RMS Clerk Trade

[rayduran]

I would like to know if CFRC or Ottawa or whomever makes the decisions on where you get posted takes into consideration where you currently live? For example:

I live in Toronto and would like to enroll under the skilled trade entry plan with my prior military service and QL3 qualification as a RMS Clerk. I would be enrolling as a RegF Air Force RMS Clerk.
Would I have to be stationed at an Air Force base for example: Kingston or Borden?
Or, would they place me somewhere in Toronto if I ask them to?

I'm assuming it's where I'm needed right?

Thanks!

 

[gcclarke]

The needs of the service always, naturally, take precedence. Which isn't to say that a career manager will completely ignore your wishes, but he or she has a certain number of holes that need to be filled with a certain number of pegs. If they can do so only putting pegs where they want to go, hey, everybody wins. Especially if in doing so, they reduce the number of paid moves the crown has to shell out the cash for.

That having been said, I have a feeling that there isn't all that much of a demand for reg force QL3 qualified RMS clerks in Toronto, at least as compared to some of the larger CFBs.

As for whether or not you would be posted to an Air Force Base, you're a purple trade. You can, of course, request to stick to an Air Force heavy base if you wish, but I wouldn't expect to be only posted to one if I were you. If is very possible that, for example, you and I could end up sailing together on one of HMC Ships someday down the road.

 

[PMedMoe]

Also, don't forget you probably will be posted elsewhere at some point in your career.

 

[rayduran]

i actually want to travel and see canada...i haven't seen anything outside of ontario...i would like to see either coast

 

[gcclarke]

i actually want to travel and see canada...i haven't seen anything outside of ontario...i would like to see either coast

Just remember, West Coast is Best Coast.

 

[rayduran]

really? whys that? PLD is higher? people are friendlier? bases have better amenities?
or is it cause it is 'just' the best? lol.

 

[gcclarke]

Weather. General lack of snow (at least in the Victoria area). As for PLD being higher, that isn't necessarily a good thing. PLD is higher in an area because it's more expensive to live there. PLD may or may not be able to cover that difference. For example, I probably could have afforded to purchase a modest home when I was posted here to Ottawa. I shall not be able to when I am posted back to Victoria.

 

[rayduran]

In my current situation I won't be able to purchase a home and a large portion of my pay every pay period will be sent off to pay off loans and help with my family. So, do you know if there are accommodations made for people like that? Such as on base housing or whatever the term is called, PMQ? Do all the big bases have them?

 

[gcclarke]

Most of them do, yes. Not all of them have an adequate amount of them, however. Some have quite the waiting list to get in. For more information, the webpage for the Canadian Forces Housing Agency is located here: http://www.cfha-alfc.forces.gc.ca/index-eng.aspx

 

[rayduran]

With that said, if I get stationed at a base without government housing available for me would I have to provide quarters for myself out of my own pocket? I say this also if the PLD is low and can't help pay off rent 100%.

 

[gcclarke]

Yes. PLD is not intended to cover your rent / mortgage 100%. It is intended to account for differences in living expenses from area to area. In places with a low or zero PLD, living expenses have been calculated to be low enough that you should be able to cover them with only your salary.