I also fell into the rabbit hole not too long ago. One thing I wish I had known when I got started is that Bull Bitcoin is the best exchange in Canada. They're non custodial which lines up great with self sovereignty, they're bitcoin only, their help desk is amazing, their founder rocks and they're very good at selecting reasonable fees when sending you your bitcoin.

Another thing I learned is that coldcard is great. I started with a ledger but I like coldcard a lot more. Very easy to use as well.