Xiaomi is good, specs of most flag ship phones at a significant discount. Depending on the model, most parts are modulor so things can be replaced easily.
The only downside is MIUI is absolute shit, however this can be replaced with open source android with projects like LineageOS and others. Just check XDA forums first before buying to see if there is community support for the device.
Xiaomi is DA BOMB! Great shit! Only issue (don't know if it still is) is that, in order to preserve battery life Xiaomi absolutely kills anything from running in the background. Kind of annoying sometimes, but still GREAT phones for CHEAP! Paid $230 CAD for mine 2 years ago. Came with 4GB ram, 64GB storage. At the time, most people were getting phones with only 32GBs of storage. Phone has been ROCK SOLID!!! Bought a Samsung to replace it a few months ago. I have NEVER used the M30 because the Xiaomi is THAT GOOD! It also has a feature called Quickball. It found it by accident, but cannot live without it. I have been looking for any custom ROMs for my phone which has Quickball. It seems that ROM developers cannot rip it out of the original ROM to incorporate it into their custom ROMs. There's a similar app from the Google Play Store called Zone Assist. I have installed it to test it, but Xiaomi kills it from running in the background. LOL.
Any way, decided to treat myself to a new phone (because my Xiaomi won't die and it's going on 3 yrs that i've had it actually). Ordered the Xiaomi Poco X3 on sale from Aliexpress. CANNOT WAIT!!!
OP, there are A TON of excellent phones you can buy on the Chinese sites!!! Names you have never heard of but are damn good. As I write this though, I'm thinking it may not be a good idea for you to go down that road. There's too much choice. You'll go crazy like I did before getting my 1st Xiaomi. Plus, you have to be certain that the phone supports the Canadian cell frequencies. Spent 2 months looking at phones on the Chinese selling sites, and some Indian phone sites (I've NEVER seen soooo many names that I didn't know!!!). The Indian market doesn't buy iPhone and Samsung. They have soooooo much choice that will make your head spin! There was even a phone with a fan for internal cooling of the CPU. Prices were very good. I researched everyone that piqued my interest and they were ALL solid phones.
A brand that you can get, which is in N.America is OnePlus. Fantastic phones! A bit pricey now, but fantastic. Sad. Their initial business model to was to make a super phone for the $200 mark when they started out. Apple/Samsung started charging so much, so the lesser known brands had plenty room to increase their prices too.
There were some recent deals on OnePlus 7 and the OnePlus 8.
Hope this helps you a bit.
Let us know what you get.