I'm from the GTA as well. I'm living in the dominican now. You may want to plan on moving up north to Timmins or Thunder Bay, or some place in butt**** nowhere. As soon as you finish you cpl sit your IATRA exam right away.
Unlike my friends I haven't had the easiest journey in this industry. There was a period between 2007 and 2013 where I didn't have a job within the industry. Buuuuut, on a positive note I started my own business in construction and renovation which made me a lot of money and a lot of new contacts and I learned a a lot about business management without having to go to school for it. Before all this stuff happened I had a flying gig in Australia in which I started out in a skydiving company making no money. I got a license to pack parachutes and I made 10 bucks a chute. It was enough to pay for food. I lived at the drop zone for free in a small single room. I met my future wife while working at the drop zone and about 6 months later I got an offer doing aerial photography. I actually got paid for that and made about 500 bucks a week and the company paid for my accommodation while on travel. It was a cool job. Flying across Australia with the door off at 500 ft in a piper Cherokee. About a yr and a half after arriving in Australia it was over. Moved back to Toronto got married and then the recession hit. I was royally screwed and that's when the business started. And in November of 2013 I was offered a job from my native birthplace... A small island in the Indian ocean which I hadn't been back to since I left at the age of 5. It was a sweet gig island hopping in a Twin otter but surviving wasn't so sweet. Making a whopping 500 bucks a month wasn't cutting it especially with a wife and 2 small kids. Well that lasted almost 2 yrs. now with some great contacts I've made over the years and some twin turbine and multi-crew experience it has helped me land this job in the Dominican republic on a319. So, like I said before, it's not easy, but keep the dream alive and just go for it. Don't give up. I had almost 5 years of rejection. When I left the Australia job I had 500 hrs of single piston time. Now Im just under 2000 hrs in a short time.