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Location

Our office is at 401 Richmond St. W., a heritage treasure in the heart of downtown Toronto. ICA Associates Inc., 401 Richmond St. W., Suite 405, Toronto ON Canada M5V 3A8. Our office is in Suite 405 and our Training room is Suite 409. Phone 416-691-2316. Email ica@ica-associates.ca

Parking

We are one kilometer north of the Gardiner Expressway's Spadina turnoff. This is central downtown Toronto and traffic is not forgiving during rush hours. There are city carparks within walking distance.

Transit

401 Richmond St. West is near the Queen and Spadina intersection. You can ride the Queen Streetcar, stop at Spadina Ave, and walk one block south to 401 Richmond. Or you can ride the Spadina Avenue streetcar, and get off at the Queen or Richmond stop. You can walk from Union Station in 20 minutes on a nice day, or take the 510 Spadina Streetcar from Union Station and get off at Richmond St. For those visiting us for training courses, this is in the heart of the fun part of downtown Toronto with plenty of shops, cafes and restaurants nearby. Chinatown is to the north, and the Entertainment District along King Street to the south. The Art Gallery of Ontario, Rogers Centre, CN Tower, City Hall and Eaton Centre are all within walking distance.

Frequently Asked Questions

IAF Certification can take up to 6 months from application to IAF to final assessment. The IAF assessment for certification has its own timeline and can be done whenever the International Association of Facilitators schedules assessments. The Professional Facilitator Program which prepares you for assessment, can be taken during two weeks of July, or spread out over a year or more. Similarly, the ToP Facilitation Essentials Program can be taken in 10 days or spread over a year or more. ICAs ToP Certification recognizes a level of methodology that IAF certification does not.

The courses of the FLP can be taken over a six month period, or stretched out over a year or more. Take Group Facilitation Methods first.

When we do facilitation or consulting with a client, we use the ToP body to knowledge to ensure that the consulting is effective and sustainable. Our courses teach that same body of knowledge, so ICA or ToP trained facilitators can use that same body of knowledge in their consulting.

At the very least it will take 8 months. But you can take as long as you like, up to several years. You can join at any time, even after you have taken some of the required courses.

The International Association of Facilitation has a facilitator certification that is standard within the profession. You become a Certified Professional Facilitator (CPF) after you pass this assessment. The Institute of Cultural Affairs has a body of knowledge called the Technology of Participation (ToP™) that is common around the world. This is an advanced level of facilitation and after assessment you become a Certified ToP Facilitator (CTF). CTF contains almost all of the competencies of the CPF, and adds a level of specialized methods and processes applicable to any field of endeavour.

Group Facilitation Methods, Meetings That Work, Facilitating Client Collaboration, Diversity Learning Circles, Cultural Transformation and the Community Development Intensive have no prerequisites. All other courses build on the foundation of GFM, so all other courses require Group Facilitation Methods or GFM online as a prerequisite.

Yes. ToP training courses are available in many countries. They may have different names. If you would like further information, please contact one of our trainers.

The Technology of Participation (ToP™) is a body of knowledge developed by the Institute of Cultural Affairs over forty years. ToP links tools, processes and methods, to a seamless set of values and philosophy that is transferrable across many fields of endeavour. It is a very powerful suite of facilitation methods that are used by practitioners worldwide. There are many books on the Technology of Participation.