Normally a potential recruit such as you and I will choose a Canadian Forces Trade whether reserve or regular, then report to the CFRC to hand in the papers. For most cases such as with you and I who are on the verge of High school going into university or college will either select the ROTP program or a civil university and/or enter through the DEO program. In most cases the trade you choose reflects upon your field of study such as:
Major: Mechanical Engineer = Canadian Forces Combat Engineer/vehicle technician and so fourth.
The acronyms I just mentioned are defined as below:
ROTP: Regular Officer Training Plan
- You go to Kingston Royal Military College
-completely subsidized and paid with your salary
-5 years or so
- trained an officer while earning a certified degree in your field of study granted by the Forces
-Graduate as a Junior Officer most likely a lieutenant and into a unit pertaining to your field of expertise I.E. Major: Mechanical Engineer: combat engineer/vehicle technician and related fields
DEO: Direct Entry Plan
-Earn your degree in a Civilian University
-Join the forces as an officer or essentially a jump in ranks
theres also RESO: Reserve Entry Scheme for Officers
-join reserves
- earn your degree in a civilian university and partially subsidized maximum 2k a year according to the forces.ca website
www.forces.ca-become an officer
If you planning on going into technical schools or college, it works the same way except different entry programs that grant you to an NCO rank or sometimes officers. Or if you just wanna start a NCM you can work your way up from the ranks.
It largely depends on your specific career interests that can be combined in a career in the Canadian Forces, I'm in a similar situation too except I'm joining the reserves for now and maybe progressing further when I get to the post secondary stage.
Also aside from the Canadian forces website you can also use the search function conveniently located in the center of the top where many topics like this have been discussed before, but nothing beats a visit to your local Canadian Forces Recruiting Centre and talking to a recruiter about your career path and interests.
Best of luck
