The initial interest in province-wide support for mentorship came out of a meeting hosted by the Counselling Foundation in Québec in 2004. A group of business, government and economic development leaders from across Saskatchewan worked together for almost 2 years with the goal of developing some infrastructure around the idea of developing a mentorship program for the province.
It was recognized early in the process that this initiative had to be business-led, or there would be little viability for the model in Saskatchewan. This initial Steering Committee did research and surveyed organizations to determine the best method for delivering province-wide mentorship. Due to geographic distances and regional differences it was determined that a support program that would assist regional or community groups in setting up chapters of their own would be the best strategy for success.
The Steering Committee then formed an interim Board of Directors for BMI representing the Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce, Saskatchewan Trade and Export Partnership, Saskatchewan Industry and Resources, Saskatchewan Regional Economic and Cooperative Development and members from private industry.
The Steering Committee obtained funding from the Counselling Foundation of Canada and a federal/provincial fund called WEPA (Western Economic Partnership Agreement) to finance the start-up of BMI. The office of BMI was opened in Saskatoon, January 2006 and at the end of May, we had our official launch.