For many people entering the field of alternative dispute resolution, it can be tough to know where to start. How do you build credibility in a profession that isn’t formally regulated?
That’s where the ADR Institute of Alberta (ADRIA) can help. As the province’s leading association for mediators and arbitrators, ADRIA provides professional training, standards of practice, widely recognized designations, and a supportive network that helps practitioners grow their careers.
To better understand how ADRIA supports aspiring ADR professionals, we spoke with Deputy Director Arifa Virani.
Arifa: ADRIA is Alberta’s professional association for mediators, arbitrators, adjudicators, and other ADR practitioners in Alberta. We provide education, resources, and accreditation. We also have a vetted directory of qualified ADR practitioners that hold up-to-date designations and are in good standing with their membership, so the public can trust that they will connect with vetted ADR practitioners.
ADRIA’s mission is to advance accessible, ethical, and high-quality alternative dispute resolution in Alberta by providing education, resources, accreditation, and services that support capable and qualified ADR processes for both professionals and the public. We work collaboratively with our members and partners, lead with integrity and accountability, and uphold inclusive, principled standards that strengthen trust in ADR across the province.
As Deputy Director, I provide strategic leadership and operational oversight to advance ADRIA’s mission of strengthening the practice, professionalism, and quality of alternative dispute resolution in Alberta. I also support and manage our small team of really talented, passionate people.
My role also includes ensuring ADRIA remains accessible, responsive, and aligned with the evolving needs of Albertans and the ADR community.
Arifa: We have our professional training courses that are very solid. They’re always being refined and we make sure they’re responsive to current trends in ADR in Alberta. So, the courses are a very strong starting point.
We also have an exciting new program, which is a mentorship program that launched in November of last year. It’s not limited to just Alberta; it’s open to anyone in Canada. So if you’re someone who’s taken ADR training and you’re wanting to deepen your skills, polish your technique, learn to co-mediate or mediate on your own, the mentorship program will pair you with a practitioner who has at least a Q.Med or a C.Med designation and that we’ve met with personally at ADRIA.
The mentorship program has a $150 + GST application fee. We do require that participants are LINK members of ADRIA, which costs $80 per year.
It can be such a challenge when you’re a new mediator to figure out where do I go to ask my questions? Where can I get mentorship from? There hadn’t been a formalized way of doing that until November of last year.
It’s very much meant to be a knowledge transfer. We’re trying to bridge the gap between courses and practice.
Arifa: Commencing on December 18, 2023, the Court of King’s Bench implemented mandatory pre-court requirements as part of Alberta Justice Family Justice Strategy. These requirements include participation in an alternative dispute resolution (ADR) process for most family law matters before parties can proceed to court. That’s obviously shaped the need for more mediators practising in the family, separation, and divorce area in Alberta.
Arifa: A supervised mock mediation is a requirement to apply for your Q.Med in Alberta. Any learner who needs to do a supervised mock mediation (SMM) to apply for their Q.Med designation can connect with us to complete this requirement. Our SMMs are open to all.*
ADRIA offers the SMM in person, live online, or in recorded format. The most popular one is online.
There are specific skills that you’re going to be graded on, and that criteria is available. Whether you pass or don’t pass, you always get feedback as to what could have been done better or what steps you may have missed.
To prepare, I would join role-play groups and use scenarios from your coursework. Or make up your own scenarios and connect with people in your class. Get people together, have two role players, have a mediator, have an observer, and practise the skills. The more you practise, the more familiar you get with those steps. Role-play groups are a great way to practise.
*Note: Check requirements with your regional affiliate. ADRIO does not accept supervised mock mediations for the Q.Med.
Arifa: When I was a new mediator, the biggest challenge was taking my coursework and translating it into being a practitioner.
For me, what helped was volunteering my time. I did voluntary cases for years, not being compensated for that work, but that was how I learned and gained my skills.
In Edmonton we had a center called the Mediation and Restorative Justice Centre (MRJC). I think it’s closed down now, but that’s where I volunteered my time. We’d get phone calls from neighbours that would call 411 with arguments about a fence or a tree or something along those lines, and those cases would come to us. We would do conflict coaching over the phone and we might eventually do a mediation with those parties.
BUILD YOUR CAREER IN MEDIATION OR ARBITRATION
Kompass Professional Development offers online training in arbitration, mediation, family mediation, and intergenerational mediation. Our certificates are accredited by the ADR Institute of Canada and take no more than 12 weeks to complete.
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