Experience Stories
About the MentorAbility Canada Experiences
To understand the impact that the MentorAbility Canada program is having from coast to coast, review our collection of shared experiences.
Each MentorAbility Experience showcases the coming together of a mentor and a mentee though a mentorship experience offered via a local supported employment service provider that’s part of the MentorAbility Canada network.
Get to know the stories of Canadians who experience disabilities, the supported employment service providers who connected them with those mentorship experiences, and the employers who served as mentors.
MentorAbility Experience Stories
MentorAbility Experience: Tyler
Canadian Grind Cafes is a small coffee chain in B.C. that offers specialty food and drink. The brand is known for empowering staff by providing inclusive environments with flexible schedules while offering extra knowledge, support and training requested by staff. We knew these stores would be a great environment for mentorships to take place and we were thrilled when owner, Lynnette, agreed to partner with MentorAbility.
MentorAbility Experience: Sonja (Accessible Technology)
Sonja is always seeking emerging technologies that can assist in her studies. Her interest in tech led to her thinking about starting a podcast where she would not only explore accessible technologies for persons with disabilities, but also review these technologies and interview the creators.
MentorAbility Experience: Laura
aura always had a strong love of the Arts, so when she began thinking of possible career paths to explore, she naturally leaned toward something more artistic and performative – eventually setting her sights on pursuing music and dance.
MentorAbility Experience: Lito and Nicolas
Nicolas is a very social person and always enjoys being with people, and so ICSS knew that MentorAbility would be a great way to explore jobs that involve engaging the public.
ICSS used the MentorAbility program to engage The Westin Ottawa to arrange a mentorship for Nicolas in a Greeter role and they were more than happy to accommodate.
How MentorAbility Began
From a presentation to the CASE board of directors about a mentorship idea, to a continued conversation over coffee the next morning, sprung the innovative idea to connect employers and job-seekers and create beneficial mentorship opportunities.
Pilot projects emerged in British Columbia and Saskatchewan, with growing popularity, and MentorAbility success stories started to spread! In 2019, CASE received federal funding and MentorAbility began a powerful national initiative.
MentorAbility Experience: Michael
When Michael came to Performance Plus Rehabilitative Care Inc. (PPRC) and the Inclusion Alliance to find a new job, he already had work experience stocking shelves in a grocery store. Michael wanted to work in the produce section of a grocery store next, but he was concerned he might not have the skills to do so.
MentorAbility Experience: Lacey
Lacey was interested in exploring a career in after school programming. After learning about a potential mentorship opportunity from the Vocational Training Centre manager, the MentorAbility New Brunswick team coordinated a meeting between Lacey and Amanda, the director of the local Boys and Girls Club. Amanda provided a tour of the facility and later introduced Lacey to the afterschool program supervisor.
MentorAbility Experience: Lisa
Lisa enjoyed an automotive class during her schooling days and always thought that working in the industry would be a great fit for her; but, seeing as it’s a male-dominated field, she wasn’t sure she’d be able to get hired as a woman. Thankfully, this concern didn’t stop her from looking for opportunities, and Lisa arrived at MentorAbility ready to gain a hands-on mentorship experience working with cars.
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