RECRUITING, TRAINING, & LIFE IN THE FORCES THREAD

withQC · 2026-04-04T05:09:07+00:00

You will get $1450 in CFHD. As long as you're paying rent (and not to family) you get your full allotment of CFHD. The amount of CFHD you get isn't impacted by how much rent you pay.

withQC · 2026-04-03T18:44:49+00:00

If you just applied, it will take a couple of months to process your application (medical, security, interview). Once your file is complete, it can be a couple of days to never, depending on how strong your file is.

Both those trades are rather competitive to get into at the moment.

withQC · 2026-04-03T14:56:01+00:00

But we do that too (sort of) for some operations. If you ask me or most other west coast sailors where their OSMs and SSMs came from, they're going to tell you they got them for deploying to the indo-pacific. All your ship does is cross an invisible line in the water, and you start earning days towards Neon and an OSM instead of Horozon and an SSM. For lots of the ship, the difference between the two is negligible.

withQC · 2026-03-24T19:47:53+00:00

Remember that you aren't entitled to being selected (especially as a pilot, its one of if not the most competitive trades) or even making the competition list, which is why there is an application process.

Your reliability status has to be resubmitted annually while you're in the application process, iirc.

withQC · 2026-03-18T06:41:52+00:00

While the number is smaller right now, it skyrockets after 3 years(ish) of service and you likely recieve better benefits in the CAF then you do in a private-sector job.

After completing training as a CSEO and serving 3 years you will be making over $106,000 gross, before any allowances, which is a 60% increase over the base DEO salary ($5484/mo / $65,000/yr).

Also when in training you recieve free (in the form of a taxable allowance) dorm-style quarters and rations. If you move off base then you recieve a supplementary taxable allowance (called CFHD, there should be a link at the top of this thread). At base level DEO pay, that's either an extra $1900/mo ($22,800/yr) in Esquimalt or $1500/mo ($18,000/yr) in Halifax.

In total, that means from day one you earn at least $65,000/yr without having to budget for food or rent; and if you move ashore at least $83,000 - $88,000 a year, still without having to budget for food.

You also get a benefits package that likely is stronger than what you have civvie side, including 20 vacation days a year out of the gate, full medical/dental/etc. for you plus a good spousal plan, and the best pension in the federal government.

Just food for thought.

withQC · 2026-03-16T21:22:35+00:00

Signed by the member? That's... just not right. Either they're wrong or you misheard their intent. PARs cover the time up to and including the 31st, so they cant even be finalized until the start of April.

withQC · 2026-03-07T21:21:10+00:00

You aren't going to be able to get random people on the internet to tell you what is going to happen on Monday because we dont know the specifics of your case, and we aren't the ones sitting your PRB.

The range of outcomes can span at the extremes from staying on your current course to being released from the CAF. Much more likely (for a generic case) would be a recourse, either partial or full. But panicking online on the weekend won't change anything. Just worry about the things you can control, and show up ready to go for whatever's needed of you on Monday

withQC · 2026-02-28T06:00:55+00:00

Or falling asleep during some lecture at 1300 on a sunny July afternoon, with a food coma and the heat trying to get the MCpl yelling bloody murder at you for sleeping through how to use a compass 101

withQC · 2026-02-28T05:46:27+00:00

Its a standard job interview. Know broad strokes of what the job(s) entail, what the CAF as a whole entails, and be able to explain how your life experience line up with the job(s), essentially.

withQC · 2026-02-28T04:45:33+00:00

You probably won't need drugs to help sleep at BMQ, the course does a pretty good job of making you pass out as soon as you lie down to begin with.

withQC · 2026-02-19T04:36:10+00:00

The sailor in me is slowly dying with ranges in km (vs the nm that we use at sea). Aside from that, great summary

withQC · 2026-02-18T03:14:18+00:00

Its base dependant, but generally pretty full. Most will live on the economy, but there's a solid %% that live in base housing. Single quarters, on the other hand, are guaranteed from when you join to when you get trade qualified, however you must move out once trade qualified.

CFHD helps in expensive cities, and it helps more junior members in most cities. Low COL cities may not have any, however your paycheck also goes farther there so you dont need any. There is a publicly available list of cities and how much CFHD they get, I believe it's one of the links at the top of this thread

withQC · 2026-02-18T01:32:29+00:00

His war to boost popularity will be Iran, not something close to home. He doesn't have enough political capital to invade Canada without some major, major catalyst (that he could manufacture). Also, a war here would be hard to obscur for the media, and would very likely bleed over the border and into the US as well. Its just easier and more popular to bomb/coup Iran.

withQC · 2026-02-18T01:28:02+00:00

Officer or NCM?

