Primary Reserve - Training and Employment

Training and Employment

The level of activity associated with being a reservist varies from formation to formation. There are three classes of employment available to Reservists:

Class A

The most common form of employment for reservists; members are employed on a part-time basis within their unit. This form of employment is entirely voluntary, provides no job security and fewer benefits (medical and dental, e.g.) than the other classes of service. The Class A contract covers training or employment up to 12 consecutive days. Class A reservists are generally limited to a certain number of paid days per year

Most units provide employment for training in the form of one evening per week or two full days a month during the training year (September - April). Units also normally provide one additional evening a week for administration purposes.

Reservists are obliged to accumulate a minimum of 14 full days of service per year and may not exceed 30 days of unauthorized absence during which no fewer than 3 duty periods were conducted by the reservist's unit. Those failing to adhere to these requirements can be deemed to be Non-Effective Strength and can be subject to administrative action.

Class B

This form of employment is for Reservists employed full-time in a non-operational capacity. The length of the employment is dependant on the Reservist's availability and the needs of the Canadian Forces. Reservists on Class B employment receive many of the same benefits as members of the Regular Force, and, for members on contracts longer than six months duration, almost exactly the same benefits aside from pay. Members on Class A and B are paid 85% of their counterparts on Class C and in the regular force.

Class C

This is the operational level of employment. Reservists on Class C employment receive an increase in pay to the level that a Regular Force member in the same position would be expected to receive (Reservists employed in either of the other classes earn 85% of the amount their Regular Force counterparts receive). There is no maximum length of employment and is normally in excess of one year. Typically, a reservist in a Class C contract fills the role of a Regular Force member and is accordingly paid from the Regular Force budget.