So our dream of expatriating isn't dead, it's just on pause until we have more money. Ultimately, that's the barrier for pretty much anything these days, and it's only getting worse. My wife is preparing to be a surrogate mother, which will raise a large sum of money--honestly, we can't buy a house without that money. The end of Roe v. Wade is very concerning, though. Also, that along with comments Clarence Thomas has made just makes us want to leave even more. The problem with Canada, of course, is money. The housing market in Canada is pretty bonkers.
Over the weekend I had three separate people mention Spain to me, so I finally looked into it. It checks an awful lot of boxes, and most importantly it's affordable. A nice flat in Malaga with a view of the water can run 4-600 euros. Food is cheap, wine is cheap, and there's lots of auto racing in Spain. The thought of moving to a different continent is mildly terrifying to me, but overall it looks like Spain is probably a better choice than Canada. Honestly, there's probably a LOT of places that would be a better fit for us than Canada, language requirements aside.
Once my wife completes the surrogacy, we'll be in a better financial position to seriously check this sort of thing out. All we can really do now is watch lots of youtube videos and talk to expatriates and try to learn as much as possible.