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.

An estimated four million Canadians currently live abroad. So what compels someone to ditch their life in Canada and start over in a different part of the world? From Bogotá to Tokyo, Cape Town to València, Now or Never crisscrosses the globe with expats living out some big, bold adventures right now.

Joshua Will dreamed of living in Japan since he was 14-years-old, so when he got a job with the Japan Exchange and Teaching Programme (JET) he was ecstatic. But he never expected to find himself on tiny Yuge Island, navigating the wild world of Japanese real estate, and renovating a 100-year-old house with no experience and few language skills.

At age 75, Janet Skog-Reid moved to Spain with her children and grandchildren. But when they returned to Vancouver, Janet decided to stay. How this grandmother who spent her life caring for others, is now chasing a life that is finally her own.

When Calgarian Aaron Cresswell bumped into Laura Fajardo at a crowded bar in Bogotá, the two instantly hit it off — so much so, that he ended up moving to the country to be with her. But it soon sunk in that while Aaron found his forever person, he definitely didn’t find his forever home in Colombia.

Barb Deck is no stranger to intense situations — when she’s at home, she’s a pediatric ICU nurse at Sick Kids in Toronto. But since joining Médecins Sans Frontières, Barb spends most of her time tackling even bigger challenges, flying to conflict zones around the world to help deliver care.

Four months ago, Chloe Wilde and her partner quit their jobs, sold their Toronto home, and bought a one-way ticket to South Africa with their two-year-old son. Chloe tells us why she feels a responsibility and pressure to live a "big, bold life," and what it's really like backpacking with a toddler.

Now or Never celebrates ten years of diving in with people as they gather the courage to take a leap into the unknown, with a live show from Winnipeg's Gas Station Arts Centre!

There are always surprises in a Now or Never story, and this live show is no exception.

Winnipeg couple Trish Cooper and Sam Vint’s life together has been filled with hilarious and surprising (mis)adventures together, including culture shock on the rez, surprise gummy overdoses, and discovering your partner is an accidental fugitive. After 23 years together, can Sam pull off a surprise for Trish live on stage?

Musician Boy Golden shares songs from his new album, and a truly jaw-dropping story from the road.

Now or Never all-star Vivian Ketchum is back for a record fifth appearance on the show. We were there when she graduated high school at 58, sat on her bed as she shared the residential school memories that keep her up at night, and joined her at the post office opening letters from Canadians across the country sharing their reconciliation commitments. What is Vivian up to now? Dating! Hear her raw and unfiltered takes on sex and dating in her sixties.

Two months ago, Jo Dworschak quit her job to follow her dream of being a full-time storyteller and comedian. She joins us on stage to share how fixing a broken elevator in a bathing suit at 17, lit the spark for the life she’s living today.

Hundreds of Canadians have shared their stories on Now or Never over the years. Can Ify and Trevor remember them all? We challenge them with a game of "Guess the Guest," as past guests pop up on stage with three clues, while a blindfolded Trevor and Ify try to figure out who they are.

Plus, Ify and Trevor try their best to surprise each other.

Breakups can look a lot of different ways: slow dissolves, out-of-nowhere blow-outs, mutual partings-of-ways. But the truth is, they all hurt. Today on Now or Never, we revisit the stories of people in the thick of it, and the surprising ways they're getting through.

When Litia Fleming broke up with Richard Kemick after 10 years together, it came as a shock to Richard. But two weeks later, they got an even bigger jolt: Litia was pregnant. Find out how these exes are juggling new parenthood, dating, and the joys and challenges of living together after breaking up.

After a painful divorce, Saba Ahmad vowed to go to law school and become the lawyer she never had. She graduated last spring, and is providing support to other South Asian women facing the end of a marriage, as she pursues her last steps to becoming a lawyer.

Three years ago, exhausted from all the arguing, nagging and fighting, Jessyka and Jordan Hagen called it quits — only to realize their breakup would eventually save their marriage.

Host Ify Chiwetelu heads to Next Generation Arts, a youth arts organization in Scarborough, to learn lessons on wading through heartbreak.

And we crash a support group helping men talk about their emotions after a breakup - but if you’re late, expect to do push-ups.