After-Hours & Crisis Support

Immediate danger

If you or someone else is in immediate danger, or you need urgent medical help:

• Call 911
• Go to the nearest emergency department

If you have already taken steps to end your life or seriously harm yourself, call 911 right away or go to the nearest emergency department.

24/7 crisis lines

These national services are available any time, day or night, from anywhere in Canada.

• 9-8-8 Suicide Crisis Helpline. Call or text 9-8-8. Support is free, confidential, and available 24 hours a day, every day of the year, in English and French. 9-8-8 is for anyone in Canada who is thinking about suicide, is in crisis, or is worried about someone else. No one who reaches out is turned away. 988.ca
• Kids Help Phone (kids, teens, and young people). Call 1-800-668-6868, or text CONNECT to 686868. Free, confidential support is available 24/7 across Canada, by phone and text. You can also message online at kidshelpphone.ca.
• Hope for Wellness Helpline (First Nations, Inuit, and Métis people). Call 1-855-242-3310, or use the online chat at hopeforwellness.ca. Available 24/7 across Canada in English and French. Telephone support in Cree, Ojibway (Anishinaabemowin), and Inuktitut can be requested, though those languages are not always available around the clock.

Toronto local supports

If you are in Toronto, these local services can also help.

• Distress Centres of Toronto (408-HELP). Call 416-408-HELP (416-408-4357), 24 hours a day. This line offers emotional support, crisis intervention, and suicide-prevention support. TTY service is available at 416-408-0007, and language interpretation is available. torontodistresscentre.com
• Gerstein Crisis Centre. Call 416-929-5200, 24 hours a day. Crisis workers can support you by phone and help you find next steps. Over-the-phone interpretation is available 24/7 in more than 180 languages. To reach a Toronto Community Crisis Service team through Gerstein, you can also call 211. gersteincentre.org
• Toronto Community Crisis Service (TCCS). Call 211 to be connected. TCCS offers free, confidential, non-police, in-person mental health support from mobile crisis teams. It is available 24/7 for Toronto residents age 16 and older. This service is for non-emergency mental health crisis support. If you are under 16, call 211 to be connected to youth supports. toronto.ca
• Toronto Rape Crisis Centre / Multicultural Women Against Rape. Call 416-597-8808, 24 hours a day, including holidays. After you call, you will be asked to leave a phone number. A trained peer counsellor will call you back from a blocked number. This line is for survivors of sexual and gender-based violence, and for people supporting them. trccmwar.ca

Youth

• Kids Help Phone. Call 1-800-668-6868, or text CONNECT to 686868, 24/7 from anywhere in Canada. Phone support is also available in multiple languages. kidshelpphone.ca
• RiseUp, powered by Kids Help Phone. African, Caribbean, and Black youth across Canada can text RISE to 686868 for free, confidential wellness and mental health support, 24/7. Phone and live chat support are also available through Kids Help Phone. RiseUp information
• Good2Talk (Ontario post-secondary students). Call 1-866-925-5454, or text GOOD2TALKON to 686868. Free, confidential support is available 24/7 for students at Ontario colleges, universities, trade schools, and Indigenous institutions, including part-time and international students. You can also message online at good2talk.ca.
• YouthLine (2SLGBTQ+ youth under 30 in Ontario). Text 647-694-4275, or use chat on youthline.ca. Available Sunday to Friday, 4:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Eastern Time. YouthLine offers anonymous peer support. It is not a crisis service. If you need immediate crisis support, use 9-8-8, Kids Help Phone, or 911.

Specific communities

• Hope for Wellness Helpline (First Nations, Inuit, and Métis people). Call 1-855-242-3310, or chat at hopeforwellness.ca, 24/7.
• Talk4Healing (Indigenous women and their families). Call or text 1-855-554-HEAL (1-855-554-4325). Culturally grounded support is available 24/7 by talk, text, and chat, including in several Indigenous languages. Talk4Healing
• National Indian Residential School Crisis Line. Call 1-866-925-4419, 24/7, for former Indian Residential School students and their families.
• Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA+ people crisis line. Call 1-844-413-6649, 24/7.
• Assaulted Women’s Helpline (Ontario). Call 1-866-863-0511 (toll-free), or 416-863-0511 in the GTA, 24/7. Toll-free TTY: 1-866-863-7868. GTA TTY: 416-364-8762. On Bell, Rogers, Fido, or Telus mobile phones, you can also dial #SAFE (#7233). Support is available in more than 200 languages. awhl.org
• Fem’aide (Francophone and French-speaking women). Call 1-877-336-2433, 24/7. TTY: 1-866-860-7082.
• Support for male survivors of sexual abuse (Ontario). Call 1-866-887-0015, 24/7, for multilingual crisis and referral support.
• Trans Lifeline (trans and questioning peers). In Canada, call 1-877-330-6366. This is a peer-support line run by trans people. It is not 24/7. Hours are Monday to Friday, 1:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time. translifeline.org
• YouthLine (2SLGBTQ+ youth under 30). Text 647-694-4275, Sunday to Friday, 4:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Eastern Time. See the Youth section above for details.
• RiseUp, powered by Kids Help Phone (African, Caribbean, and Black youth). Text RISE to 686868, 24/7. See the Youth section above for details.
• Toronto Community Crisis Service also offers Afrocentric and traditional Indigenous supports as part of its mobile response. Call 211 in Toronto.

Non-urgent support

These services can help you find care, information, or community resources when the need is not an emergency.

• ConnexOntario. Call 1-866-531-2600, or text CONNEX to 247247. Free, confidential information and support about mental health, addiction, and problem gambling services in Ontario, available 24/7. Chat and email are also available at connexontario.ca.
• Health811 (Ontario). Call 811 (TTY: 711), or use live chat at health811.ontario.ca, 24/7, for health advice and help connecting to care, including mental health support. In a medical emergency, call 911.
• 211. Call 211, or 1-877-330-3213 (toll-free in Ontario; TTY: 1-888-340-1001). 211 can connect you to community, social, health, and government services. In Toronto, 211 is also the main number for the Toronto Community Crisis Service.

If you live outside Ontario

Virtual therapy clients at Kalm Wellness Therapy may be anywhere in Canada. 9-8-8 is a national service: you can call or text 9-8-8 from every province and territory. Kids Help Phone and the Hope for Wellness Helpline are also available across Canada.

For non-emergency health advice, many provinces and territories offer 811, though the service can differ from place to place (in Ontario it is called Health811). You can also call 211 or visit 211.ca to find local supports, or see the Government of Canada’s mental health support page for provincial and territorial resources.

You are not alone, and support is available.