Finding Help
If you need help in an emergency or are in crisis:
visit your local emergency department or call 911
contact a distress centre in Ontario near you (phone numbers provided below).
Distress lines
When in need of someone to talk to. Operated by various agencies. Open 24 hours a day (unless otherwise indicated):
9-8-8 Suicide Crisis Helpline: Call or text 9-8-8
Toronto Distress Centres: 416 408-4357 or 408-HELP
Gerstein Centre: 416 929-5200
Spectra Helpline: 416 920-0497 or 905 459-7777 for Brampton and Mississauga residents
TTY: 905 278-4890; Languages: English, Punjabi, Hindi, Urdu, Spanish, Portuguese
Assaulted Women’s Helpline: 416 863-0511; Toll-free: 1 866 863-0511
Kids Help Phone: 1 800 668-6868; Languages: English and French
Community Crisis Line Scarborough and Rouge Hospital: 416 495-2891 for 24/7 telephone crisis support.
Service borders: south to the lake, north to Steeles Avenue, east to Port Union Road, and west to Victoria Park
Durham Crisis and Mental Health Line: 905 666-0483
Distress Centre Halton: For Residents of the Halton Region (Burlington, Halton Hills, Milton, and Oakville). Oakville: 905-849-4541; Burlington: 905-681-1488; Milton/Halton Hills: 905-877-1211
Mobile Crisis Response Teams (24 hrs/7 days) Toronto
Toronto:
Gerstein Centre Crisis Line: 416 929-5200 service borders: south to the lake, north to Eglinton, and then north to Highway 401 (between Bathurst and Bayview), east to Bayview to Danforth and then to Victoria Park, west to Islington Ave.
St. Mike’s Hospital Mobile Crisis Team via Police Department (911) accessible through police (no direct number). Response team consists of a police officer and a mental health nurse.
St. Joseph’s Hospital Mobile Crisis Team via Police Department (911) accessible through police (no direct number).
Scarborough/East York
Scarborough Hospital Regional Mobile Crisis Team via Police Department (911) accessible through police (no direct number).
York Region:
Community Crisis Response Service, Distress Centre: Toll Free: 1 855 310-COPE (2673)
Peel Region:
Mobile Crisis of Peel: 905 278-9036, 24 hours, 7 days a week (Mississauga, Brampton, Caledon)
Credit Valley Hospital; Emergency Department: 905 813-4141. Hours: Monday-Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. Saturday, Sunday and statutory holidays, 11:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. The mobile crisis team only meets with individuals who are registered in the emergency departments at either Credit Valley Hospital or Mississauga Hospital. Note: Emergency Department is unable to offer medical advice over the phone. Please call Telehealth for medical advice at 1 866 797-0000.
Hamilton
St. Joseph’s Hospital Crisis Outreach and Support Team (COAST): 905 972-8338
Halton
Crisis Outreach and Support Team (COAST): 1 877 825-9011. Covers: Oakville, Milton, Georgetown, Acton and Burlington.
Community Crisis Supports
Toronto Community Crisis Service. Run by the City of Toronto, the Toronto Community Crisis Service sends out mobile crisis teams to provide a community-based support for people who are in crisis or who need a wellbeing check, without involving the police.
The service is currently available in four areas of Toronto. In each area, the mobile crisis response is provided by different partners:
– Northeast Toronto/Scarborough – in partnership with Taibu Community Health Centre
– Downtown East Toronto – in partnership with Gerstein Crisis Centre
– Downtown West Toronto – Kamaamwizme wii Naagidiwendiiying – in partnership with 2-Spirited People of the First Nation, ENAGB Indigenous Youth Agency and Niiwin Wendaanimak / Four Winds
Indigenous Health and Wellness Program – Northwest Toronto – in partnership with Canadian Mental Health Association Toronto, Addiction Services of Central Ontario, Black Creek Community Health Centre, Black Health Alliance, CAFCAN, Jane/Finch Community and Family Centre, Rexdale Community Health Centre
You can access the Toronto Community Crisis Service if you are in the above parts of Toronto by calling 2-1-1 or 9-1-1, or directly by contacting the Gerstein Crisis Centre or the 2-Spirited People of the First Nation. Phone-based Information & Referral services are also available through Findhelp 211.
Specialized Resources
Multilingual Distress Line: Provides emotional support, crisis intervention and suicide prevention, intervention & postvention in English, Cantonese, Mandarin, Portuguese, Spanish, Hindi, Punjabi and Urdu, Monday to Friday from 10:00 am to 10:00 pm EST. For at risk and vulnerable individuals in Peel Region.
Phone: 905-459-7777
Trans Lifeline: Provides peer support by trans people for trans and questioning callers. Crisis and other supports and resources are provided in both English and Spanish from 10:00 am to 4:00 am EST.
