Better Your Business | Social and Environmental Sustainability Program

Better Your Business

Tap into social and environmental sustainability

The Better Your Business Tap into Social and Environmental Sustainability Program is a new initiative that will support five Vaughan-based businesses in incorporating the United Nation’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals into their corporate practices.

Every business has opportunities to serve its community and generate positive social and environmental change by implementing progressive business practices. The ever-increasing threat of climate change has also made systemic changes and adaptation policies necessary for businesses here and around the world.

The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were adopted by the United Nations at the Paris climate summit in 2015 as a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure that by 2030 all people enjoy peace and prosperity.

Participants of the program will receive one-on-one consultations with Professor Mark Terry, PhD, who will evaluate their current business practices and help guide the development of their new sustainable business model to incorporate the United Nation’s 17 SDG’s. By implementing these strategies, businesses can unlock new market opportunities, operate more efficiently, connect with their communities and become more resilient to potential environmental and economic risks. The UN’s Sustainability Development Goals Action Team will then review each action plan, and if approved, each business will receive a certificate of compliance from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change’s Youth Climate Report (YCR) and the City of Vaughan to share their commitment to being socially and environmentally sustainable with their customers and clients.

17 Sustainable Development Goals

Eligibility Criteria:

To be eligible for the program, businesses or not-for-profits must:

  • Be located in Vaughan and have a brick-and-mortar location (i.e., office, warehouse, or storefront)
  • Be an independent business
  • Have less than 20 full-time equivalent employees (or less than 25 if a restaurant)

Businesses Not Eligible:

  • Distributorships
  • Franchises
  • Commissioned sales
  • Multi-level marketing ventures

Dates and Deadlines:

The application period for your business to register for the 2024 program is now open until Friday, October 25, 2024. Only five spots are available – and applications fill up fast.

Apply Now

Available Mentorship Programs for Vaughan Residents and Workers

Below is a list of career/business related mentorship programs available for individuals living or working in the City of Vaughan. These programs have been selected based on the following criteria. If you would like your organization’s mentorship program to be considered for addition, please send a request email to ecd@vaughan.ca.

  • Mentorship program is available for individuals living or working in the City of Vaughan
  • Program organizer must be an academic institution or a non-profit organization
  • Mentorship program must be career or entrepreneurship related
  • It cannot be a one-time program

General Programs

COSTI’s Youth Mentoring Program

  • Eligibility 15-24 years old
  • This program is designed to connect youth (mentees) with community volunteers (mentors) who offer support and encourage youth to develop their skills, improve their performance and become the person they want to be.
  • The Mentor-Mentee match will connect for at least 2 hours a week for 10 weeks via email, telephone, and/or face-to-face.

 

COSTI’s netWORKS Program

  • Eligibility 18-29 years old
  • netWORKS provides an opportunity for youth to meet new career role models through mentor-led and group networking events and expand  professional networks as well as to understand the breadth of careers available as they navigate their next steps, academically and professionally.
  • Youth receive real-world advice about how to find a job, obtain information about the corporate work environment and receive constructive feedback about career ideas and job search

 

Toronto Regional Immigrant Employment Council (TRIEC) Mentoring Partnership

  • TRIEC Mentoring Partnership matches recent immigrants with established professionals who work in their field in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). TRIEC runs the program in partnership with community agencies, companies and organizations across the GTA.
  • Mentors gain greater cultural awareness and leadership skills, while helping immigrants to better understand the local job market.
  • The program improves the mentors’ confidence to coach and mentor others. The time commitment for mentoring is 18 hours over three months, which works out at around 1.5 hours per week.

 

York University’s T.A.S.T.E. (Take a Student to Engage) Mentoring Program

  • The objective of this bite-sized mentoring is to provide York Students and new graduates with an opportunity to virtually connect with professionals in their field of interest.
  • This program pairs York students and new graduates with a mentor (Alumni or Professional) for one-time informational interview.
  • The program is open all year round and doesn’t require any long-term commitments.
  • Mentor/Mentee matches are based off student interest and not guaranteed.

