They're not related but I'm sure I read that Nicholas Latifi's dad had put money into Stroll's buyout pot - or was it another team - or both?
If he's part of the consortium in time young Nic may join an all Canadian party at Racing Point.
Latifi put money into McLaren and has also clearly put a wedge into Williams given his son has been announced as Williams' reserve driver for 2019!
It is hard for Canadian racers to break into 'big league' racing. We don't have any domestic series that garner attention, especially not open wheel. Canadians have to travel to the USA, Europe or Asia to get their foot in the door, but we're seen as outsiders, the junior series are meant to promote local talent.
Naturally in motorsport, money talks. I'm not sure why we suddenly have Canadians paying to get into F1, I would expect paying to run in lower series and getting good results would gain attention in F1. Coverage for Canadian racers in Canada is scant, so I'd never heard of Stroll pre Williams, nor Latifi until just today.
(I think the defecit in Canadian motorsport goes back to Greg Moore. He probably would have ended up in F1 just as Jacques' career was winding down which would have kept nationwide interest in the sport high)