Crisis and support services are listed below. If you or someone you know has suicide-related concerns, please call the Canada Suicide Prevention Helpline,
Distress Centres of Greater Toronto – Toronto
Provides emotional support, crisis intervention and suicide prevention, intervention & postvention, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year to at risk and vulnerable individuals in Toronto.
Phone: 416-408-4357
Distress Centres of Greater Toronto – Peel
Provides emotional support, crisis intervention and suicide prevention, intervention & postvention, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year to at risk and vulnerable individuals in Peel Region.
Phone: 905-459-7777
TTY: 905-278-4890
Hope for Wellness Helpline
Provides immediate mental health support and crisis intervention to all Indigenous peoples across Canada. Phone and on-line chat are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week in English and French. Upon request, phone support can be provided in Cree, Ojibway and Inuktitut.
Phone: 1-855-242-3310
Chat: hopeforwellness.ca
Gerstein Crisis Centre
Crisis workers are available by phone 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to help adults 16+ in Toronto to work out effective ways of addressing immediate difficulties and to provide connections to ongoing supports and services. Mobile crisis team visits can also be arranged for people living in downtown Toronto and a Substance Use Crisis Team can provide crisis response and follow-up support to people with serious substance use problems and/or concurrent mental health and substance use disorders.
Phone: 416-929-5200
Scarborough Health Network - Community Crisis Line
Provides professional crisis de-escalation, support and safety and crisis planning 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for adults 16+ in Scarborough and East York who are experiencing mental health symptoms, including feelings of sadness, hopelessness, or anxiety. Mental health assessments, referrals to community resources, brief psychotherapies and community visits are also available.
Phone: 416-495-2891
Please note this is not an exhaustive list and only includes some of the publicly-available services and supports for people in need of assistance. This list was last updated on September 10, 2020.
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
Please note this is not an exhaustive list and only includes some of the publicly-available services and supports for people in need of assistance. This list was last updated on September 10, 2020.
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.
Phone: 647-327-0206
Email: Supportline@wardenwoods.com
Please note this is not an exhaustive list and only includes some of the publicly-available services and supports for people in need of assistance. This list was last updated on September 10, 2020.
As Canada’s leading mental health research hospital, CAMH is dedicated to suicide prevention. We investigate, develop and implement treatments and policies that give people hope for a better tomorrow.
If you are experiencing thoughts of suicide, there are resources available to help you.
More InformationIf you are experiencing thoughts of suicide, you are deserving of help and can call 1-833-456-4566. If you feel safe in the moment, follow up with your family physician or care team. If you require immediate, in-person emergency care, call 911, or go to your nearest emergency department.
If you are at risk for suicide, you may:
It is important to remember that suicide is preventable. Most people who have suicidal thoughts or have attempted suicide go on to live full, meaningful lives.
If you think someone you care about may be at risk of suicide, there are steps you can take to help them through this difficult time.
More InformationIt may be difficult to know if a person is thinking about suicide, but familiarizing yourself with common warning signs can better prepare you to notice someone who is at risk.
People who are at risk for suicide may:
If you’re worried someone you know may be at risk of suicide, be direct and ask them if they have been experiencing suicidal thoughts. Reaching out can save a life.
Read MoreIf someone dear to you has died by suicide, there are dedicated resources that can support you through your grief and help you make sense of what has happened.
More InformationWhen a loved one dies by suicide, your emotions can overwhelm you. As you face life after a loved one’s suicide, using healthy coping strategies and seeking support from others will help you begin the journey to healing and acceptance.
The grieving process is different for each person and there is no timeline for grief. It’s important to remember that what you’re feeling is normal.
It may be difficult to speak openly about suicide, but it is important to tell family and friends the truth. This allows them to help each other cope with their grief while also helping you work through yours. When talking to children and young people about suicide, use words that match their age and development. Reassure them that suicide is never anyone’s fault.
Remind yourself you will survive. There will be times when your grief is overwhelming. But you will learn how to cope and heal in a way that honours the memory of your loved one. It is hard to believe now, but you will get through it. And as time goes on, the pain will lessen.
Read MoreLearn about suicide and other mental health challenges by consulting these evidence-informed resources.
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