Can someone ... take a look and see if he has any hope of getting the upgrade? (Elite status only) ... No more J seats for sale at aircanada.com, so my gut is saying no!
You can!
Use the free "flight availability" tool on flightstats.com. R will indicate the number of seats available for upgrade, and J will indicate the total number of business class seats available.
Hope this helps you now and in the future.