How mentorship fuels early careers at Air Canada
Air Canada pairs new employees with experienced mentors through a formal program, helping co-op students and junior managers take on bigger roles and learn how the business operates.
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By Torontoer Staff
Air Canada has formalised mentorship as a core development tool, pairing early-career hires with experienced leaders and creating structured opportunities to learn on the job. The approach emphasises hands-on experience, staged responsibilities and a safe space to ask questions, and it has helped co-op students and junior managers move into leadership roles.
The airline runs an application-based mentoring program and supports on-the-job coaching that spans technical roles, project management and HR. Executives and people leaders actively mentor employees to build capability and confidence across the organisation.
A co-op turned into a leadership role
Muhammad Yahya joined Air Canada as a co-op student in 2022 while completing an MBA at Concordia University. He accepted the position quickly, citing the carrier's profile and the opportunity to learn. By the time he graduated, he had moved into a full-time IT analyst role, and he credits mentorship for accelerating his progression.
Yahya was assigned to a series of projects that exposed him to different teams and responsibilities. When he told his director he wanted to move into project management, the director provided concrete stepping stones: project assignments, coaching on presentation style, and guidance on how senior leaders view business priorities. Those interventions helped him build the skills needed to lead. He now manages a 28-person team on a major AI-related initiative.
The director who hired me was a great mentor and always extremely supportive. When I told him I was interested in a project management role, he gave me the stepping stones by assigning me to different projects supporting different people in the company.
Muhammad Yahya, project manager
Mentorship as a long-term career builder
Pina Guercio, vice-president of global human resources, started at Air Canada as a summer call-centre employee 27 years ago. Her career path includes roles in leisure and corporate sales, tour operations, project management and HR. Those rotations gave her a broad view of the business and shaped her approach to mentoring.
Guercio describes mentorship as a space for candid conversations about career choices, leadership challenges and practical next steps. She focuses on supporting new people managers, helping them translate technical or operational work into leadership outcomes and avoid common early mistakes, like taking on too much without asking for help.
Mentoring is really about sharing. Through an application process, we match the mentor and mentee. Sometimes a junior employee may be afraid to ask their leader questions. A mentorship is a safe space where the mentee can share their challenges and learn.
Pina Guercio, vice-president, global human resources
How the programme works
Air Canada’s mentoring programme uses an application process to match mentors and mentees. Matches are made to align career goals with mentor experience. Mentors provide staged exposure to projects, feedback on presentations and coaching on how to frame work for senior audiences. The company also encourages rotational assignments so junior staff see how different functions connect to the airline’s strategy.
What mentees and mentors gain
- Faster skill development through real project experience
- Access to senior perspectives on business priorities
- Safe space to raise challenges and try new approaches
- Broader organisational understanding from cross-functional moves
- Stronger leadership bench as mentors refine coaching skills
Both mentors and mentees report practical benefits. Mentees gain confidence and clearer career pathways. Mentors sharpen their coaching and deepen their understanding of how to translate strategy into day-to-day work. The result is a workforce better prepared for leadership and for projects that span multiple parts of the company.
Tips for people starting a mentorship
- Set clear goals at the outset: identify skills or responsibilities you want to develop
- Ask for specific assignments that stretch you while offering support
- Request feedback on how your work aligns with business priorities
- Use mentorship time to practise senior-level communication, such as executive presentations
- Be open about setbacks and ask for help early
Yahya and Guercio both emphasise one practical lesson: ask for help. That simple step changes the kinds of opportunities new employees receive and shortens the path to more responsibility.
Air Canada’s approach pairs structured mentorship with on-the-job experience. For early-career hires and new managers, that combination creates clearer development paths and accelerates readiness for leadership roles.
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