as someone who has done canoe trips, yes, in general a balanced load on a bike is similar to in a canoe.
Yes, some bikes are very stiff and can handle fine with only a rear load, I have an old mtn bike that is like the examples mentioned earlier in that it rides quite well even with one pannier full of groceries, and reasonably well with two full travel panniers on the rear also.

in general though, like a canoe, your bike will ride better and feel more balanced with front and rear panniers.
When you start trying some test rides with four panniers on, take the time and play with how you load the panniers and observe how the bike feels with diff weights front/back.
I have always used my guessometer hand weighing for having the panniers close-ish for weights side to side, both front and back, but again, do a bunch of test rides and you'll see what works better and what you are comfortable with, it aint rocket science and you'll see quickly what feels better.

*as you have never ridden a loaded bike, it may take a bit longer for you to get a feel for things, no matter how you load your panniers, it will feel pretty weird and cumbersome at first in any case....but you get used to it, just like a loaded canoe vs empty.

ps, re the whole canoe bow/stern equal load thing, on bikes, there is always more weight on the rear wheel due to our body position, so putting having at least some weight more up front with front panniers helps with having not so much weight rearward. Being a real light guy, I've always been able to get away with less weight up front and life is easier on my rear wheel as I probably weigh 40-50lbs less than a lot of fellows. That said, more recently I've been putting more weight up front and it works fine also.

I would also add that as canoeists, transitioning to bike touring is pretty easy in terms of being aware of packing and what you need/dont need. With the internet, its much easier for folks to see packing lists of other bike tourers, but back when I started bike touring long before the internet, I just applied more or less canoe camping thinking, and it worked fine.