Thanks for making this Canadian instance :) I first created my account on Lemmy.ml, but also made one here since I am Canadian. Looking forward to seeing Lemmy grow as a whole, and see more Canadians join the Fediverise :)
For anyone interested, I've made a community for posting PC hardware/accessory sales (r/bapcsalescanada). Feel free to join and contribute. And if you know how to create an RSS feed, also let me know!
Set a realistic threat level that meets your balance of privacy/convienience and stick to it. I know it is easier said than done, but once you start to get used to it, then you can think about making slight adjustments to better your privacy here and there. If you try to go full privacy right off the bat, you are going to get frustrated.
Start with changing 1-2 things at a time and go from there. Perhaps just change your browser/settings and your email. Adjust from there after a few months