Well, it looks like I've pushed this almost as far as I'm willing to go with it. Thankfully Mazda Canada has agreed to partial coverage of the repair. If I move forward with the dealership repair, they would be using brand new Mazda OEM parts, and they would be able to get my car in as early as next week, when the necessary parts come in.
The dealership advised that with Mazda Canada's contribution, I would be looking at $3050 plus taxes for the repair. I have contacted a few other reputable shops for ballpark quotes with used OEM parts, and I was being quoted at $2700 and up. I assume that these quotes could still go higher because these shops haven't even seen/inspected my car, so who knows what they might find.
I think that I may just bite the bullet on this and go with the dealership repair. At least this way I'd get new parts, a part warranty, and they're already familiar with the work that needs to be done. Just need to discuss with the wife to make sure we're on the same page. She may want to just forego the repair and live with the car the way it is now.. but she's not the one who drives it everyday so I'll be doing my best to get her on board lol.