Brent,

     Joing the RCAF (Royal Canadian Air Force) was a huge move for me, but it will be for you as well. The three trades that I would suggest for you would be:

1. Aircraft Structures Technician (http://www.forces.ca/en/job/aircraftstructurestechnician-52) thats what Im doing.
2. Aviation Systems Technician (http://www.forces.ca/en/job/aviationsystemstechnician-46)
3. Avionics Systems Technician (http://www.forces.ca/en/job/avionicssystemstechnician-47)

     Those were my three choices. Each one of them is in high demand in the civilian world, and they have a specialist pay grade. (http://www.forces.gc.ca/en/caf-community-pay/reg-force-ncm-class-c-rates.page)<-- that is a link to the pay rates. All rates are shown in gross earnings for the month. Trade group standard is what everyone makes. Those three up there are Trade Group Specialist 1. It'll take you 3-4 years (tops) to make corporal and get your spec pay. Once you do, you'll be dam near making what a normal Sgt dose. And thats not including other pay allowances like land/sea/air pay, and posted living differential (ill explain over the phone).

    You dont have to pick any of those trades, but I see them as the best bang for your buck in terms of pay, quality of life, and qualifications you can take with you when you leave. If you look at other trades, hit me up and I might be able to give you some insight. Stay away from intel, communications researcher, and anything Navy. just trust me on that ok? take a look at the "life in the airforce" video (http://www.forces.ca/en/page/lifeintheforces-75).

     Join Reddit, and post on the canadian forces subreddit (https://www.reddit.com/r/CanadianForces/search?q=canadian%2Bforces&sort=relevance&restrict_sr=on&t=all) and post asking if anyone is one of those trades above, or otherwise. You should get someone who is in and can answer your questions. There is always one or two bitter ppl, so never take anyone's word as gospel. Let me know if you need anything else.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VAOwGNxusLE
basic up is a show following real canadian recruits. https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=basic+up

Some other Reading.... These reddit threads have some good pointers in them. Very important to basic survival.
https://www.reddit.com/r/CanadianForces/comments/1au3kv/questions_regarding_bmq/
https://www.reddit.com/r/CanadianForces


planning for retirement after your 5 year contract:
http://www.forces.gc.ca/en/caf-community-pension-reg-post-march-2007/scenarios.page