I'll emphasize what others have said here: do not, do not, DO NOT just "claim under $800 and try to brazen it out". It'll work 99 times out of 100. But as Kate Gregory says, the one time it doesn't, you'll get everything searched, they'll be suspicious when you say "Oh no, I bought that in Canada", and you'll pay duty (possibly on stuff you owned before you left!) and a fine(*); and you'll be running that itemized receipt down to the penny every entry for the next N years(**). Oh, that's if you're lucky. If you're not lucky, they'll just seize the stuff, with no possibility to pay.
You may even have to play the game of pre-identifying the stuff you're taking out of Canada just to make your life easier when you come back (frankly, it's not a bad idea anywhere, I probably should go to the trouble of doing that at least for my electronics).
If you have the money to travel, and the money to spend $2000 on stuff to bring back (even if some of it was given to you), you have the money to pay duty on the excess $1200 once and get into CBA's books as a straight shooter.
Edit to add: The CBSA has a duty and taxes estimator on their web site that can give you a ballpark figure on what you might expect to pay. Goods made in the US and México get a break; and the first $300 over the limit gets a break.
Which might help you the time the conversion rates drop like a stone halfway through your trip and your USD670 purchases, which were CAD 770 when you bought them, are now CAD 822 and they decide the play isn't worth the candle. But if you're on record as having tried to evade duty, they have all the time in the world to get their $1.14 duty. How much is your time worth?
Having said that, the one time I was anywhere near the limit, I did pick my worst INR->CAD rate for my conversions to get to CAD 789. I duly reported that to customs when they asked as well. Using the best conversion rate I got on that trip for anything would have made it about 840, 850 (when you spend over 10 000 on a suit, it leaves a very small hole for anything else, even if it's rupees!)
(*) From Travel Canada's "Be Safe, Declare" page: "If you do not declare, or falsely declare, goods, the CBSA can seize them. This means that you may lose the goods permanently or that you may have to pay a penalty to get them back. Depending on the type of goods and the circumstances involved, the CBSA may impose a penalty that ranges from 25% to 80% of the value of the seized goods."
(**) Same page, same section: "The CBSA keeps a record of infractions. If you have an infraction record, you may have to undergo a more detailed examination on future trips. You may also become ineligible for the NEXUS and CANPASS - Private aircraft programs."