Ok, there are some misconceptions here. I did my basic back in early May and just finished my advanced exam and flight review...so I am fully qualified by TC as a professional RPAS pilot. That is what they tell you and expect you to perform piloting in a professional manner. There is no longer a distinction for commercial applications. You can fly commercially with a basic certification but can only do so in G airspace and some F class airspace. If you live anywhere near a place with an airport then the 5Km around it are basically closed to you if you have the basic certification. What the advanced certification does, is give you the tools and certification to apply to fly in controlled airspace, not only for commercial, but also non commercial flying. However, you will have to get permission from NavCanada and there is a process to go through. There are specific rules that govern when you need a special flight operating certificate...for example, if the flight is beyond visual sight, or if the RPAS weight is greater than 25Kg, or if you're not a Canadian citizen....and getting an SFOC from Transport Canada requires more paperwork and specific indications and parameters of the planned flight. Also, even if you have your advanced certification for RPAS...and right now it's only for visual line of sight...meaning that you must maintain the RPAS within visual range ( they are working on a BLOS certification (beyond line of sight)), your RPAS has to not only be registered, but it also must be certified for advanced operations. My little spark for example is certified for both flight in controlled airspace and flight within 5 meters of people(bystanders), however, it is not certified to fly over people(bystanders).
As for the basic certification test, the information that you need is easily available on the net. There is a great YT channel (DonDronesOn) who has some great video's and aids. I used this and a few other sources to pass my basic certification. Before you take the exam, you need to register with TC on their portal. The basic exam allots you 90 minutes to answer 35 questions and it's open book multiple choice. The pass is 65%. That may sound like it shouldn't be too bad, but the questions are tricky so you have to really be patient and read the questions carefully, and you really have to know the 900 section (the section on RPAS's) in the CAR's (Canadian Aviation Regulations) really well. The other areas that you need to know should be studied too.
The advanced certification process is a two step process. The first is that you need to know far more detail than in the basic test, and in some different areas. To be honest, it felt very much like the exam for a private pilot exam as you need to know much of the same information...flight operations, weather and how to decode the info, navigation, human factors etc . The test allots you 60 minutes to answer 50 questions and the pass is 80%....so yeah...you need to know your stuff as you don't have a lot of time to go googling for your answer. I have been told that it is much harder than the part 107 test that the FAA administers in the US for commercial pilot certification. If you manage to squeak by the advanced exam and are jumping for joy...well you are half way there. To get the certification, you have to find and schedule a flight review by a TC qualified flight reviewer. I can tell you that to pass the flight review, it's a hell of a lot more than showing that you can start, take off, fly your RPAS around without hitting anything, returning and landing. The actual flying is the easy part as if you're taking the advanced certification it's safe to assume that you have some flight experience. The hard part is knowing how to set up a site survey, the procedures to get the documentation necessary for the flight, understanding the weather conditions of your planned flight, checking with the CFS(Canada flight supplement), the DAH(Designated Airspace Handbook), the VTA and VNC charts for your area on any airport and radio frequency information and possible traffic conflicts, having a transceiver or at the minimum in some F class airspace, the ability to monitor the local air traffic frequency, checklists for normal and emergency procedures, etc. When you set up a flight zone when operating under the advanced certifications, you essential have established an aerodrome under the CARS and as such needs to be treated that way. It's way overboard in my personal opinion, but those are some of the rules that TC has laid down.
While you can use online sources to get through the basic certification; that is what I did. I really recommend taking a course with a classroom setting by an instructor who has RPAS experience. I had to spend some extended time in Toronto this year so I did my advanced certification there. I was very fortune to have chosen a good course and even more fortunate to have a really good instructor. Learned an awful lot that you won't easily find in an online course. The interaction between peers and the instructor was key to understanding some of the more thick stuff. For my old grey cells, this was the best way for me. I am not sure if I can put down where I took the course but if anyone is interested they can pm me. I have no affiliation with them but I do recommend them.
hope that answers your questions.
oh...one more thing...the Canadian certification is recognized by ICAO...so other than the US, it is an internationally recognized license. I hope that there is some reciprocal recognition with the US sometime soon as it would make cross boarder visits so much easier...both ways. I've had to tell some of my American friends to leave their RPAS at home as they would need an SFOC to fly here...even if only on vacation....aarrrrrghhhh