My personal opinion.

I started out on a Superstar Select 40 and it came with everything you needed minus field box and gear to get the thing started. It was ready to fly in about 2 hours (20 minutes advertised, but you won't meet a more anal person than me). The engine is a OS .40 la and even though I first ran it at home without the help of more experienced people, the thing started up very easily, idled nicely, quit when the throttle trim was backed down all the way, and provided enough power to fly the trainer around. I can't remember a time the thing deadsticked for a reason not related to me (ran out of gas a few times), and the whole package was very cheap. I am not sure how much it is up in Canada, but in the states you can get them for under 250! It contained a genuine Futaba 4 channel transmitter and all the radio gear was installed already.

While some recommend flying electrics because of the ease, I think its a pain to charge batteries and take care of lipos, and swap batteries between every flight. I also think small scale electrics are quite a bit harder to fly because they aren't as heavy, they don't handle the wind as well, and if you take them 3 mistakes high, they get very small, very fast. The 40 size trainer will just float very nicely at slow speeds, will be very stable in all aspects of flying, it will prepare you for both smaller aircraft and bigger aircraft, and is just a better option to me. On top of that you just have to crank your fuel pump between flights and you are ready to go. You'll learn more about engine tuning, balsa construction (crashes do occur), and much more.

Now this would be my recommendation. Get a superstar arf, pick your engine (I like the OS 2 stroke line for reliability and ease of running, one flip starting as well), then if you plan on sticking around a while, get a 6 channel computer radio. Some like Futaba (me) others like JR, but these would be the brands I'd recommend. I think the futaba has more flexibility and is quite a bit more affordable though. The computer radio makes setting up new models, having multiple models flown from one controller so easy. Still I think the best bang for buck is a 9CS, but those are a little pricey at first.

Let us know what you decide to do, and let me know if you have questions. Have a good one!