Different instructors offer Fundamentals in different formats. Our local instructor here likes to break the class up into two weekends, which works very well for people who are local, but can be difficult for those who travel a long distance to take the class.
I would contact Steve Blanchard, who is your Ottawa GUE person, and ask him how he likes to do things, and whether he has any other suggestions for you for training.
Oh, and although it's back a ways in the thread, I'd like to address the "military versus religious" characterization, and say that in my view, DIR is neither. The essence of the military is doing what you are told; the essence of religion is taking things on faith. In the DIR system, there is a good reason for every decision, and anyone teaching or mentoring you should be able to articulate it. In some cases, there is no "best" decision, but one was adopted in the interests of standardization, and the rationale behind selecting that option is still known and can be stated.
This comes down to the discussion earlier about canister/HID/LED lights. The REQUIREMENT is that you have a light with an adequate brightness and burn time for the dive you contemplate doing. For a lot of longer technical or cave dives, that still means having a battery on a canister, but for some dives, a light on the back of the hand is enough. The Goodman handle is pretty much required, because there are some functions which require having both hands free and useful and still having a light, and others where you may need to move the light from hand to hand temporarily (thus making the "light sock" type arrangements less than ideal). If you are using a 7' hose and NOT using a canister, then you have to come up with a method of securing the excess length of the long hose, which can be a knife, pocket, or other device on your right hip, or simply folding the hose and stuffing it through your waistband.
"DIR" is not the unthinking lockstep that some people envision it as being. Single tanks are fine; diving without a light is fine if you are diving in an environment where a light is not useful. Anyone thinking about the system should really make contact with someone who understands it before making judgments.