 

Speed Mentoring Program by ACCES Employment

  • This program enables participants to network with professionals in their field, receive advice about their job search, meet employer contacts and obtain job opportunity referrals.
  • Hosts over 75 Speed Mentoring events each year in various sectors.

 

Youth Employment Services (YES) Mentorship Program

  • Connects YES clients to Industry Leaders (expert mentors) in order to build capacity, employability, networks and foster entrepreneurship in young people through establishing supportive, caring and trusting relationships with mentors
  • Mentees are able to directly contact and connect to willing mentors through the YES Hub to create individualized mentorship agreements tailored to their career goals

 

Women In Leadership Foundation Mentorship Program

  • Virtual based mentorship program that provides one-to-one mentorship matching based on mentee and mentor fields of interests
  • January to June 2021 (5 Month Program)
  • An award winning program with more than 2,000 graduates and learning groups

Sector/Occupation Specific Programs

HRPA Mentorship Program

  • Program encourages career growth and development by providing students as well as HR Professionals– with the opportunity to receive one-on-one coaching from other Human Resources Professionals
  • All participants must be a Chapter member in good standing AND able to commit two to four (2-4) hours per month.

 

AMCTO Mentorship Program

  • A free professional development program open to all current Association of Municipal Managers, Clerks and Treasurers of Ontario (AMCTO) members in good standing – For more information about how to become a member, please visit the association’s website.
  • Helps connect established local government professionals with emerging leaders from across municipalities in Ontario
  • Applications are open in July-August and mentoring activities begin in September annually
  • The program is ideal for association members who want to get more involved and lend their expertise as a mentor or for those who are new to local government looking to build connections and develop their skills and knowledge as a mentee

 

Ontario Society of Professional Engineers Mentorship Program

  • Members are able to book a mentoring session with talented and experienced mentors who are excited to provide guidance on a variety of topics related to the engineering experience
  • The mentors and mentees are limited to one or two 30-minute sessions
  • Mentoring sessions include help with licensing, your engineering career, networking, interview and leadership skills.

 

Canadian Construction Association Mentorship Program

  • Program helps entrepreneurs and innovators to launch, modify or expand their products or services for industry adoption. Should an individual successfully become a CONtact mentee, they will be connected with an appropriate mentor or mentors, enabling them to expand their network and connect with leading industry professionals with the goal of helping refine their product or service offering for industry adoption.
  • Three selected mentees will have the opportunity to present their solutions to the industry at the CCA annual conference, with one face-to-face mentorship meeting at the conference and the chance to network with senior industry executives.

 

Professional Geoscientists Ontario (PGO) Mentoring Program

  • Provides a forum for experienced professional geoscientists to share their knowledge, insight and experience with PGO student members, Geoscientists-in-Training (GITs) and newly minted P.Geo.’s
  • It is a mentor-and-mentee driven program. PGO’s role is to help facilitate the connection of mentors and mentees.
  • The length of the mentoring relationship is determined by both participants.

 

York Region Food and Beverage Accelerator

  • A five-month accelerator helping scale high growth food and beverage ventures through customized workshops, expert mentorship and peer-to-peer circles (In partnership with The Regional Municipality of York Region and the Canadian Agricultural Partnership)
  • Program fee of $1,000 for program administration
  • The venture must have a product in the market through a minimum of 10 points of sales
  • Ventures that don’t yet qualify under the Food Accelerator, may also explore the Virtual Membership program.

