Did someone call my name?
I don’t know anything about the Canadian license system, but 3,500 sounds very inexpensive (especially if it's in CDN). In the U.S., we have a “Recreational” license as well as a “Private” license. The former is rather new, and has more restrictions on it than a “real” (Private) license.
Let’s see…
20 hours dual instruction
($60/hr plane & $25/hr, instructor)…$1,700
20 hours solo flight…$1,200
Books & materials… hmmmm. Say…$0,100
Ground school (community college)…$0,100
3rd Class medical certificate…$0,075
FAA Examiner’s fee…$0,200
TOTAL…US$3,375 (about CDN$5,000)
I’m guessing about a lot of those rates. I fly a Schweizer 300CB that rents for $170/hr (block) and the ballast (I mean instructor) when required is $35/hr. Community colleges offer ground school down here, so that’s fairly cheap; but you could end up paying an instructor his hourly rate for it if there’s not a CC nearby. I totally guessed about the books and materials. You can get a cheap E-6B flight computer for $10 or so, or a good aluminum one for $30. Or you gould go digital and get an electronic one for $65 - $125. Maybe $100 is too low, but I think you can get by for that. You’ll eventually spend much more than that. Trust me. The medical cert. Depends on what your doctor charges (BTW, the doctor must be an “FAA Medical Examiner”). Incidentally, the 3rd Class medical cert. is also your Student Pilot License. The examiner’s fee depends on what he wants to charge. Oh. There’s also a fee for taking the written test (although in a Community College situation, it may be included or reduced).
In any case, the U.S. license requires a minimum of 40 flying hours, 20 of which must be solo. It seems most people take about 50 hours. I’d watch out for any place that guarantees you’ll get a license in 40 hours, or for a set price. You want to be a safe, proficient pilot. Don’t settle for just that piece of paper. Although I can’t prove it; and if they were really bad they’d be closed down by now, I think the “guaranteed price” places are more concerned about making a buck than turning out a good pilot. Just a feeling.
Enough about money!
Flying is the best thing in the world! High Flight will become your favourite poem. You’ll get to hear all of the bumper-sticker jokes (“Pilots are PLANE people with a special AIR about them”, “I’ve seen your approach, now let me see your departure”, “Pilots: Big watch, big wallet, big…?”), you’ll quote “Aviation in itself is not inherently dangerous…” You’ll see the Earth from a great new perspective. (That’s especially cool if you like geology.)
As far as joining the military to fly, well I would have done it if I hadn’t taken one ski trip too many and wrecked my knee. Flying for Uncle Sam (or Queen and Country) doesn’t necessarily mean dropping bombs on people. A friend of mine flew UH-60s in Desert Storm, but she never fired a shot. She flew cargo and troops around. There’s also air-recon, tanker, transport, search-and-rescue… lots of things that don’t necessarily require killing people.
What about the Coast Guard (what’s it called in Canada? Same thing?)? You can fly a helicopter, big cargo plane, or a corporate-sized jet. Oh yeah, and you can save lives at the same time.
The downside is that you can get killed. Military pilots don’t generally get to choose when they fly, and often conditions are nasty. The upside is that you get paid while you train, then get paid to fly. What could be better than that? When your time is up, you can peddle your services to Air Canada.
Learn to fly. It may be expensive, but it’s very rewarding. Besides, what good will money do you when you’re dead? Spend and enjoy it now! 
