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RBC & JonAYves

Upskilling & Mental Health

Pilot Initiative​

Upskilling and workplace readiness Mission

Core Mission

This pilot is designed to prepare high-potential youth, those facing mental health challenges or systemic barriers, for graduation, employment, and post-secondary success.

 

These are students who have missed semesters, failed to complete critical high school credits, or disengaged from school entirely due to anxiety, trauma, or instability.

 

We have launched a 100-student pilot, delivered in partnership with the Brant Community Healthcare System (BCHS), to test and scale a short-form, personalized, clinically-supported academic model that builds skills and restores momentum.

 

By focusing on foundational learning, mentorship, and resume-ready outputs, this program supports the RBC goal of upskilling Canadians for the future, starting with youth who are currently being left behind.

 

Our sessions are designed to reignite learning engagement and rebuild employability, with early signs of full re-engagement in under a month.

Education &
Mental Health Recovery

Though our future aim is towards all youth, this pilot is not for the general population of students. In order to create focused research, these are youth in clinical mental health treatment who are unable to return to school (or who have dropped out completely) due to anxiety, depression, or trauma.

 

According to CAMH surveys and studies, 38% of Ontario students rate their mental health as "fair" or "poor".

 

If not re-engaged, these youth may (and already) cost the public system significantly more in healthcare, unemployment support, and long-term social services.

 

Our model inserts 20 - 30 minute personalized education sessions into their recovery journey, using a virtual format that mirrors how modern students engage with content today.

 

By matching short-form learning styles and prioritizing connection and trust with each instructor, we've seen:

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  • 100% session attendance

  • Strong positive feedback from both students and clinicians

  • Measurable signs of confidence, skill growth, and school re-entry

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This approach is working and we are now building the foundation to scale this across 8 - 10 hospitals in Ontario.

FOcus Area: Upskilling For The Future

This pilot aligns directly with RBC’s Upskilling pillar. It helps youth who are not only disengaged from school, but disconnected from progress. We are rebuilding the literacy, numeracy, self-direction, and planning needed to complete school and enter the workforce with confidence.

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Students receive two 20 - 30 minute sessions per week, delivered 1-on-1 by a Personalized Learning Instructor trained in the JonAyves Method.

 

These sessions are optimized for efficiency and attention, and have proven equivalent in outcome to longer conventional tutoring blocks.

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Importantly, the 1:1 ratio ensures deep personalization, accountability, and measurable academic growth week over week.

Architect
Nurse Taking Patient Notes

Supporting Focus: Access to Mental Health Care

This model is enabled by partnerships with hospital teams, starting with Brant Community Healthcare System. Students are referred directly by care providers and our instructors coordinate with clinicians to support treatment goals.

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Together, we:

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  • Align sessions with youth care plans

  • Reinforce the link between educational recovery and mental health stability

  • Measure outcomes across both academic and emotional indicators

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This dual-track model is particularly impactful for youth in transitional or high-risk settings, where structured learning reintroduces routine, focus, and self-confidence.

Who We Are

  • Delivering 1,500+ virtual sessions/month across Canada and the U.S.
     

  • Partners include:

    • Toronto Catholic District School Board

    • Peel District School Board

    • Brant Community Healthcare System

    • Children’s Aid Societies

    • Hospitals and foster care organizations
       

  • Our instructors:

    • Are Canadian university students in prestigious programs (medicine, education, law)

    • Are trained in the JonAyves Method, a proprietary learning system built by our founder

    • Focus on building confidence and mastery, not just delivering content
       

  • Our approach has helped students as young as 3 years old achieve long division
     

  • We’ve authored 20+ instructional books supporting independent growth in literacy and math
     

  • Sessions are short, consistent, and fully virtual (mirroring the format today’s students learn best in)

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our larger vision

While this pilot is hospital-led, our broader strategy is to scale the model across school boards and youth support systems.

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We have already delivered programming within Canada’s largest school boards, including the Toronto Catholic District School Board and Peel District School Board, and worked closely with Children’s Aid Societies across Ontario.

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Our long-term goal is to:

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  • Help school boards implement personalized education interventions for high-risk youth

  • Support re-engagement, credit recovery, and employability inside public school and youth systems

  • Provide wraparound academic models to Children’s Aid organizations to stabilize learning amid life transitions

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This positions us not only as a solution for hospital-connected students, but as a scalable engine for broader workforce-readiness reform across youth services.

Research publication goals

With support from RBC and in collaboration with the Brant Community Healthcare System, we will:

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  • Publish peer-reviewed research on how education affects anxiety and learning re-engagement
     

  • Measure key indicators of workforce readiness, including:

    • Resume development

    • High school credit and course completion

    • Literacy and numeracy skill growth
       

  • Build a repeatable, research-backed model that can be adopted by hospitals, school boards, and care agencies

Hardcover Books
All Hands In

Proposed Funding Options for RBC

Option 1: Research Leader Partnership - $300,000 over 2 years

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  • Supports ~60 - 70 students

  • Covers instruction, research infrastructure, hospital expansion, and publication

  • RBC publicly recognized as lead innovation partner in all research outputs, published reports, and public-facing materials.

  • Outcomes include:

    • Anxiety reduction

    • Academic recovery

    • Resume and career pathway planning

       

Option 2: Mental Health & Upskilling Access Fund - $100,000 for Year 1
 

  • Supports 25 - 35 students

  • Enables regional delivery and results measurement

  • Mention in publications and research

  • Can be co-funded with:

    • Hospital foundations

    • Community foundations

    • Local board or youth funding partners

The Real Impact

High-Need Youth, High Workforce Potential

These students face dropout risk and long-term reliance on public systems. Early re-engagement through education and mental health support builds clear pathways to graduation and employment.

RBC Drives Systems-Level Impact

RBC’s support activates a scalable model linking mental health care, education, and workforce readiness, in collaboration with hospital foundations, school boards, and community partners.

Creating a Research Blueprint for Scalable Impact

By measuring both mental health and academic outcomes, this initiative sets a new standard for evidence-based support models targeting learning and workforce readiness.

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JonAyves Learning Club is an organization committed to enriching the lives of young children. The J.A.L.C. prides themselves in providing early years education at a level that gives children a strong head start.

1-866-790-6440

info@jonayveslearningclub.com

© 2025 by JonAyves Learning Club.

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