Our mission

The Branches Program facilitates academic programming and community mentorships  for under-represented youth. Our goal is to  motivate and empower youth to  enrol l in postsecondary education by reducing barriers and increasing  access to higher education.  

Our core values 

We believe in learning from our partners and incorporating their perspectives into how we create programming. Partnerships, co-creation and experiential learning are central to our collaboration with communities because they encourage educational success and put knowledge into action. 

Portraits of Branches team members

Our team

The Branches team is committed to being a reliable partner in co-creating responsive and sustained relationships with youth, families, schools and organizations.  

What we do

We build relationships with under-represented communities, collaborating to develop activities that support  young students with their studies and enhance their  awareness of  post-secondary educational  opportunities. In parallel, our outreach programming creates and enhances pathways for the recruitment and admission  of underrepresented students at McGill University.  We partner with families and communities, providing supports for academic success that extend beyond the walls of McGill — including tailored mentorship and one-on-one interactions with students, staff and faculty.

Explore our outreach activities and resources


Our network

building blocks

Partners & donors 

Throughout McGill, Montreal, and Canada, we work with partners and donors that are vital to our operations and success. We are grateful for their commitments and support.  

students standing by the water and smiling

Our community 

Year after year we expand our reach and serve under-represented youth from different communities thanks to our collaborating student mentors, faculty members, partners, and donors.


McGill University is on land that long served as a site of meeting and exchange amongst
Indigenous peoples, including the Haudenosaunee and Anishinabeg nations. We acknowledge
and thank the diverse Indigenous people whose footsteps have marked this territory on which
peoples of the world now gather.
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