Qualifying for storage

[casing]

Ok, so when I accepted my DEO offer one of the questions my recruiting officer asked me was if I wanted to receive storage. Going on what Wingman previously mentioned about this apparently being a one-shot deal and if you don't take it when it's first offered they'll not offer it again, I said yes to the storage.  Now, yesterday when I was talking to my file manager (a clerk, not my recruiting officer) she told me that I did not qualify to receive storage because I was married.

So what's the real deal here?  Do married enrollees qualify for storage or not?  It would sure be nice to get some consistent answers for a change.  I'll end up calling my recruiting officer again, but I want to see if any forum members know the answer to this.

Thanks!

 

[Inch]

If your wife is still in your house, why would you want storage? She stays there till you're done training, you don't pay Rations & Quarters while on course because your wife is at home and you get separation allowance (or separation expense, I can't remember what it's called). At some point during your application or basic training they'll ask if you're married and set all this stuff up for you, if they don't, make sure to bring it up.  I think Separation allowance is in the neighbourhood of $300 a month, plus depending on where you live, you can get post living differential.  PLD is given to offset the cost of living for people living in higher cost regions of Canada. Here in Halifax I get $146 a month while in Toronto you'd get around $1200 per month.

Once you're done training, or at some point during your training, you'll get a move.  The movers come to your place pack your's and your wife's stuff and move it for you to wherever you're posted. All free, gotta love workin for the mob eh?

Cheers,

 

[casing]

If your wife is still in your house, why would you want storage?

This will be true during basic, obviously.  Afterward, though, we might want to live off-site while I'm doing SLT.  In that case, storage becomes an issue as I'm not going to move all our household belongings from Calgary to St-Jean.  I'll pick up the storage costs myself if I have to, but it would be nice if I didn't have to.

 

[Inch]

I take it you rent in Calgary? I'm not sure of the specifics, but I think you're on your own.  Until they move you it'll come out of your pocket, and the other problem will be that you'll end up paying twice to move since they only give you one move, either from place of enrollment or wherever you are at the time. The only reason for this that I can see is they're pretty stingy on the money they hand out till they know you're going to pass all of your training.  It never hurts to ask though, talk to the recruiter and see what they say, I'm sure they've run into it before.

Cheers,

 

[casing]

No, I own my house.   We aren't interested in selling it (especially not before I finish all of my training!), we'll rent it out if my wife goes out to St-Jean, but we don't want to rent it out with our furniture in it.    This is silly, I know... the simplest and most financially beneficial course of action would be for her to stay in Calgary until I get posted.   But from what I'm gathering, I might not actually get posted for two years or more and my wife really doesn't want to be apart during that entire time.  I can live with flying around the country to visit each other on weekends, etc, but that isn't really fair to her if she doesn't want to do that.   So I need to do what I can to accomodate her.   Got some various scenarios floating around our heads, so we'll see how it goes.

Thanks for the advice, Inch!

 

[Inch]

What trade are you going? AERE right? Another option for you would be to do your SLT somewhere else.  They have language schools at almost every base. A Nav buddy of mine did his language school in Halifax since his house and wife were here. Edmonton would probably be a good option for you, you could do your SLT there and some of your OJT at 408 sqn on the Griffons. Anyway, wherever you're going to be doing most of your training, be it Borden or Trenton or whatever the case may be, there's probably a language school and if you're doing SLT followed by your course in the same place, you may be able to swing getting a move paid for. With this whole quality of life thing going on right now I think you've got a good chance of swinging that.  Good luck!

Cheers,

 

[casing]

Yes, AERE (remember, you were going to ask your AERE bud about PPT..?  ).

So that is a rather interesting possibility that you've mentioned.  First I've ever heard of that, though, so this deserves more looking into.  At this point I'm not really sure who I would approach about this, when for that matter.  At what point to people get course loaded onto SLT?  After they successfully complete BOTP would make sense.

 

[brneil]

Hey Casing,

Married members do not qualify for storage while going throiugh IAP/BOTC and SLT as you are on a prohibited posting (no permission to move dependants or furniture and effects). If you want to store your stuff you are on your own dime(did it myself). If you are continuing to pay a mortgage while in Calgary you would be able to claim PLD for Calgary if that is your primary residence. Previous posts about separation allowance are correct you would be entitled to 345 per month while on course.

The option of taking SLT somewhere other than St. Jean is highly unlikely as a DEO.

At your first posting DND will cover an amazing amount of expenses through the relocation project for you. However that wil not likely take place until you have completed CAP after SLT.

