TORONTO DEBATE ACADEMY
PUBLIC SPEAKING AND DEBATE TRAINING
About
The TDA offers debate and public speaking instruction to students and professionals. Debating and public speaking classes develop a person’s confidence, analytical reasoning ability and persuasive skills. Debate teaches people to think critically, speak confidently and engage passionately with issues and ideas.
Quick Links
Who We Are
The Toronto Debate Academy offers debate and public speaking classes to middle and high school students as well as custom corporate training to private clients. Our instructors are highly successful competitive debaters themselves, with years of experience competing and judging across Canada and the world.
We offer weekly classes in North York and online classes to North American and Asian students. We also provide specialized workshops to academic and corporate clients. We adapt our curricula to suit your organization’s needs.
Leadership Team
Classes for Students
The Toronto Debate Academy offers weekly classes for students across a wide range of experience levels. Our in-person programs run in exclusive partnership with Meritus Academy in North York, and Meritus also hosts our online classes.
Classes include speaking drills, practice debates, and short seminars that build both core debating technique and topic knowledge. Free trial classes are available through Meritus, and our instructors can help place students in the level that fits best.
To enrol, please visit the Meritus website for current course levels, schedules, pricing, and registration.
Resources for Students
We publish the same debate guides and cheat sheets we use in class—and they’re free for anyone to download. Whether you’re brand new to debate or refining advanced skills, our resources cover the major formats we teach (British Parliamentary, World Schools, and Public Forum), along with essential skills like refutation and note-taking. Visit our Resources page to browse the full library and download whatever you need.
Successes
Toronto Debate Academy students compete at the highest levels of Canadian and international debate. In recent years, our students have won and finaled at major tournaments including Ontario Provincials, Hart House High Schools, Harvard World Schools, and multiple university-hosted championships. Many have also earned top speaker awards and been selected for Team Canada.
Corporate Training
We bridge the gap between technical expertise and professional presence. From high-stakes boardroom presentations to the nuanced culture of top-tier law firms, we provide the communication tools necessary for career-defining success.
⚖️The Law Firm Bridge: Led by a former lawyer, we offer specialized training for articling students on the “unwritten rules” of firm life—mastering professional conduct, effective note-taking, and high-value questioning.
🎤Individual Performance: We work one-on-one to neutralize public speaking anxiety and refine executive presence, helping you command authority in meetings and high-pressure presentations.
🤝Team Dynamics: Our agile workshops use debate-driven frameworks to improve collaborative problem-solving and team communication, available both in-person in Toronto and globally online.