IDEA Training Collaborative

We train staff to respond to a physical emergency. Mental health deserves the same preparation.

Mental Health First Aid Certification is a nationally recognized two-day program that gives participants practical skills to support someone experiencing a mental health or substance use challenge. You'll learn to recognize changes in mental well-being, open supportive conversations, respond in both crisis and non-crisis situations, connect people to professional and community supports, and look after your own mental well-being in the process.

Delivered live in person at IDEA Training Collaborative, Anderson Room.

October 5 · 9:30 AM – 4:30 PM · In person · $310 per person

Register: https://ideatraining.org/courses/mental-health-first-aid-2-day-certificate/

Please note: this training discusses mental health crises and substance use, which may be difficult for some participants.

Is it luck? Laziness? Just the way it is?

When you look closely at the gaps in treatment, outcomes, and lived experience between groups, those explanations fall apart fast.

Anti-Racism & Anti-Oppression (ARAO) with Vania Patrick-Drakes explores how oppression and racism take shape and hold on, at both the personal and systemic level, right here in Canada. Through introspective exercises, group discussion, activities, and case studies, you'll challenge stereotypes and biased frameworks and dig into privilege and intersecting identities.

By the end you'll be able to:
• Clearly define and explain oppression and racism
• Name how both show up individually and systemically in Canadian society
• Recognize the impact on people, organizations, and communities
• Understand privilege and how intersecting identities shape outcomes
• Apply anti-racist, anti-oppressive practice in your work and your personal life

October 9 · 9:30 AM to 4:30 PM · Live online via Zoom
Led by Vania Patrick-Drakes

Register: https://ideatraining.org/courses/anti-racism-anti-oppression/

Save $40 on next week’s Intro to Counselling Skills course! Join IDEA Training Collaborative on October 1 for a live online session at the special promotional price of $100 CAD.

If you’ve been thinking about developing your counselling skills, this is a great opportunity to make time for your professional development.

October 1, 2026
9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. | Live online
Promotional rate: $100 CAD

To receive the discounted rate, email [email protected] or [email protected] directly. Let them know you’re interested in the October 1 Intro to Counselling Skills session.

Book your team's CPI certification for October 2.

CPI Non-Violent Crisis Intervention (Crisis Prevention Institute, 3rd Edition) is the recognized standard for preventing and de-escalating medium- to high-risk behaviour using non-restrictive methods. Participants practise verbal de-escalation and disengagement techniques designed for the realities of shelter, housing, and homelessness work.

Blended delivery: self-paced online modules plus one full in-person practical day, so scheduling around shifts stays manageable.

October 2 · 9:30 AM – 4:30 PM · In person · $230 per person

Register: https://ideatraining.org/courses/itc-cpi-non-violent-crisis-intervention-blended-two-day-training-self-paced-live-in-person/

New to frontline work, or supporting someone who is? Start here.

Introduction to Counselling Skills gives you the communication foundation the rest of the work is built on: rapport-building, active listening, maintaining healthy boundaries, and effective counselling strategies for clients in community and housing settings. Case discussions and role plays mean you leave having actually practised the skills.

A strong first course for new hires, students, and anyone stepping into a client-facing role.

October 1 · 9:30 AM – 4:30 PM · Live online · $140 per person

Register: https://ideatraining.org/courses/introduction-to-counselling-skills/

You've learned the basics of Motivational Interviewing. Now put them under pressure.

Advanced Motivational Interviewing builds on our introductory workshop with extensive hands-on practice: reflective and strategic reflection techniques, working with resistance in both individuals and groups, applying MI in focused 20-minute sessions, plus case consultation and role play throughout the day.

Highly interactive by design — you'll spend the day doing, not watching.

Best suited to participants who have completed Introduction to Motivational Interviewing.

September 29 · 9:30 AM – 4:30 PM · Live online · $140 per person

Register: https://ideatraining.org/courses/advanced-motivational-interviewing/

Still time to book your team's fall training.

Here's what's running from September 22 into early October:

September 22 — Introduction to Documentation
September 23 — Non-Violent Crisis Intervention (CPI) · Certification
September 24–25 — Understanding & Managing Aggressive Behaviour (U.M.A.B.) · Two-day certification
September 25 — Introduction to Counselling Skills
September 29 — Advanced Motivational Interviewing
October 1 — Introduction to Counselling Skills
October 2 — Non-Violent Crisis Intervention (CPI) · Certification
October 5–6 — Mental Health First Aid · Two-day certification

Four certifications in two weeks, plus the core skills courses that keep documentation clean and client conversations productive. Live online and in-person formats, 9:30 AM – 4:30 PM.

Register now at https://ideatraining.org/courses/

When verbal de-escalation isn't enough, your team needs training they can rely on — not improvisation.

The U.M.A.B. Two-Day Workshop equips frontline workers to manage aggressive and violent client behaviour while staying within legislative policy and your service mandate. Coverage includes self-protection, disengagement skills, physical intervention, verbal communication, and crisis management — all framed around keeping people safe and treating them with respect.

Delivery: Day 1 instructor-led live online, Day 2 instructor-led live in person.

September 24 · 9:30 AM – 4:30 PM · Blended live online + in person · $240 per person

Register: https://ideatraining.org/courses/umab-two-day-workshop/

The best crisis intervention happens before the crisis.

Our CPI Non-Violent Crisis Intervention training (Crisis Prevention Institute, 3rd Edition) prepares staff to prevent and de-escalate medium- to high-risk behaviour using non-restrictive methods — verbal de-escalation and disengagement techniques you can use safely on the floor. Designed specifically for people working in shelter, housing, and homelessness services.

Blended delivery keeps your team on shift: self-paced online modules, then one full in-person practical day.

September 23 · 9:30 AM – 4:30 PM · In person · $230 per person

Register: https://ideatraining.org/courses/itc-cpi-non-violent-crisis-intervention-blended-two-day-training-self-paced-live-in-person/