Thanks everyone. I've been out of town for the past week, but going over your comments I can say I appreciate them greatly. Frankly, I would like to go with the air force route as they foot the bill and you get to train with some of the best people and equipment. Although my parents aren't fond of it, so that pretty much crosses that option off my list. I would like to get a degree as backup, should some problem arise, but the cost is worrying. The prospect of having your dream taken away from you due to an uncontrollable factor is very scary, I would hate to have something happen like an injury to cost me my career as a pilot. Like Westward_Bound I find it frustrating that the pilot training itself isn't looked at in the same light as a typical post secondary education. Thanks Tim Horton for the link to avcanada, it's already proven useful. I think I will follow ng78's advice and attempt to get the PPL out of the way while I am still in high school. Some obscure family members of mine have done it, but they didn't live in Vancouver either.
Thanks again,
-Travers H.