Now or Never

Amid growing geopolitical uncertainty, escalating wars and threats to Canadian sovereignty, the Canadian government is committing to the biggest boost in military spending since WWII. So who’s signing up to join the armed forces today? On this episode of Now or Never, meet Canadians who are answering the call.

Would you volunteer five days a year to learn how to shoot a gun, drive a truck and fly a drone? That's the plan for a proposed new volunteer civil force of 300,000 Canadians, who would help out in national emergencies from climate disasters to potential invasions. So would you sign up for this? Ify hits the streets of Toronto to find out.

At age 53, Sebastien Chagnon decided to get his high school credentials, hit the gym, and begin the long application process to join the Canadian Armed Forces. He’s dreamed of joining the military since he was a teen, and he’s not doing it alone. His 17-year-old son, Jeffrey, is also applying, which is bringing up a range of mixed emotions for Sebastien.

Lauralee Mills joined the military after 9/11, serving in Afghanistan and driving huge supply trucks that were always a target. But from the minute she started basic training she was fighting a secret battle against sexual assault and harassment by some of her fellow soldiers. After decades of silence, Lauralee is finally speaking out about her experience of military sexual misconduct.

The Canadian Armed Forces is seeing a surge in enrollments, marking its highest recruitment intake in more than three decades. Who is choosing to sign up for the military, and why now? We ask 18-year-old navy hopeful Charlie Yu, Edmonton dad Brij Rathi, and Claudia Gaspar, a young woman in Nova Scotia making a big career switch.

26-year-old Zach Dunn spends all his free time tracking down World War II veterans and recording their stories, before their stories get lost forever. He tells us what he's learned from the experiences of these military vets, many of whom are sharing their war time stories for the first time.

What happens after you learn something so shocking, so unbelievable, about a person you thought you knew?

On this episode, four people knocked sideways by a revelation that changed how they see themselves, and the world around them.

Brian Petersen spent most of his life believing he was white, an only child, and had been put up for adoption by a mom who didn’t want him. Then one day Brian got a letter in the mail that blew up everything. He tells us what it’s been like meeting siblings he never knew existed, discovering he’s Metis, and grappling with the complicated legacy of the Sixties Scoop.

Sheila Munro found her passion for painting — and for life — when her old life fell apart following her discovery of her husband’s gambling addiction. Now, she’s using art to help others find joy in their own dark times.

A few days after Jenn Chen’s father suddenly died, she found letters tucked away in a box at the back of his closet. They were love letters, written to her father by men. It led Jenn to a series of discoveries that are changing her perception of the traditionalist, often distant man she feels she barely got to know.

Stephanie Deline was diagnosed with ADHD and autism at 45 years old. After decades of feeling misunderstood and unsupported, the diagnosis has opened up a whole new world for her.

We're uncovering hidden talents, finding out what it really takes to excel, and exploring what happens when your ability doesn't match up with your dreams, on this encore presentation of Now or Never.

When Rick Ammazzini sees a locked safe without a key, he doesn’t see an impenetrable door, he sees an opportunity to test his skills as an amateur safe cracker. For Rick, it's not about discovering potential riches inside, it's about unlocking a portal to a specific time in history.

When Julin Cheung joined the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, he was their youngest member at just 17-years-old. Now, Julin shares his thoughts on being labelled a prodigy, and what it really takes to be talented.

Tanya Ryan is a talented singer-songwriter from Alberta who's won country music ‘Rising Star’ awards and performed at Calgary Stampede. But after 12 years of trying to make it in the music industry, Tanya is hanging up her guitar for good. She tells us about coming to terms with the fact that talent isn’t always enough.

Don Vickers of Sydney Mines, NS says he has a horrible memory, but he still managed to break a world record in the competitive world of memory sports.

And Paul Anthony’s "Talent Time!" is a long-running live show in Vancouver with a very broad definition of what it means to be talented. A seniors' vaudeville troupe, a kids' Kung Fu class, a rabbit agility club – all have a stage here. Paul tells Ify why he doesn’t want to put the notion of ‘talent,’ or his show, in a box.

This episode originally aired in December 2024.

Now or Never kicks off your May Long Weekend with an episode that will convince you to put down your screen and get outside to soak up the benefits of being in nature.

Your kids don’t want to? We’ve got a story for that.

Don’t think you need it? Meet a doctor who says otherwise.

Feel intimidated? Get inspired by a mom who once hailed a cab during a canoe trip, but now spends weeks in the wilderness.

Meet Courtney Purpur, a single mom in Winnipeg who is one month into switching screens for sunshine with her kids. How have her 7 and 10-year-old kids reacted, and what’s changed so far?

When an old growth forest was threatened by developers in Winnipeg, Dr. Ann Loewen and a group of grassroots citizens stepped up to defend the trees. Today Trevor goes for a walk through the Lemay Forest and learns from Dr. Ann why having access to nature is important for our health.

Sudbury’s Tori Baird once called a cab to “rescue” her from an overnight canoe trip, but today she spends weeks in the wilderness and teaches other women to do the same. How a lesson on a portage helped her deal with her eldest son’s genetic disease.

When Doug Cook’s grandkids asked him to put a pool in his Winnipeg backyard, he decided to go a bit further….and build a full scale pirate ship It’s 74 feet long, has 62 foot high masts and has helped breathe life into his home after his wife passed away.

Misty and Bryce Murph'ariens ditched their demanding jobs in the city for life in the Ontario woods. Using sand, clay, straw and water, they built a home with their own hands and became homesteaders. They’ve looked after dozens of farm animals and raised two daughters here. But after a drawn out legal battle with the township, the Murph’ariens may lose it all.

Also Ify’s sound of the summer pick: music from Begonia.

We're all getting older, but not everyone likes thinking or talking about it.

So what's the secret to aging well?
Five seniors share their best tips about aging, and what they love about getting old.

Gail Rice is refusing to fade away. For her 70th birthday, she hired an escort. That encounter didn't lead to a happy ending for Gail, but it did help her reclaim what she'd felt had been disappearing for a long time. Today, she's asking for what she wants and 'scaring herself alive'.

Larry Ruppel has been in love with music for as long as he can remember. He picked up a guitar when he was 15, and six decades later he's still rocking out as the front man of Winnipeg band REWiND.

Over half a million people subscribe to 77-year-old Wendy Eden’s YouTube channel, where she invites viewers to join her solo-camping adventures in the B.C. wilderness. The life-long camper has only recently started venturing out into the woods alone, and it’s led her to some surprising revelations about independence and womanhood.

After Terry Clifford’s wife passed away, he decided he would continue living at the family home instead of moving into long-term care. But the 87-year-old soon realized he wouldn't be able to make it work on his own. So he’s assembled a team of “angels” who are teaching him what it looks like to age well in place.

When we first met Brian Petersen, he was 55 years old, months away from graduating high school, and newly learning that he's capable of more than he ever thought possible. What has this meant for him as he's gotten older? We catch up with Brian to find out how he's continuing to reinvent himself, today at 63.