To answer a few questions, yes this is Glacier near Revelstoke, not Waterton. And we have big cans of high-powered spray on our belts, and we make noise. My question is not really about the bears (which we have indeed seen on our trips to Canada.) It's about whether it is difficult to form and maintain the required groups of four or more.
My guess is that we will just have to show up at the trailhead and hope for the best!
Or . . . we can bring along inflatable mannequins. When we see bears, we pull the lanyard on the CO2 canister, and voila! Instant crowd. The bears run away. We deflate and repack the mannequins and keep hiking.
