Kompass Blog

Updated December 2025

If you’re a manager or administrator in an area like health care, law enforcement, human resources, or education, your team members are likely interacting with mentally ill individuals every day—even if they don’t always realize it.

Unfortunately, many people don’t know the signs of mental illness and aren’t sure how to respond when they encounter someone struggling with it.

Mental health training in the workplace teaches employees to recognize and understand common mental health conditions. This can be valuable for anyone, but it’s especially important for community-serving employees who frequently deal with individuals with mental health challenges in the course of their work. That includes healthcare providers, teachers, police officers, librarians, and HR professionals.

Keep reading to learn more about the importance of mental health training in the workplace and how it can benefit your team.

Updated December 2025

Many people aspire to become managers. They want the added challenge, authority, and salary that comes with moving from team member to team leader. They work hard, put in the time, and get that promotion.

Updated December 2025

Are you eager to take on a new challenge in your human resources career? Ironically, HR professionals spend much of their time helping employees with their career development, but they often neglect to devote the same care and attention to their own advancement.

The good news is that there are concrete steps you can take to improve your HR skills, impress your boss, and get where you want to go.

Read on for eight practical tips on how to advance your HR career.

Years of underfunding, stigmatization, and lack of education have created mental health crises in many communities across the globe. Everywhere you look, you see the consequences of these trends.

And the problem is only getting bigger and more complex—especially in the wake of the pandemic.

If you're working in a front-line, community-serving role, you're probably experiencing the consequences of Canada’s mental health crisis up close and in very personal ways.

That’s why Kompass developed a new and improved version of its Community Mental Health and Addictions certificate. The enhancements were designed to make the course content even more relevant to today’s realities.

Read on to see what’s changed—and what hasn’t.

Updated December 2025

Over the past several years, mediation has become an increasingly popular method of resolving differences outside of court. Instead of passing judgment and imposing a decision, a mediator facilitates communication between the parties and helps them reach a resolution they can both accept.

Mediation can be used to settle a diverse range of disputes, including those related to family or business relationships, employment, tenancy, property damage, and more.

This post will explore the top five types of mediation, examine specific examples of common disputes in each type, and help you discover the advantages mediation provides.

Considering becoming an arbitrator, and struggling to navigate the confusing array of professional designations available in Canada?

Here's the scoop: technically, you don't need an official designation to become an arbitrator in Canada. However, those who obtain accreditation through a recognized association enjoy a much higher degree of credibility.

The Alternative Dispute Resolution Institute of Canada (ADRIC), along with its regional affiliates, is a leading provider of professional designations to arbitrators across the country.

In this post, we outline the different levels of accreditation offered through ADRIC and explain what it takes to achieve each one.

Read on to get a clearer sense of the path you can follow to launch a successful career in arbitration.

Updated December 2025

Considering a career in mediation? Your first priority is to understand the types of mediation certification available in Canada, at both the regional and national levels.

It can get a bit confusing because technically, mediation is not a regulated profession in Canada. There is no legally mandated training or licensing process for mediators.

However, Canada does have a powerful organization that sets clear standards and guidelines for mediator training and professional practice. This organization is called the Alternative Dispute Resolution Institute of Canada (ADRIC). It encourages mediators and arbitrators to self-regulate by offering a variety of designations that are highly respected across the country.

It comes down to this: if you want to be recognized as a competent mediator, you'll need to earn a designation from the ADR Institute.

So where do you begin? What rules and steps must you follow to become a certified mediator?

In this post, we break down the process from start to finish. Here's what you need to know.

Arbitration, mediation, and conciliation are popular forms of dispute resolution that offer interesting and diverse career opportunities.

People pursue alternative dispute resolution (ADR) training and accreditation for a number of reasons. Some aspire to become professional mediators or arbitrators. Others are simply looking to handle conflict better in their personal relationships or workplace.

It’s certainly an industry in demand. From business disputes to divorce settlements, people are turning to ADR as a more flexible, less costly, and more time-effective means of resolving conflicts.

Arbitration, mediation, and conciliation offer three different approaches to conflict resolution. They differ in terms of procedure and outcomes, as well as training and accreditation.

In this post, we guide you through clear definitions of arbitration versus mediation and conciliation, including applications along with pros and cons. Let's get started.

Updated December 2025

Mediation has become an increasingly popular option for settling family disputes in Ontario. It’s typically quicker, more cost-effective, and less adversarial than going to court.

Mediators need to prepare and support their clients to make sure each party can participate fully. They need to be alert to anything that can adversely affect a client's ability to engage in the process, such as mental health issues or family violence.

That's why they meet with each party beforehand to understand the factors involved. This is known as pre-mediation, or "screening in."

Thinking about a career in mediation? Keep reading to learn what the intake process involves and why it’s so important.

Updated December 2025

Public policy can be described as the strategy governments use to meet the needs of society.

All governments must deal with issues that affect large segments of the population, such as taxation, housing, health and safety, and more.

By pursuing a career in public policy, you can play a key role in shaping the principles and priorities that guide a government’s actions.

In this post, we explain what the public policy field is all about and why it matters. We also show you how to get involved in public policy through different educational options and career paths.