Having a reliable and fast acting hosting company makes all the difference in the world. I use Blacksun.ca for several of my clients and so far I have been extremely impressed with their service. They are based in Saskatchewan, so they are not exactly "local", but they have fat pipes, reliable servers, prompt customer service and CHEAP hosting plans. Their lowest plan is $10 CDN a month, which includes 25MB of space, CGI, Urchin stats, and 5 email accounts. Good deal, especially if you are on the other side of the border!