hi atr,
Congrats on the call. A suit and tie is probally the way to go. The questions in the interview are basically designed to see how you work with people and the public. The sim eval is just to see how well you can fly, the instructors will give you a sheet on the D-8 specs and ask you to look over it. Normal T/O a little airwork and then a precision approach followed by a miss and a engine failure and a non precision approach. The instructors are not there to see how well you know the systems, just how well you fly.
Pay rates are on formula for the first two years, then switch to hourly. Most f/o's are working around 80 to 82.5 hours a month. Check out avcanada.ca for the current pay rates. Most pilots are working around 15 days a month, if you sit on reserve you would be looking at 18-19 days a month. It depends on what the company needs at the time of your hiring, you could start out on the rj or on the d-8. Pay rates do not change with aircraft type. The pension is a defined benefit. Yes some pilots are moving over to mainline, mostly junior pilots have been leaving, interviews with mainline are done in order of senority. I am very happy here, I enjoy the people I work with and the routes we fly.
Let me know if you require any more info.
Flyer 1492