Good luck

 

[casing]

Hey thanks!   Pretty much how I viewed it--just wanted some clarification from someone who's done it.   One more clarification, though.   In regards to the PLD, it is SE or PLD but not both, is that correct?

Oh, and as far as I know, as Air Force I won't be doing CAP.   Perhaps there is a an AF version of it?

 

[brneil]

You get both as long as you can show a lease or mortgage.

 

[Inch]

Yes, AERE (remember, you were going to ask your AERE bud about PPT..?   ).

I remember, and I've got the info, I'll post it in the other thread so there's a little continuity.

As for who to ask about doing SLT somewhere else, you could start with your recruiter, the worst case you'd have to write a memo and it could be turned down but I think it's worth a shot.

What's SE? I just got a briefing on terms of service and SE is Short Engagement most recently to me.

Cheers,

 

[casing]

Hey thanks, Inch!

Sorry, by SE I meant Separation Expense.

Anyone have a link to current PLD rates?   Since DND changed the website, the links I had are no longer valid and the one reference I seem to be able to find points to an Intranet site.

Edit: Found an old chart in a Pers newsletter for 2003.  Calgary = $119

 

[Inch]

Gotcha, that's what I thought but I just wanted to make sure.

I think the PLD rates are only avail on the DIN, I'll look them up tomorrow and post them here.

Cheers

 

[brneil]

I believe PLD for Calgary is 119/month

 

[Inch]

brneil is right, PLD for Calgary is $119/month. Here's the rest of the numbers, the 75% rate is if you live with someone else getting PLD (you each get 75%), a military roommate or a service spouse.   For those that are thinking it, no you can't get PLD for living in singles quarters, not sure about PMQs but I doubt it. I apologise for the formatting, I'll fix the first one and the rest you can figure out.   To make it easy, if you're the only one getting PLD it's the second # from the right, if you're getting 75%, it's the far right, the 2 on the left are just old # for comparison sake to show how it goes up and down.


LOCATION (FULL PLD 01-Feb-03) (75% PLD 01-Feb-03) (FULL PLD 01-Jul-03) (75% PLD 01-Jul-03)
BC Aldergrove        261                            196                          235                         176
BC Chilliwack 35 26 23 17
BC Kamloops-Kelowna 171 128 151 113
BC Nanaimo 58 43 55 41
BC Trail 31 23 20 15
BC Vancouver 667 500 626 470
BC Victoria/Esquimalt 513 385 526 395
AB Calgary 102 76 119 89
SK Dundurn-Saskatoon 11 8 7 5
SK Prince Albert 66 49 46 35
MB Shilo 29 22 19 14
MB Winnipeg 78 58 55 41
ON Barrie-Borden 145 109 132 99
ON Brantford 171 128 136 102
ON Cambridge 131 98 121 91
ON Chatham On 31 23 20 15
ON Guelph 366 274 333 250
ON Hamilton 334 250 333 250
ON Kenora 37 28 31 23
ON Kingston 0 0 17 13
ON Kitchener 259 194 234 176
ON London 152 114 124 93
ON Meaford-Owen Sound 35 26 11 8
ON North Bay 70 52 46 35
ON Ottawa-Gatineau   124 93 134 101
ON Peterborough 103 77 101 76
ON Sarnia 49 37 34 26
ON Sault Ste Maire 63 47 59 44
ON St. Catharines/Niagara Falls 230 172 193 145
ON Stratford 312 234 259 194
ON Sudbury 126 94 109 82
ON Thunder Bay 113 85 92 69
ON Timmins 42 31 38 29
ON Toronto(1) 1123 842 1225 919
ON Toronto(2) 877 658 866 650
ON Toronto(3) 863 647 822 617
ON Toronto(4) 1015 761 1015 761
ON Toronto(5) 1138 853 1158 869
ON Windsor 359 269 345 259
PQ Montreal North Shore 396 297 415 311
PQ Montreal South Shore 369 277 363 272
PQ Quebec City-Valcartier 111 83 114 86
PQ Rouyn-Noranda 231 173 178 134
PQ Sept-Iles 253 190 232 174
PQ Sherbrooke 93 70 67 50
PQ St-Jean 102 76 75 56
NS Halifax 96 72 146 110
PEI Charlottetown 0 0 6 5
NF Cornerbrook 0 0 32 24
NF Gander 13 10 25 19
NF Grand Falls 33 25 99 74
NF St Johns 266 199 340 255



Cheers

 

[casing]

Muchas gracias, brneil and Inch!

 

[Inch]

No problem man, any other concerns, ask away!

Cheers,