This report was published by MentorCanada.

HERE’S HOW THE AUTHORS DESCRIBE THIS REPORT:

Supportive relationships with adults, including mentoring relationships, foster young people’s positive development and can provide significant psychological protection in the face of adverse life circumstances. In the winter of 2020, Mentor Canada surveyed 2,838 young adults in Canada to learn more about how mentors supported them while they were growing up. Among respondents, 15% indicated that they were from a rural community and 2% stated that they were from a remote community. Over half (55%) of the respondents from rural and remote communities were women, 42% were men, and 3% identified as non-binary or as having another gender identity. About 4% identified as trans and 21% reported belonging to a sexual minority. Close to one-fifth (18%) identified as Indigenous, 19% identified as having a diverse ethnocultural background, and 8% as newcomers or immigrants.

Mentoring relationships can play an important role in supporting young people’s successful transition to adulthood and in offsetting some of the adverse life circumstances children and youth face. Overall, 46% of young people from rural communities who participated in our survey reported facing at least 2 risk factors during their teen years compared to 39% of all respondents. However, 47% of rural respondents reported that they did not have a single mentor between the ages of 6 and 18. Early intervention to help more youth from rural and remote communities access mentorship opportunities is critical.