Hi Wayne!
Good thing, more folks should be into radio.
I was part of Amateur radio in my school age. But in East Germany. Its long ago so I cannot tell you about the conditions in Canada.
The only common thing are the frequencies, especially on short wave.
But you are choosing the hard way. License and so. How about CB radio? I think in CA is no license required. And you will find more talk partners. The most truckers also have it.Channel 9. They are a good source for information around. And if you have a good PA you will have a good range. Just check internet to find how much wattage is allowed.
By the side there is FRS (Family radio service) on the 70 cm-band in CA free from license as far as I know. Up to 5 Watts, handheld devices. Pretty short antenna.Good when you are out in the field and you want to keep contact with your home or your workmates etc.
Just check the internet and keep me informed, I am interested in this matter.
By the way here in Ger. I have CB and 70 cm.Very applicable and free from Charges! My wife uses it to call me in when I miss the time for the meals.So she doesnt need to seek me and will not be angry,haha!
Regards,Coalie.

Thanks Coalie. I'll look into this. Thanks. Wir wünschen Ihnen und Ihrer Familie alles Gute für 2019!

I've contacted the Amateur Radio Service Centre to inquire about obtaining an Amateur Radio Certificate. Apparently my Radiotelephone Operator Certificate (Aeronautical) qualifies me for an Amateur Radio Operator Certificate with Basic Qualification.

I assume that this certificate is somewhat restricted, so I'd be interested in expanding my knowledge and upgrading my license. As I haven't used ham before, this is all new to me. I'd be interested in any study materials that you feel will aid my progress...

Equipment is another hurdle and I expect that this will take some time to get a handle on what's required and what features are desirable. Hopefully, with your input I can avoid some of the 'rookie mistakes.'

Is that a Basic or a Basic with Honors?
Basic will restrict you to using bands above 30Mhz, such as 2 meter and 70 CM.
Basic with honors will give you access to ALL ham bands with a power restriction of 250watts.
If you only get a basic, I would encourage you to write the basic exam and shoot for the honors (80% score or better)
Try downloading Exhaminer. It's a practice test program written by the instructor who taught me.
https://wp.rac.ca/exhaminer-v2-5/

They told me that it was restricted and I'd have to advance the license if I wanted to. Thanks for the information.

For all interested in getting their Amateur Radio License! 😀
Just wanted to share a great resource that I've recently found given I've started taking my Amateur Radio License course. The site is called

https://hamradioprep.com

It's been really easy given the presentations for each lesson as well as text info about the presentation, so they talk about it and write about it. They also end each lesson with a little quiz of questions that could show up on the license exam so I would highly recommend it. It's not free unfortunately, I had to pay $49 US but I got the deal that added the 2nd level course so there is a 2for1 deal 🙂 It's also a US operation, but given there's a "3rd-party Agreement" with Canada, it will apply. Downside is that you gotta get to the 4th & last course for Baofeng specifically -hopefully they'll offer another bogo, I'll let y'all know if they do 🙂