Phone: 1-877-330-6366
LGBT YouthLine: Provides peer support by and for 2SLGBTQ+ people 29 and under across Ontario. Trained peer support volunteers with a diversity of 2SLGBTQ+ identities provide a range of supports, including: questioning gender identity/sexual orientation; coming out; mental health; relationships; social isolation; and referrals to further supports. Phone, text and chat is available from Sunday to Friday, 4:00 pm to 9:30 pm EST. This is not a crisis line. Those in immediate crisis will be referred to their local distress centre, Kids Help Phone or Trans Lifeline. Please note that the phone line is currently unavailable, but text and chat support remain available. Check youthline.ca for updates.
Text: 647-694-4275, Chat: youthline.ca, Phone: 1-800-268-9688
Naseeha: An international hotline that provides youth and particularly Muslim youth with the tools needed to address a range of issues including mental health, drugs and alcohol, bullying, religion, marriage and divorce, domestic issues, pornography, and career or work related issues. Peer-counsellors provide immediate, anonymous, and confidential support over the phone from 12:00 pm to 9:00 pm, 7 days a week and text support from 12:00 pm to 9:00 pm, Monday to Friday.
Phone: 1-866-627-3342 (NASEEHA), Text: 1 (866) 627-3342 (NASEEHA)
Black Youth Helpline: This multicultural youth helpline and service serves all youth and specifically responds to the needs of Black youth. Contact with the helpline results in a professional, culturally relevant assessment aimed at identifying root causes of problems and informs next steps. The helpline can be accessed by youth, families, schools and other stakeholders. Service is provided in English. French and other languages available upon request. Other languages are available upon request. This is not a crisis line. The helpline is open from 9am to 10pm, 7 days a week. Clients can also submit service requests 24 hours a day using the ‘contact us form’ on the website blackyouth.ca.
Toronto phone: 416-285-9944, National phone: 1-833-294-8650, Email: info@blackyouth.ca
Toronto Seniors Helpline/ Woodgreen Crisis Outreach Services for Seniors: The helpline provides information about home care and community care, and offers over-the-phone supportive counselling, de-escalation, and safety planning to seniors in emotional distress or crisis from 9:00am to 8:00pm Monday to Friday and 10:00am to 6:00pm on weekends. The helpline can connect callers to Woodgreen’s mobile crisis intervention and outreach service for adults 65+ with dementia, addictions or mental illness who need temporary, short-term support. The mobile service is staffed by crisis workers who can provide in-person assessment, crisis counselling, short-term intensive case management, harm reduction and concurrent disorder services, mental health and addictions support and referrals to other services. The mobile crisis team is available 365 days a year from 9:00am-5:00pm.
Phone: 416-217-2077
Talk 4 Healing: Provides support and resources for Indigenous women, by Indigenous women, across Ontario, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Services are grounded in Indigenous culture, wisdom and tradition and are available in Oji-Cree, Ojibway, Cree, Algonquin, Inuktitut, Mohawk, Oneida, Odawa, Potawatomi, Micmac, Black Foot, Anishinaabe, Moose Cree, Swampy Cree and English and French
Phone: 1-855-554-HEAL (4325), Text: 1-855-554-HEAL (4325), Chat: talk4healing.com, Visit Talk4Healing on Facebook & Twitter
National Indian Residential Schools Crisis Line: This national service provides support to former Residential School students in crisis 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Support is provided by trained crisis counsellors, many of whom are Indigenous.
Phone: 1-866-925-4419
Toronto Rape Crisis Centre/Multicultural Women Against Rape: Provides private and confidential crisis intervention and support services 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to: anyone who has been raped, sexually assaulted or experienced physical, sexual, emotional, psychological, ritual or financial abuse; anyone who has had unwanted sexual touching; incest survivors; survivors of childhood and adult sexual assault and family and/or friends. Referrals can be made to other services.
Phone: 416-597-8808
Assaulted Women’s Helpline: Provides anonymous and confidential crisis counselling, safety planning, emotional support, information and referrals 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for all women in Ontario who have experienced any form of abuse. Services are also available at all times for women who are deaf, deaf-blind and hard of hearing.
Phone: 1-866-863-0511, TTY: 1-866-863-7868
Victim Services Toronto: The Victim Crisis Response Program provides immediate on-scene crisis response, intervention, and prevention services to victims, survivors, family members and witnesses of crime and sudden tragedies 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Also provides follow-up referrals to a wide range of programs, services and counselling. The Crisis Response team pairs a Crisis Counsellor with expertise in trauma management and crisis intervention with a trained volunteer. The Crisis Response Program is reflective of the diverse communities in Toronto and provides services in over 35 languages. Please note that some of these services have been modified during COVID-19.
Phone: 416-808-7066
Warden Woods Community Centre COVID-19 All-in-One Support line: Provides complete support in one place for anyone in need, Monday to Friday from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm. Services include crisis support, mental health support, harm reduction, homelessness prevention, eviction prevention, LGBTQ+ support, seniors support, conflict resolution, homework help, food safety and access to government support.
