Don't be discouraged by what you have learned.

This has nothing to do with inhibiting free trade or restricting Canadians importing from the U.S. These same regulations would apply on any Canadian built vehicle that was designated for the U.S. market and then imported back to Canada.

The problem lies with stricter safety regulations that have been passed in Canada. You can blame your Canadian govt. for that or praise them for trying to protect you from low speed collisions.

The fact that the stealership wants to sell you a whole package of covers and shocks is criminal but I guess their logic is that if you need shocks you are probably going to need the bumper covers too, since most would be replaced because of an accident. I think if you pursue this further, you will find that there is a way to order only the shocks you need for the conversion.