man...i just typed out a huge post, and it got deleted somehow...ill try again.
anyways, if you are looking to purchase, you cant go wrong with uturn audio -
http://uturnaudio.com/at 150 for the base model, you cant go wrong.
ive had mine for just under a year,and love it.
you will need to consider what you are going to be listening to it through too.
as for where to buy, places like hmv, sunrise, the beat goes on all sell new and mainly reissues, at insane prices.
as for local, and new and used selections, burlington has looney tunes, and paul the owner is a fountain of knowledge, and has a huge used section which is great to go through
hamilton has the cheapies and dr disc, which are both great, again with new and used, they do also carry a lot of less mainstream music too, which is great..
hamilton also has hammer city records, but they are very focused on punk and hardcore, with a decent reggae/ska selection too...both new and used.
toronto obviously has a bunch, but i dont really head downtown too often.
online, as well...discogs is a great site.
i could go on for a while, i have thinned out a lot of my collection over the years, but still am always on the hunt and love digging.
any other questions, or anything feel free to pm me.