I'm open to anywhere in the GTA, it's been difficult finding a meetup group so I'm willing to travel to Brampton/Mississauga!

Was this a difficult process, and who did you talk to in order to do this?

This type of property has the chance to cashflow, even highly leveraged, in a market where cashflowing properties are quite difficult to find.Could house hacking a property like this work while I am going to school? 

Stores like Home Depot or Ace will have products specifically designed for removing difficult adhesives, but you can also DIY with household products.

If you are not going to refinance (which may be difficult anyway since you don’t have a job), but are able to pull out HELOC I would use that money for short term investments such as flips or BrRRRs.

Conventional financing would be difficult as they typically require 12 months seasoning to use the newly appraised value.

Most municipalities have different mix-use categories which dictate the precise commercial use that's allowed.A few additional observations on mix-use assets and how I approach them (1) they are generally more difficult to finance than multi-family assets so expect lower leverage terms even if the property performs just as well if not better than a multi-family property and therefore price this into your acquisition (2) I focus on mix-use assets where at least 80% of the income is generated through the residential component.

I have noticed with all of the guru's out there, it's gotten more difficult.

Otherwise your financing will be difficult.  

One perk with these companies is that they often extend the lease as construction timelines are notoriously difficult to estimate.