Inclusive Mentoring Strengthens Employee Engagement and Retention
Inclusive Mentoring Strengthens Employee Engagement and Retention
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MentorAbility and other tools encourage reciprocal learning and help to build inclusive workplace cultures.
January is Mentoring Month, a good time to raise awareness about the power of mentoring to transform people and organizations.
Only one third of Canadian companies offer a mentorship program,¹ either in-house or in collaboration with a mentoring initiative. Few organizations know about inclusive mentoring and its multiple benefits to mentors, mentees, and organizational culture.
Most mentors and mentees have positive experiences with mentorship and, increasingly, people are eager to access mentoring opportunities to explore new work, gain new skills or knowledge, and advance in their career.
Few have had the opportunity to be a mentor or mentee
Access to mentorship seems limited. A 2025 Environics survey found that only 38% of Canadians employed full-time or part-time or who are self-employed had someone at work who they considered a mentor.²
Mentor Canada found that just over half (55.8%) of young people across Canada were mentored when they were growing up, with less than one third (31.5%) taking part in formal mentoring programs.³
Mentorship can play a critical role in advancement opportunities for diverse workers. In a recent survey, many of the respondents who experience disability said they have not been involved in workplace mentorship, neither as a mentor (70.2%) nor as a mentee (65.6%).4
Mentee
A job seeker or worker, who may experience disability and other intersecting identities, who is interested in exploring specific industries, career paths, jobs, or skills
Mentor
An employer’s leadership or staff or an entrepreneur who shares industry knowledge and career experience with a mentee
Mentorship programs can attract skilled workers
Per the Environics survey, mentorship programs are offered at 34% of Canadian companies. The most common reasons for offering mentorship include:
- upskilling/reskilling employees (80%)
- cultivating greater connection between employees (51%)
- attracting prospective employees (45%)
- keeping older workers engaged (38%)
- reducing brain drain (37%)1
Many job seekers say that companies with mentorship programs are more attractive.
For companies looking to attract and retain skilled workers, a mentorship program can be beneficial. Many job seekers (87%) say that companies with mentorship programs are more attractive.1 Organizations can access support to develop their inclusive mentoring program, and, if they like, can participate in a MentorAbility experience first to see what it’s like.
Inclusive mentoring fosters a sense of belonging
Job seekers and workers all have different experiences, and they all have different needs. Inclusive mentorships offer a tailored approach to ensure both the mentee and the mentor have what they need, including required accommodations, to fully participate in a supportive mentoring relationship and to accomplish their goals.
A welcoming and supportive mentoring environment honours all identities, fosters a sense of belonging, and supports mentee health and well-being.
Leadership is central to creating a respectful workplace
Leadership is central to creating an inclusive mentoring culture in a supportive and respectful workplace. In a survey of working-age adults from across Canada who experience disability, nearly one in four (23.2%) said they experienced stigma at work.4 Stigma and discrimination were mainly expressed through ableist perceptions, attitudes, and behaviours by both coworkers and managers, particularly affecting persons with non-apparent disabilities.
Inclusion can start with leadership and mentors committing to ongoing self-exploration and and a willingness to learn from others. Leadership can work towards inclusive HR policies and practices. Managers can learn about disability, disclosure in the workplace, and their organization’s processes around accommodations.
Inclusion can start with leadership and mentors committing to ongoing self-exploration and a willingness to learn from others.
Everyone benefits – including organizations
Mentors, mentees, and organizations benefit from inclusive mentoring relationships, especially when participants bring a wide range of perspectives and experiences. Strategically embedded mentorship can help drive innovation, attract skilled employees, enhance employee engagement, and strengthen organizational capacity.
Mentees
- Mentorship boosts feelings of inclusion and can foster a sense of belonging.
- Having a mentor can improve job satisfaction.
- Inclusive experiences, like mentorship, create an environment where people feel safe to disclose their disability.
- Impactful mentors can have a significant influence on a mentee’s self-esteem and confidence.
- Many mentees experiencing disability transition to mentorship roles to contribute to others’ success, creating a sustainable mentor pipeline.
Mentors
- Peer mentorship can enhance empathy in leaders.
- Mentors who experience disability act as co-navigators and teachers in the workplace, offering specialized support for mentees with disabilities.
- Mentors without disability deepen their understanding of disability inclusion and learn to recognize systemic barriers, which can lead some to champion inclusive practices.
- Mentors gain valuable personal rewards by fostering talent development, offering guidance, and engaging in shared learning.
- Sharing their experiences and knowledge can help rejuvenate the career of seasoned employees.
Organizations – Employers
- Employees with disabilities who work for organizations that invest in employee-centred programs, such as mentorship, are less likely to leave their jobs.
- Professional connections can improve workplace culture by enhancing collaboration between departments and familiarizing employees with broader impacts.
- Mentorship helps to build psychologically safe workplaces where employees feel valued and heard.
- Mentorship provides opportunities for cross-training, allowing for greater flexibility and creativity in the planning and execution of tasks.
