Enterprise Bridge Toronto: Call for student consultants

What is Enterprise Bridge Toronto?

Enterprise Bridge Toronto is a program offered by the CERC Migration program at Toronto Metropolitan University, designed to empower immigrant entrepreneurs through training, mentoring, consulting, and community connections that help create sustainable new businesses. This program is hosted in partnership with the University of Notre Dame’s Urban Poverty and Business Initiative (external link)  (UPBI) to tackle urban poverty in Toronto through entrepreneurship.

What are the goals of this student consulting program?

Students will work with assigned clients/entrepreneurs to help them think through the various aspects of their business plan, solidify direction and strategy, or offer advice and guidance on their business operations.

The student consulting is part of a multi-phase program that helps immigrants who are emerging entrepreneurs build financially sustainable businesses. 

Each student will be paired with an individual entrepreneur or a small group of two to three entrepreneurs. These entrepreneurs have already completed a six-week Entrepreneurship Training Bootcamp covering core business areas: finance, strategic thinking, resource management, marketing, and operations. Additionally, most participants have benefited from ongoing mentor support.

What is the time commitment for student consultants? 

The student consulting phase runs from May to June 2026, and includes at least eight one to two hour weekly meetings (in-person or virtual). The student will meet with their assigned entrepreneur ideally every week for one hour, at a time and place (in-person or virtually) that is convenient for them. We ask student consultants to work on at least one deliverable with their assigned clients. Depending on the deliverables, student consultants are flexible to work at their place to accomplish the assigned deliverable while keeping close contact with their assigned clients. Examples of some deliverables include: 

• Improving website’s features and search engine optimization
• Develop and implement a marketing strategy and personal selling approach for reaching businesses within the Toronto area (independent of social media efforts)
• Design and implement a social media campaign to boost visibility and patronage
• Segment the market, identify priority target segments, and develop program for initial market penetration
• Pricing strategy and action plan for wholesale & retail
• Complete business plan
• Identity package - logo, business cards, sign, brochure

At the end of the consulting phase, we ask students to provide a short report on their consulting experience and feedback for improvements. 

What will student consultants receive? 

This is a volunteer opportunity, and students’ contributions will help emerging entrepreneurs grow and succeed. We will provide an orientation session (virtual or in person) before the mentorship program begins and a token of appreciation at the end.

Additionally, some of the benefits to students include:

• The opportunity to make a difference in the community
• Adding real-world consulting experience to your resume
• Gaining a hands-on understanding of the challenges those immigrant entrepreneurs face when trying to improve their circumstances
• Enhancing your skill set and your problem-solving toolkit

Are there any eligibility requirements for student consultants? 

Student consultants must be currently enrolled or recently graduated from Toronto Metropolitan University who have training and experience in any fields related to business management, marketing, finance and accounting, human resources, business law, entrepreneurship. Those who are interested in supporting small businesses are welcome to apply. 

Contact

We appreciate your consideration of this opportunity!

If you are interested, please apply by April 15, 2026, or contact Anil Dhakal at anil.dhakal@torontomu.ca for more information.