I fly YYC-CDG regularly via YUL and I have never paid more than $1250 for V class. I have travelled as cheaply as $1000 CAD in sale V class. I never have flown in high season, only November to June so far. You should be able to do better from YYZ. Right now you can get non-sale V fares for under $1000 from YYZ. Even H fares for September are around $1600 (presume it is still high season?)

Who knows, they may be eliminating V class with new fare upgrading rules coming into effect. If you eliminate the fare, I guess you won't miss not being able to upgrade from it.

You can generally do better going to LHR and then getting a BD or some other flight to take you the rest of the way. I prefer the convenience of the direct YYZ or YUL-CDG flights and will pay the premium.