There are a ton of anecdotal stories that tt takes up to a year to join.
There are abundant anecdotes on Canadian subreddits of people who wanted to join, are supposedly eligible to join, but couldn't actually get through the entire process for various reasons, from delays in paperwork processing to confusion about what was available. And after a year, people have made other life plans.
You still cannot even start an application online.
A solid majority of young Americans aren’t fit for service. I strongly considered the military during my second eviction, but I was way too out of shape to even think about it.
Ironically, being fat might’ve saved me from a lifetime of PTSD and other issues. We don’t treat veterans right in America.
If you look on the forces.ca website, there is very clearly a shortage of non-comissioned but highly technical soldiers. You see it in the bonuses and "in-demand" tags.
There is a set force level target. We're thousands short of that. Just maintaining a relatively small force in Latvia as part of NATO is a strain. Much less having any reserve for other contingencies - e.g. major wildfires or domestic disasters.
There are abundant anecdotes on Canadian subreddits of people who wanted to join, are supposedly eligible to join, but couldn't actually get through the entire process for various reasons, from delays in paperwork processing to confusion about what was available. And after a year, people have made other life plans.
You still cannot even start an application online.