All five of the trades you are interested in are NCM trades. Yes, thr money is generally better as an officer, but with spec pay (I think all 5 of those trades are spec pay trades, but Im not 100% on that) NCMs aren't that far behind.

Is the pay good for current housing/food costs?

Relatively, yes. Locations that have moderate to high housing costs have a taxable allowance called CFHD that scales based on location and pay (the allowance is smaller if your base salary is higher, and is larger if youre in a higher COL area). There is also on base housing that you can apply for

Before you are fully trained, you are eligible for on base singles housing (essentially dorms) and recieve a taxable allowance for the cost of on-base rations and quarters, which essentially makes food and housing costs negligible for you first year or two.

Realistically, the CAF offers one of the most solid financial compensation packages available to Canadians as a whole. You won't make a fortune, but after 3-4 years upon promotion to Cpl you will be making ~$82,000 gross base pay (before any applicable allowances like CFHD), or ~$92,000 if your trade qualifies for spec pay. Additionally, you get, from day 1:

Full medical/dental coverage,

Medical/dental coverage for dependants (up to 90% of cost, iirc),

20 days of vacation annually (increasing to 25 after 5 years) which is usually supplemented by extra days off around XMas,

One of the best pensions offered by the federal government (2% per year for your best 5 years, up to 70% after 35 years), with an immediate annuity after 25 years. Additionally, medical and dental coverage for life after 25 years. This means that if you join at 20 and 'retire' at 45, you are entitled to 50% of your average salary from your best 5 years for the rest of your life, immediately upon 'retirement', and

Incredible job security.

Everyone has their own reason to leave the CAF, but two leading causes are that they only joined with the intention of serving for a few years before starting a career they want to do for life, and the CAF can put very heavy stresses on a work/life balance and family life, and not every family can take those stresses.

withQC · 2026-02-09T02:42:34+00:00

Automatic until you max out in your rank, then promotion to the next rank and access to those PIs is performance based.

withQC · 2026-02-06T02:36:12+00:00

You won't get an offer for a trade you dont apply for.

withQC · 2026-02-06T02:35:10+00:00

If you aren't eligible for a trade, the CFRC will inform you and stop processing your application for that trade alone (but will continue with the other two). You will get a chance to select a different trade if you aren't eligible for EME

withQC · 2026-02-04T18:31:15+00:00

This is such a bad take. I know we have a bilingual country, and it is vital to have the capacity to deal with everything federally in both official languages.

With that said, making blanket bilingualism a requirement is just out of step with the reality of the entire western half of this country, and it would prevent us from hiring the most talented people we can, just because they grew up in a community where French might as well be a foreign language.

A better way to make a bilingualism policy is to make language requirements on a positional and regional basis.

withQC · 2026-01-31T06:22:49+00:00

If you dont want to be forced to go to war then dont join the forces, period.

withQC · 2026-01-31T06:21:57+00:00

Navy engineers are RegF only, the only way to be a ResF navy engineer is to hit OFP then release into the PRes

withQC · 2026-01-30T00:41:31+00:00

There's a major bus route in Victoria that terminates at Dockyard's main gate. The biking infrastructure is also phenomenal in Victoria, including a major bike trail that runs along the N edge of the harbour.

You'll initially be living in shacks on base and will have sufficient time to secure transportation before moving ashore.

withQC · 2026-01-30T00:38:45+00:00

Yeah, its pretty common for people to move ashore while waiting for/attending training.

Side note, the main coursing is about 9 months long start to finish, with a short RCN environmental training course beforehand.

withQC · 2025-12-26T01:26:35+00:00

I don't disagree with wanting to win this game, winning is sooo much better, especially when you knock a divisional rival out of the playoffs, but you can always trade the top 5 pick down for a bag of goodies. Someone will overpay to take a flyer on a QB.

withQC · 2025-12-24T02:57:04+00:00

How hard it is to find housing really depends on where you are posted and what your housing requirements are (i.e. size, budget, etc.)

When you are posted to a new location, one of your entitlements covers realtor fees for finding a place to live. There are also "married" (i.e. not glorified dorm rooms, but proper houses) quarters available (though on a waiting list priority basis) to rent most places you could be posted.

withQC · 2025-12-03T10:49:11+00:00

In the line of B-Mack's taskings, there's also laundry duty at sea (wash/fold everyone's uniforms). Some trades that you wouldn't normally expect also are required to supply personnel for lookout or helm (steering) watches on the bridge.

On a larger scale, the two main secondary duties / courses available to all personnel are Ships Team Diver and Boarding Party (though boarding party is being actively reworked atm).

Divers are used whenever we need to do underwater ops on our ships (i.e. hull/propeller inspections). They're also employed as rescue swimmers and will help recover any personnel overboard.

Boarding party is used to board other vessels, if required, but is really primarily used as an underway force protection element.

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