How do folks evaluate upgrading their phone? I'm using an iPhone 6s still that was a hand-me-down and wanting to upgrade the camera - not sure what I ought to be looking for. Dropping 1k CAD seems exorbitant for this purpose.
If you want lifespan you can't go wrong with another iPhone plus that comes with the added bonus of not having to worry about every technical detail of the phone to make sure it's actually a good deal. If you want to hyper optimize on the Android side of things look at signal bands (even for some higher end devices) and make sure your carrier of choice is well covered with them. Also look for either reputable brands or bootloader unlocked phones (or both) so you can load your own OS updates more than a year after buying the device.
If you're looking for a great camera, a new iPhone will certainly give that to you. And of course you'll almost certainly get a long tail of os upgrades like you've had with your 6s, so if you keep it for 5+ years the price is more tolerable. A 64gb 12 mini can be had for 800 CAD new. And you can certainly get cheaper if you buy second-hand.
A refurbished iPhone x or similar may surprise you and they're not too expensive