I think that he did do a full 4 years at McGill. He was however in-province and it was years ago so at least it was affordable. His year at the other university I don’t think did much other than get him ready to attend McGill. He has said that he is very thankful for the other university to give him that opportunity. At today’s prices in the US students need to be careful about the potential cost if they are going to spend extra time in university.
I also agree that tenured positions are becoming increasingly scarce.
“It is not too late” does not in any way imply that it will be easy.