Mentorship Resources
What is Mentoring?
Mentoring is the practice of advising or guiding someone on their professional journey. This can be done traditionally by a leader or expert in a specific field. Reverse mentoring is also a valuable approach to mentoring. Reverse mentoring is an employee newer to the workforce teaching a more experienced/senior professional or leader topics such as new technology, software, social media and current trends.
Why is mentoring important for young professionals in a virtual environment?
- Overall, professional needs and the world of work is changing.
- They want access to a more flexible form of mentoring.
- Traditional mentoring has its limits.
- Professionals don’t always have the time and patience to deal with coordinated matches and training sessions.
- More and more, organizations are looking for secure digital solutions to support individuals in their professional integration.
What is GCMentorGC?:
The “GCMentorGC” Interdepartmental Mentorship Community of Practice is under the Federal Youth Network (FYN) and is a place for individuals to connect with others working on mentoring files to collaborate and share effective practices and common issues with mentoring programming across the GC (Informal vs formal mentorship programs and/or departmental vs interdepartmental).
We chair monthly meetings for those working on mentoring files and support the creation and collaboration of baseline materials and templates. We manage the GCMentorGC group, Living Library page, EE Informal Networking and Mentorship Platform, and the FB unofficial/informal mentoring group, with the intent of facilitating cross-GC mentoring, amplifying initiatives, and offering a space for people to crowd-source mentoring requests and questions in an open and transparent space. We help employees find and navigate the programs and resources that they have access to and can benefit from.
Where to Find Mentors
GC Mentorship Facebook Group
Mentoring Living Library
EE Informal Networking and Mentorship
Inventory of GC Mentoring Programs
Mentorship Aids
GC Mentor GC Group on GCxChange - information on mentoring programming across the GC and the Community of Practice meeting series. We host a monthly meeting, typically held on the third Thursday of every month at 1pm eastern.
Past session recordings
Career Boot Camp 2026: Mentorship, Sponsorship and Coaching 101
Why Mentorship Matters in Government (apolitical.co)
Nurturing Your Professional Support System // Cultiver votre réseau de soutien professionnel
Ask A Mentor Lightning Talk // Demander à un Mentor : Présentations éclairs
Finding career development support // Trouver un soutien en développement de carrière
Career Guides & What They Do | Guides de carrière
Networking podcast (English only)
Graphics
Mega-ConnEX2021: Virtual Network 101
Canada School of Public Service: E-Mentoring Practices
Canada School of Public Service: Shape Your World with E-Mentoring!
Learning Path & Courses
CSPS Coaching, mentoring and networking learning path
| CSPS Mentoring Courses | |
| Cultivating Productive Mentoring Relationships | Mentoring relationships enhance both personal and professional development and are key to enabling a successful career plan. This online self-paced course presents what to expect from a mentoring relationship and identifies the essential qualities of an effective mentor. Participants will learn how to facilitate a productive mentor-mentee relationship and apply best practices in successful mentoring relationships.
Topics include:
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| CSPS Coaching Courses | |
| Coaching for Effective Leadership | This 3 hour course explores the fundamental principles and practices of using a coaching approach in a one-to-one setting, including how to apply the GROW Model to structure these conversations. Participants will learn how to develop their listening and questioning skills and apply a coaching approach to engage others in powerful conversations. |
| Developing Successful Coaching Relationships | This online self-paced course presents coaching techniques for building dynamic and purposeful coaching-style relationships with team members. Participants will review coaching principles to guide them in helping others to exceed their preconceived limitations and reach their full potential. |