10,000 Canadians Mentored in One Week as part of Canadian Mentorship Challenge

10,000 Canadians Mentored in One Week as part of Canadian Mentorship Challenge

Ottawa, ON (27 November, 2013) – Last week, more than 10,000 Canadians had an experience that could change their life. From November 18 – 24, as part of Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW), nearly 100 mentoring events in communities from coast to coast paired local entrepreneurs with business leaders, financial and marketing experts, and inspiring role models as part of the Canadian Mentorship Challenge.

“Connections made in a mentoring environment can be major turning points that transform an entrepreneur’s business, career, and life,” said Victoria Lennox, CEO and Co-Founder of Startup Canada. “That advice from an expert, inspiring story heard, or connection made outside of a regular circle of contacts – these can all strongly influence an entrepreneur’s path and more importantly, set them up for a better chance at success. Last week was all about creating opportunities for those game-changing moments to happen.”

Powered by Startup Canada and the Futurpreneur Canada, the Canadian Mentorship Challenge was a week-long campaign to fuel mentoring activities across the country and to celebrate and raise the profile of mentors as a key part of the Canadian entrepreneurship community.

“We’re so pleased with the tremendous success of this initiative and how it has connected young entrepreneurs with the invaluable advice and encouragement they need to be successful,” said Julia Deans, CEO of Futurpreneur Canada. “Organizations and individuals eagerly took on the challenge, resulting in over 10,000 people being mentored in one week, and individuals and ideas connecting in ways that are certain to spur and grow our country’s entrepreneurial activity well into the future.”

Highlights from this year’s Canadian Mentorship Challenge include:

• 95 events held
• 25 communities across Canada that participated as well as numerous online events
• More than 10,000 people involved
• 10 Mentor Rock Stars representing 8 provinces across Canada
• 3,500 #Mentorscan posts
• #Mentorscan reached more than 8 million unique views
• Visitors from 10 different countries visited mentorshipchallenge.ca

The Challenge was also used to recognize Canada’s Top 10 Mentor Rock Stars, individuals nominated by their communities for their acts of leadership and community development.

“While being an entrepreneur requires that you often head into uncharted territory relying on your own gut and instincts as to how to proceed, having the ability to draw upon the mentorship of others can really make a positive difference,” said Alexei Marko, one of the winners and CEO of Neovasc Inc. in Richmond, BC. “In my experience, this impact has ranged from things as simple as a mentor making an introduction to the right person through to being forced to completely re-think corporate strategy.”

One-on-one interviews with each of the 10 Mentor Rock Stars can be found here.

The final winner of the Canadian Mentorship Challenge will be announced in December. For more information on the Challenge and events held throughout the week, visit www.mentorshipchallenge.ca.

For more information:
Matt Seniuk
Canadian Mentorship Challenge Lead, Startup Canada
matthew.seniuk@startupcan.ca

Lesley Wilmot
Canadian Youth Business Foundation
Director, Communications
lwilmot@futurpreneur.ca

About the Canada Mentorship Challenge
The Canadian Mentorship Challenge is a nation-wide challenge during Global Entrepreneurship Week to encourage individuals and groups across Canada to organize mentorship events in their communities in an effort to collectively mentor more than 10,000 enterprising Canadians over the course of the week. The idea for the Canadian Mentorship Challenge was inspired through feedback from entrepreneurs during Startup Canada’s 2012 National Tour. From March to September, Startup Canada visited 10 provinces to consult with more than 20,000 Canadians and brainstorm solutions to the top challenges facing entrepreneurs on local, regional and national scales.

About Startup Canada
Startup Canada is a grassroots movement to enhance the nation’s competitiveness and prosperity by strengthening Canada’s entrepreneurship culture and ecosystem through: supporting vibrant startup communities; igniting mainstream cultural campaigns; providing a platform to connect the community; and, serving as a voice for entrepreneurs to decision makers. We are proudly supported by Microsoft, Gowlings, Intuit, Scotiabank, LaBarge.

About Futurpreneur Canada
Futurpreneur Canada is a national non-profit organization dedicated to growing Canada’s economy one young entrepreneur at a time. We look at character, not collateral, when providing youth aged 18-39 with pre-launch coaching, business resources, low-interest financing of up to $25,000, and industry-leading mentoring to help them launch and sustain successful businesses. Futurpreneur Canada’s co-financing partner, the Business Development Bank of Canada, leverages Futurpreneur Canada’s application process to provide up to $30,000 in additional support for Futurpreneur Canada entrepreneurs. Established in 1996, Futurpreneur Canada has been recognized as a global leader in advancing youth entrepreneurship. Futurpreneur Canada is a founding member of the G20 Young Entrepreneurs’ Alliance, the Canadian member of The Prince’s Youth Business International, and the Canadian host of Global Entrepreneurship Week.