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The CFL tried to make in the USA by puting teams in the USA (Baltimore, San Antonio and Shreveport all tried... and failed.) They also tried to get on US TV, including network TV during a Labor Dispute in 1987. NBC put a CFL game on, on a rainy, miserable day in Edmonton. I think one of the teams scored a couple of Rouges and the final score was 2-0 or 2-1 or some ridiculously low score. Not that CFL football wouldn't sell in the USA, it's just that it's a different game, like Arena Football. If the CFL moved most of their games to mid-week and did a revenue sharing cable TV deal with a US network, they'd find a niche audience.
And yes, the main reason Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, etc. don't have NFL teams is that the NFL agreed not to put teams in Canada as they are an investor in the CFL. It's in the NFL's best interest for the CFL to succeed. What they like about it is that the CFL season ends just as the NFL season hits the stretch run, so the audience in Canada can then watch the NFL after the CFL.
Of course if the CFL failed, the NFL would be in Canada either with a new league (NFL Canada) or expanding teams into the big cities.
There was a rumor that the Arena League might also try to move into Canada...
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