- By participating in mentoring initiatives, organizations gain access to new talent pools.
Tools to support inclusive mentoring
Whether you’re just thinking about mentoring or you already have a formal mentoring program, the following tools can support you along the way and enrich your inclusive mentoring practices.
MentorAbility – National inclusive mentoring initiative
MentorAbility is a national mentoring initiative by the Canadian Association for Supported Employment (CASE) and is funded in part by the Government of Canada’s Opportunities Fund for Persons with Disabilities.
MentorAbility offers an opportunity for employers to participate in and learn from an inclusive mentoring program without doing the heavy lifting. Employers’ staff can volunteer to be mentors during short (one hour to one day) mentoring experiences for persons experiencing disability that are fully facilitated by MentorAbility.
MentorAbility facilitators and our network of service providers and employers can also support organizational efforts to develop an inclusive mentoring program.
Complimentary course:
Preparing to Be a Mentor
This short online course by CASE outlines the advantages of mentoring and provides an overview of MentorAbility and how it can support organizations in facilitating successful mentorships.
Mentorship program toolkit for employers
Signal49 Research (formerly operating as The Conference Board of Canada) and CASE have created a user-friendly toolkit for employers with resources to support the development of inclusive mentorship programs.
Online learning to mentor youth experiencing disability
Mentor Canada’s online training can equip mentors with the knowledge and skills to develop inclusive and effective career mentoring relationships with youth experiencing disability. You can also check Mentor Canada’s many other resources around mentorship.
Through our partnership with MentorAbility, Mentor Canada has co developed practical resources, including employer training tailored for young workers experiencing disability, so career mentoring is inclusive by design, not by exception.
Sydney Piggott, Director of Strategic Partnerships & Initiatives, Mentor Canada
Stingray: inclusive mentorship sparks ideas and strengthens teams
Stingray, a valued MentorAbility employer partner, has participated in multiple inclusive mentorship experiences across the country. Stingray values the creation of more opportunities for connection and contribution and for incorporating the diverse voices that reflect their global audience.
We’re in the business of connecting with people, and our partnership with MentorAbility is a perfect reflection of that. Mentorship is a two-way street; it’s a chance to learn and grow for everyone involved.
When we create an inclusive environment where different experiences are shared and valued, it sparks new ideas and strengthens our team. It’s a powerful reminder that our collective success is built on individual growth and passion.
Jane Krindle, Senior Director, Human Resources – Radio, Stingray
auticon: translating skills into confidence while helping people succeed as their authentic selves
auticon, another valued MentorAbility employer partner, is the largest majority-autistic company in the world. They understand that inclusive mentorship not only provides guidance but fosters connections within organizations and with communities and attracts potential future employees. It’s a win-win-win for everyone involved.
Over the years, I’ve learned that mentoring is rarely about giving answers. It’s about showing up consistently, listening without judgement, and helping someone feel safe enough to take their next step. That matters in any workplace, but especially for neurodivergent people who have too often been misunderstood.
Mentoring is one of the most meaningful parts of my work. I love helping professionals translate their skills into confidence, clarity, and direction, without losing who they are in the process. At its best, mentorship helps people succeed as their authentic selves and find pathways where their strengths are truly valued.
Ali Dussault, Senior Director of Operations, auticon
The future of mentoring is inclusive, flexible, and people-centred
Mentoring continues to evolve to better reflect the realities of today’s workplaces. Increasingly, mentoring is a mix of in-person and virtual experiences and can be short term or longer term depending on people’s needs and goals. This flexibility makes mentoring more accessible to a wider range of participants and organizations.
In this evolving model, learning is reciprocal. Mentors and mentees learn from one another by sharing experiences, knowledge, and perspectives. Inclusive mentoring recognizes the value of professional expertise, lived experience of disability, community knowledge, and experience navigating workplace systems.
Workplace mentoring is one of the most reliable ways to accelerate skills, expand networks, and build a true sense of belonging at work.
We encourage employers to adopt our tools and make inclusive mentoring a core component of the workplaces of the future.
Sydney Piggott, Director of Strategic Partnerships & Initiatives, Mentor Canada
Through MentorAbility Canada and our partners, the Canadian Association for Supported Employment (CASE) continues to support mentoring approaches that reflect today’s workforce realities.
Inclusive mentoring helps organizations to build welcoming workplace cultures that engage all workers, while expanding employment and advancement opportunities for all job seekers and workers.
The opinions and interpretations in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of the Government of Canada.
References
- Express Employment Professionals. Most Canadian Businesses Lack Mentorship Programs, Losing Institutional Knowledge of Retiring Workers. December 13, 2023.
- Environics Institute, Future Skills Centre, and Diversity Institute. Mentorship in the workplace: Employee participation and perspectives. March 2025.
- Mentor Canada. State of Mentoring. 2020.
- Signal49 Research (formerly operating as The Conference Board of Canada) and Canadian Association for Supported Employment. Research on Disclosure and Inclusive Mentorship for Adults Experiencing Disability. 2025.