 

Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) Mentorship Program

  • The advice will be limited to work-related and/or specific fundraising and non-profit sector advice to be used to enhance the fundraising program of the charitable organization with which the mentee is currently associated
  • The partnership will last for 7 months (in year 1) between the mentor and the mentee with the option to continue in the program on an annual basis
  • The program is available to members of the AFP Greater Toronto Chapter

 

Urban Land Institute (ULI) Toronto Mentorship Program

  • The ULI Toronto mentorship program provides a valuable opportunity for young leaders to enhance their careers by building relationships with seasoned industry veterans. The program runs from January – December.
  • Mentee applicants must have at least two years of relevant full-time work experience prior to the time of application.  Due to limited availability, not all applicants will be accepted. Preference will be given to first-time participants, but returning mentees are welcome to apply.
  • We do not consider full/part-time students in undergraduate/graduate programs unless they have met the relevant working experience criteria.
  • Registration fee for mentees: $150 CAD (Tax not included).

 

Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Society Toronto Annual Mentorship Program

  • Successfully matched over 600 Mentor and Protégé pairings since 2007. The program offers an opportunity for participants to develop stronger leadership skills and provide unique networking opportunities.
  • Only available to CFA Society Toronto members

 

Canadian Public Relations Society Toronto Chapter Mentorship Program

  • Designed to provide opportunities, knowledge and connections to those working or interested in working in the field of public relations under the guidance of public relations (PR) practitioners
  • A mentor will take on five mentees over the course of three months and follow a program with the goal of providing mentees with connections and skills to navigate the PR industry
  • There are three terms throughout the year Feb – April, June – Aug and Oct – Dec.

 

The Girls SySTEM Mentorship Program

  • Professional STEM-focused mentoring for late elementary and high school girls
  • One-on-one mentorship alongside workshops, networking, and program-exclusive events to encourage and excite young girls in STEM
  • Mentors must have at least 1-year of professional experience in their designated Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) field
  • Mentees must be in grade 7-12 and able to participate for a few hours a month

 

York Region Arts Council Arts Mentorship Program (AMP)

  • Artists seeking mentorship will be paired with a mentor who has experience in the area in which they seek mentorship.
  • Artist must be 18 years or older and be a resident and/or working in York Region.

 

ELLA

  • Ontario’s first accelerator focused on supporting women-led product and service-based businesses
  • ELLA Express is a 1-week intensive bootcamp-style program that helps product and service-based businesses with at least $10,000 in sales get the essential tools, skills and knowledge they need to make smart decisions from the start.
  • ELLA Ascend is a 5-month program for women-led ventures that have paying customers and sales of over $50,000. Entrepreneurs will have the opportunity to connect with a network of experts and entrepreneurs, and learn the skills needed to build a solid foundation for growth.
  • ELLA Altitude is a 4-month program that connects women-led ventures that have sales of over $200,000 with one-on-one advice and support as well as the resources entrepreneurs need to scale their business rapidly.

 

Youth Challenge International’s Youth Climate Leadership Program

  • 6-month Youth Climate Leadership Program provides young people exclusive access to training, mentorship and experience leading a team to create and catalyze community-based climate action initiatives that make a positive impact.
  • For 19-25 years old youth living in the Greater Toronto Hamilton Area (GTHA)
  • Gain access to exclusive resources to enhance your career and gain skills and experience in youth mobilization, project design, community development, social innovation and more.

 

 

CPAC Enhanced Mentorship Program

  • Aims to assist young professionals in gaining knowledge of the Canadian workplace, learning job search and related soft skills, and finding professional employments through the guidance and advice of established professionals (mentors)
  • Eligible for newcomer youth (age 21 to 35) and youth from immigrant families looking for jobs in the field of Engineering, IT, Accounting and Finance

 

American Marketing Association (AMA) Toronto Mentor Exchange Program

  • Program scientifically matches Canada’s premier C-suite Mentor community with up and coming senior marketers and business professionals to empower their leadership potential
  • Mentees must be:
    • any professionals over the age of 30 & actively involved in a career in advertising, communications, marketing, market research, marketing technology or media.
    • Have 8+ years of business/managerial/entrepreneurial experience
    • Manager to VP Level business professional
    • Committed to the program: 10 to 12 hours per year (September – June)