The costs of becoming a pilot here in the Netherlands are certainly very high. But if you attend one of two State recognized schools you get fairly easy financing from the banks. That is how most guys/girls do it. If you make it through the pre-screening you have a very good shot at making it to the major airlines, and at the young ages that they join they have a great head start in getting the thing paid off by the time they are in their late twenties to early thirties. By that time their pay will be easily in excess of 130,000 Canadian and they are nicely set up for the rest of their careers.
The big difference between here and Canada lies in the fact that anyone (regardless of intellect, capabilities, or aptitude) can take a crack at breaking into our profession. In the Netherlands they pre-screen you to see if you have what it takes. One system produces too demand (and in exceptional times of growth there is a buffer of well qualified people out there who can fill in the gaps), the other system (in Canada) produces an excess that can be exploited in good or bad times to produce the lowest labour costs possible.
Not saying one is better than the other, but I certainly met more people who should not be in our business back home in Canada than I do here in this country. My best friend back in Canada is one of the best handling pilots I know, great Captain for one of the large regional airlines in Canada, and an all-around great person. He would have never made it here in Europe because of his lack of grades and book smarts. That is the downside; there are a lot of people here who would have made great Captains who did not pass the screening. For those of us who do make it, the rewards are that much greater because of the difficulties that are put in your way.