Start-up name : getting only the .ca domain when .com isn't available?

I found a really good title for my start-up (I least I think). It is short, not too descriptive (but still a little bit) and brandable. In the first place, my product will be localize in Canada only, so I want to heavily use the .ca domain.
But the problem is : there is a start-up in France that took the .com domain (and .fr at the same time).

• We are both in real estate business.
• They didn't launch there WebSite yet, but they seems serious about it. They will probably in a few months.
• Their product seems to focus only on a little region of France. Mine will probably be bigger (french part of Canada).
• They also have the Twitter name.
• For now (and at least a few years) we won't be compete on the same territory.
• They registered the domain for only one year.
  

I could make a little variant of the name by replacing an entire word. But a survey I did tells me that people prefer a little bit the first name (not the variant).

So, do you think I making a mistake if I decide to use the first name anyway (instead of the variant)?

In my experience, a hefty chunk will always type in ".com" by default if they're directly visiting your site.

That said, naming a startup isn't that important to your success. For most sites, direct traffic accounts for a tiny percentage of overall traffic. Most of your customers will find you through Google, mentions on other sites, or your ads.

I'd recommend using LeanDomainSearch to find a .com that is available.