Hi - glad to hear that you arrived safe and sound!
First - I totally understand your trepidations about giving birth in another country - we moved from Canada to New Zealand in July. While I did consider flying
back to Canada to give birth to my son. I ended up not, and while he's
not a Kiwi by birth (long story there), we are now applying for Canadian
citizenship for him. And once that happens, then getting his Cdn
passport. The hospital that I was at was equivalent to any major Canadian hospital.
But back to your question - have you been seeing an OB in Oakville for your prenatal care? What hospital does he/she have privileges at? Depending on what hospital - you can totally take a hospital tour and check it out....
Also, having lived in the Toronto area for 35 years, I want to rest assure you that I personally, would go to any of the hospitals in the Greater Toronto area with no hesitation if my water broke. Regardless if it was a hospital in Oakville or Toronto or Hamilton or Brampton or anywhere.
Something else which does concern me - while the hospitals in Toronto are world-class, along with McMaster hospital in Hamilton too - depending on where you are in Oakville, and depending on what happens (if your water breaks, or contractions start and are speeding up) - be prepared that you may not even have a chance to drive the hour to Toronto or 1/2 hour to Mac (the short name/form for the hospital in Hamilton) depending on the time of day and the traffic on the 401/QEW.
Then there's the traffic along the QEW to Buffalo - and the traffic to the border, and the wait at the border....some days it's a breeze, and some days it's a several hour wait. (Just basic info I was able to find - 13,000 cars a day pass through that border crossing with the 3 bridges....)
I hope that whatever you decide works out, and please keep us posted!