Now that I'm on a computer instead of phone I see that you are in Vancouver. It's a beautiful city, and I have enjoyed my visits there!
I would probably post in the Nook forum to see if there are other Canadians (or non US / UK people) using the Nook HD or HD+ and what the pros/cons are. I know that I have seen posts suggesting it's not too difficult to register Nooks internationally (see URL link below). You just won't be able to buy books from them in Canada unless you find other workarounds. If you just want to sideload books or use the store apps of places you've already bought books such as Sony, then it shouldn't be a problem.
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...&postcount=399
That's why I suggested to check out the Kobo Arc. I haven't used one and can't make any opinions of them. However, you might be able to demo one locally. There is a new model that is being released very soon if it isn't available already in Canada.
I have the first generation Kindle Fire so I can't comment on current versions. It does take a little bit of effort to side load reading apps that aren't available in the Amazon app store (since Amazon doesn't want to make it that easy for the competition). I really only use it for media consumption through Amazon such as watching TV shows while I workout on the treadmill.