The Youth Technology and Mentor Program offers computer training to children in grades 6, 7 and 8 from disadvantaged families. Recent statistics show that large numbers of Toronto families are living below the poverty line and children living under those most difficult conditions will not, for the most part, achieve their academic potential without significant intervention.

Children living in poverty are usually consumed with the basic needs of survival, and their families lack the means to purchase either the additional academic assistance, if needed, or the computer equipment necessary to allow them to work independently at home. This program reaches out to eighty of those students a year, to help them overcome the barriers to success in a technological-dependent education system.

In the two fifteen week programs that run annually, highly qualified instructors teach the students technical and software application skills. Students learn programs such as Microsoft Word, Excel, Microsoft Publisher, Power Point and Microsoft Front page. By the end of the fifteen weeks, students have the skills and confidence to design and post their own web sites, trouble shoot hardware, and navigate through database and word processing programs with ease.

The program helps children gain computer skills necessary to succeed in the classroom of today, and sets the foundation for long-term skills needed to prepare them for the workforce. Additionally, the students gain confidence and social skills that serve as a solid foundation for years of continued learning.

To ensure that the students achieve the maximum benefit of the program, they are each paired with a volunteer high school mentor. The mentors act as a bridge between the instructors and the students to ensure that all facets of the hardware and software assignments are understood and performed correctly.

The mentors build a strong rapport with the students as they attend the workshops together. In order for the mentors to succeed in building a trusting relationship with the students, they participate in workshops that develop their own leadership and communication skills. At the conclusion of the program, families are invited to a graduation ceremony where each student receives a free refurbished computer, as well as Microsoft software as a gift.

Since the program's inception in 1999, the program has served over 300 students and mentors.