In my opinion AC longhaul would be better than LH and not as good as BA in their respective cabins. As for the upgrade possibility, the flight from YYZ-ROC is a 1 hour turboprop so an upgrade is not needed, and if you take the US route, you'll either have to stop or take an RJ with no front cabin anyway.

Keep the $200 in your jeans and buy a good meal instead.

DF