VPN Suggestions Needed (A little overwhelmed)

Hello.

I hope this is the right forum, if not please feel free to move and accept my apologies.

I have decided that I am tired of my ISP's constant throttling and my own lack of anonymity when using Utorrent. I use Utorrent for freeware and non-copyrighted software but am still throttled and leery of people knowing who I am. I have done my research, but it seems every VPN provider I look at provides me with half truths and often muddled information.

I live in North America, Canada to be more precise. Am I better served by going with a North American VPN provide as oppose to an over seas one?

If I were to use a Swiss VPN will my personal information and activities be more safely guarded than that of a North American one? (due to the laws of the VPNs host country)

Right now with Utorrent I have forced encryption on. If I am using a VPN does that mean I am safe to turn Utorrents encryption off as the data to and from my VPN will be encrypted?

Is there a way to stop Utorrent if I lose connection with my VPN? (so that it does not continue to transfer over my unsecure regular internet connection)

Do you have any suggestions for a VPN that I should use? (I am looking for a yearly contract for now and will go from there)

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this and your help will no doubt save me more days of scowering the interwebs.

Lopan