I use fastmail.com to generate e-mail aliases. Creation is rate limited, but they are virtually unlimited; I have 500+ and counting. Aliases are randomly generated as wordone.wordtwo1234@fastmail.com, so they aren't identifiable to your account.
Depends what your taste is. I'm not a huge fan of third wave; I'd rather opt for old school Italian stuff. You can't go wrong with Olimpico or Club Social on St-Viateur, Caffé San Simeon on Dante.
I just spent 2 weeks in a Toronto suburb and all I can say is I’m going to be glad to be back in Montreal. Every city will have its suburban hellscapes and healthy vibrant walkable urban fabric, but Montreal has a LOT of it and have citizens and politicians who are actively supporting and protecting it.
It seems that Montreal is slightly behind the inflationary curve compared to other major Canadian cities, but not by much. Affordable housing is as huge an issue here as everywhere else, it seems.
Do yourself a favour and invest in French lessons if you aren’t fluent already. Otherwise you won’t be able to fully participate in life. The provincial government offers an (almost) free francisation course.