this is exactly my thought. A few months ago, I agree that for almost everyone, it barely merited a second thought, beyond the extra time needed to take that step. Now, I’m not so sure, especially depending on the passport you have, and unfortunately, potentially other factors one might not be able to hide.

TK is a great option if the schedule works, though clearly there’s a bit of backtrack here.

the obvious connections are any *A hubs - most easily the EU ones, as you’d only need to clear immigration on arrival. FRA/MUC/ZRH are the most obvious. You could also do anywhere else in EU A3 flies and AC flies to YVR from, but not sure how many other options that gives besides LHR, which is not exactly most ideal, IMO.

you could also go via YUL/YYZ, but youd have to clear immigration during the stop, which can add complications if there is a shorter connection and long immigration lines, bag collection at connection point (not sure id that still happens everywhre in Canada or not), or delayed flights/bags.