Helplines
Distress and Crisis of Ontario
Distress Centres (DC’s) across Ontario offer support and a variety of services to their communities. At a DC you can find a listening ear for lonely, depressed, and/or suicidal people, usually 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The website also offers a chat function.
Distress Centre Lanark, Leeds, and Grenville:
Tel: 1-800-465-4442
Crisis Centre North Bay:
Tel: 705-474-1031
Northern Ontario - Talk 4 Healing (Beendigen Inc):
Tel: 1-855-554-4325 (HEAL)
Toll-Free: 1-888-200-9997
Thunder Bay: 807-346-4357 (HELP)
Distress Centre Ottawa & Region
Ottawa 24/7 Distress Line: 613-238-3311
Ottawa 24/7 Crisis Line: 613-722-6914
Toll-Free: 1-866-996-0991
Family Counselling Centre Sarnia-Lambton
Tel: 519-336-3000
Toll-Free: 1-888-347-8738 (1-888-DISTRES)
Distress Centre Durham:
Tel: 905-430-2522
Toll-Free: 1-800-452-0688
Distress Centre Halton:
Oakville: 905-849-4541
Burlington: 905-681-1488
Milton/Halton Hills: 905-877-1211
Kingston - Telephone Aid Line Kingston (TALK):
Tel: 613-544-1771
Kamatsiaqtut Nunavut Helpline
Tel: 876-979-3333
Toll-Free: 1-800-265-3333
Telecare Distress Centre of Peterborough
Tel: 705-745-2273
Distress Centres of Greater Toronto
Distress Centres of Greater Toronto is a service agency dedicated to providing timely emotional support, crisis intervention, and suicide prevention to people in distress.
408-HELP
GTA Tel: 416-408-4357
Peel Tel: 905-459-7777
This service is available 24/7 and 365 days a year, providing crisis intervention, abuse response, suicide intervention, and emotional support to everyone in our communities.
Multilingual Distress Lines
Caledon Tel: 877-289-5444
Brampton & Mississauga Tel: 905-459-7777
TTY: 905-278-4890
These support lines are available 24/7 and 365 days a week in English. Support in Cantonese, Mandarin, Portuguese, Spanish, Hindi, Punjabi and Urdu is available Mondays-Fridays from 10am to 10pm.
9-8-8 Suicide Crisis Helpline
Tel and SMS: 988
9-8-8 is a new national helpline for anyone across Canada who is thinking about suicide, or who is worried about someone they know. Call or text 9-8-8 toll-free, anytime for support in English and French. 9-8-8 responders are here to listen and provide help without judgement
Tel: 1-866 -531-2600
Free and confidential health services information for people experiencing problems with alcohol and drugs, mental health and/or gambling by connecting them with services in their area. Available 24/7.
SMS: Text CONNECT to 686868
Tel: 1-800-668-6868
Kids Help Phone is Canada’s only 24/7 e-mental health service offering free, multilingual and confidential support to help all young people Feel Out Loud.
SMS: 647-424-1134 Online Chat: https://trccmwar.ca/
Tel: (416) 597-8808
The Toronto Rape Crisis Centre / Multicultural Women Against Rape (TRCC/MWAR) is a grassroots, women and non-binary people run collective. They work towards a violence-free world by providing anti-oppressive, feminist peer support to survivors of gender-based or sexualized violence. They engage in public education, activism, and provide direct individual and group support to survivors and their supporters. Their crisis line is free and open to call 24/7.
GTA: 416-863-0511
Toll-free: 1-866-863-0511
Toll-free TTY: 1-866-863-7868
#SAFE (#7233) on your Bell, Rogers, Fido or Telus mobile phone
This is a free, anonymous and confidential 24-hour telephone and TTY crisis telephone line to all women in the province of Ontario who have experienced any form of abuse. Their services are available in over 200 languages through phone interpretation. Counsellors provide emotional support, counselling, safety planning, information and referrals.
GTA: 416-863-0511
Toll-free: 1-866-863-0511
Toll-free TTY: 1-866-863-7868
#SAFE (#7233) on your Bell, Rogers, Fido or Telus mobile phone
The Seniors Safety Line is the only 24/7 crisis and support line for seniors in Ontario who have experienced any type of abuse or neglect. Trained counsellors provide confidential, anonymous and free counselling support including emotional support, referrals and information on local resources, creation of safety plans and assistance with navigating services. Services are available in over 200 languages.
SMS: 647-694-4275 Online Chat: https://www.youthline.ca/
LGBT YouthLine is a non-judgemental, confidential, and informed peer support service for 2SLGBTQ+ and questioning youth (ages 29 and under) run by 2SLGBTQ+ youth. They serve all of Ontario. They are there to listen to whatever you want to talk about, whether you need to unpack a stressful experience, plan a tough conversation, or simply distract yourself from things for a bit with a nice chat! They are always happy to look for resources together and share things that have worked for others in the community.
Tel: 1-800-604-5841
Call Black Line provides a space for peer support, counseling, reporting of mistreatment, witnessing and affirming the lived experiences for folxs who are most impacted by systematic oppression with an LGBTQ+ Black Femme Lens. Call Black Line prioritizes BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color).
Tel: 1-855-242-3310
This service offers immediate mental health counselling and crisis intervention to all Indigenous peoples across Canada. Phone and chat counselling is available in English, French, Cree, Ojibway and Inuktitut.
BounceBack is a free skill-building program designed to help adults and youth 15+ manage low mood, mild to moderate depression, anxiety, stress or worry. Delivered online or over the phone with a coach, you will get access to tools that will support you on your path to mental wellness. Their team includes registered clinical psychologists, administrative staff, and over 60 coaches who offer telephone support in over 15 different languages. The coaches come from a variety of backgrounds, including psychology, social work, and people with lived experience.
SMS: Text GOOD2TALKON to 686868
Tel: 1-866-925-5454
Good2Talk (Ontario) is dedicated to providing 24/7, free, compassionate and confidential support over phone and text message (SMS) to post-secondary students. They also offer Peer-to-Peer Community Support, a space where you can read and share experiences with other young people across Canada.