Leafposter and newfag here. Looking for a commuter, have only ever made do with hand-me-downs before. Would a Raleigh be worth looking at? They seem dodgy, with different models/names for different regions (Raleigh Canada and Raleigh USA being different). This is the one I'm eyeballing.
>https://raleigh-canada.ca/products/raleigh-raleigh-encounter-mens-hybrid-bike-700cIt's 670 loonies, which equates to $525 in real money.