I live in YOW, and fly to YVR several times a year. I usually go through YYZ - one of several reasons is the increased Aeroplan status miles, through this route, vs the direct route.

However, the relevant question is, how can one, esp SEs - who do not get North American upgrade certs, upgrade from heavily discounted fares (eg econo, fun etc) on Rapidair routes, without using (S)SWUs - is there a way to do this?