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LIFT Student Mentorship Program

Welcome to the LIFT application page!

Thank you for your interest in the 2024 LIFT program: Our application portal is now closed.

LIFT Summer Youth Mentorship Program: August 19-23, 2024 at St. Joseph's Health Centre. (Leading Inclusive Futures Together.)

 St. Joseph’s LIFT program is a one week summer mentorship program for local, Black, Indigenous, and racialized grade 9 and 10 high school students. The program runs at St. Joseph’s Health Centre (30 The Queensway, Toronto M6S) on August 19-23, 2024.  The application deadline is Friday, April 5, 2024. 

In this program you will spend the first half of each day getting a behind-the-scenes view of the hospital: you’ll get to try cool hands-on activities like simulation surgery, putting on a cast, or watching a doctor work out a tricky diagnosis.

The rest of the day will include:

  • team activities with other students,
  • career sessions,
  • an opportunity to hear Indigenous perspectives on well-being and healthcare,
  • and a chance share your ideas for the future of medicine with hospital leaders!

The goal of the LIFT program is to inspire students from under-represented communities to consider a career in healthcare, and to provide experiences, networking opportunities and resources for you to pursue that career. Research has shown that when patients meet and are treated by doctors and other staff that share their racial or cultural heritage they receive better treatment and experience better health outcomes.

This is a paid opportunity: We will provide you with a $600 stipend for completing this program.             

We will select applications from Black, Indigenous and racialized students who self-identify as:

Black, Indigenous, Latin-X, Tibetan or South East Asian (Cambodian, Indonesian, Filipino, Laotian, Malaysian, Thai, Vietnamese etc.)

Anyone who lives in Toronto (GTA) may apply. We will give priority to local applicants who reside in the following postal codes:

M8V, M6S, M6R, M6K, M6J, M6H, M6P, M8X, M6N or Indigenous students with a city of Toronto postal code.

If you are accepted into the program, you will need to:

  • Complete a two-step TB test and health screening (LIFT will cover cost of this on request)
  • Provide proof of vaccination of two doses of Canadian-approved COVID-19 vaccine 
  • Have access to email
  • Provide your Social Insurance Number (SIN) to receive the stipend payment
    • a SIN starting with a 9 and a work permit/student visa is valid as well

If you are interested in joining our 2024 summer program:

Thank you for your interest in the 2024 LIFT program: Our application portal is now closed.

The application deadline was Friday, April 5, 2024.

If you have questions about the program or the online application, feel free to contact us at LIFT@unityhealth.to

St. Joseph’s LIFT program acknowledges that the land on which the program takes place, Tkaranto, is part of the Dish with One Spoon Covenant territory and is the traditional and ancestral lands of many Nations including the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishinabek, the Haudenosaunee, the Chippewa, and the Wendat Nations.  It is land that is part of Treaty 13 signed with the Mississaugas of the Credit in 1787 and the Toronto Purchase, 1787, 1805 and 2010.  It is still home to many diverse First Nations, Inuit, and Metis peoples. We are grateful for the traditional Knowledge Keepers and Elders who are with us today, those who have gone before us and the youth that continuously challenge us to improve the work that we do. LIFT’s goal is to provide a culturally safe, supportive place where Indigenous youth can experience new opportunities, overcome barriers, build positive relationships, and develop confidence and skills for life. We recognize that these values are impossible to attain without the ongoing guidance and partnership with Indigenous peoples.

Last updated April 09, 2024