Okay, I'm not surprised to hear the response you got from the dealer. With all due respect, most dealers just aren't all that smart. They know the procedures listed in the service manual but beyond that, you may as well talk a completely foreign language. Over the years I've been fortunate enough to develop relationships with specific dealers who have entertained my requests and direction.
The change that I previously suggested to you needs to be made in the configuration settings of the Instrument Panel Module. This is where the country is set, along with enabling the various installed options. The country option is the very first configuration item to select. I have personally changed this in mine to test whether or not DRL's can be disabled so I can assure you that a country can most certainly be selected. In fact, there are probably about twelve different options to select from.
Kind of off-topic for a moment, there is not a lot of difference between the US and Canada DRL configuration. In both instances the DRL's will always come on when the car is shifted out of PARK. The difference is that for US cars, the operator can manually rotate the collar on the signal lever to turn them off while out of PARK but in Canada, this action will not turn them off. There are some countries that can be selected where the DRL's will not come on at all. The problem is that these countries also have different theft deterrent requirements and selecting them may cause other unpredictable behaviour.
So, getting back to the original question... Yes, I know the STS can be reconfigured for a number of different countries because I've done it. What I can't guarantee is whether this will actually change the theft deterrent system to allow user programming of fobs because I have not tried to do this. My guess is that there's a good chance it will work.
Call the dealer (or perhaps another) back again. I most certainly do not recommend discussing this with a front-end service adviser because the chances they'll understand what you're talking about is almost nil. As suggested, see if you can talk to the Service Manager or Shop Foreman. Most Service Managers I've ever met have been a shop foreman at some point so they will likely have some idea where to go. If they don't understand how to accomplish what you need, ask if they will call the Technical Assistance Center. This is a group of support people in place to help technicians at GM dealerships solve problems they have been unable to manage within the dealership. They will have the answer.
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Here is the screen where the programming change is made...
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The change that I previously suggested to you needs to be made in the configuration settings of the Instrument Panel Module. This is where the country is set, along with enabling the various installed options. The country option is the very first configuration item to select. I have personally changed this in mine to test whether or not DRL's can be disabled so I can assure you that a country can most certainly be selected. In fact, there are probably about twelve different options to select from.
Kind of off-topic for a moment, there is not a lot of difference between the US and Canada DRL configuration. In both instances the DRL's will always come on when the car is shifted out of PARK. The difference is that for US cars, the operator can manually rotate the collar on the signal lever to turn them off while out of PARK but in Canada, this action will not turn them off. There are some countries that can be selected where the DRL's will not come on at all. The problem is that these countries also have different theft deterrent requirements and selecting them may cause other unpredictable behaviour.
So, getting back to the original question... Yes, I know the STS can be reconfigured for a number of different countries because I've done it. What I can't guarantee is whether this will actually change the theft deterrent system to allow user programming of fobs because I have not tried to do this. My guess is that there's a good chance it will work.
Call the dealer (or perhaps another) back again. I most certainly do not recommend discussing this with a front-end service adviser because the chances they'll understand what you're talking about is almost nil. As suggested, see if you can talk to the Service Manager or Shop Foreman. Most Service Managers I've ever met have been a shop foreman at some point so they will likely have some idea where to go. If they don't understand how to accomplish what you need, ask if they will call the Technical Assistance Center. This is a group of support people in place to help technicians at GM dealerships solve problems they have been unable to manage within the dealership. They will have the answer.
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Here is the screen where the programming change is made...
