondly. Incidentally, I've enjoyed the company of all the many Canadians I've met, and I've always admired the landscape of the west coast area, so those points are definite plusses for training in Canada.
By the way, apologies for the lateness of this reply - MAJOR problems with PCs/ISPs etc etc.
Thanks again
AB