Suicide Hotlines and Crisis Lines in Canada

A helpline is a place to talk to someone when you are struggling, before or instead of a crisis. The lines on this page are answered by counsellors, trained volunteers or health-service staff, depending on the service. If you are not in Canada, the worldwide list is organised by country.

The national lines come first, then the line for your province or territory, then the local distress and crisis centres, grouped by region. If you do not want to read that far, call or text 9-8-8 from anywhere in the country.

What you share is kept private in almost all cases; if a counsellor believes a life is in immediate danger, they may arrange urgent help. What each service costs is set out beside it below. Several lines here are toll-free, and where an organisation publishes no call cost we say so rather than guess.

TherapyRoute is a directory. We do not answer calls or messages ourselves, so please use the numbers below rather than contacting us if you need someone now.

CRISIS LINES, SUICIDE HOTLINES, AND HELPLINES IN CANADA

Each number below was checked in September 2026 at the operating organisation's own website, at its host institution's website, or at a federal, provincial or territorial government page.

Notice an error or a missing service? Please tell us so we can correct it.

9-1-1, Canada's emergency number

9-8-8 Suicide Crisis Helpline, call or text, at any hour

Kids Help Phone, 1-800-668-6868, for children and young adults

Hope for Wellness Help Line, 1-855-242-3310, for Indigenous people

National Indian Residential School Crisis Line, 1-866-925-4419

Talk 4 Healing, for Indigenous women, across Ontario

Trans Lifeline, a peer line for trans and nonbinary callers

Naseeha Mental Health, 1-866-627-3342

The line for your province or territory

Distress Centre of Ottawa and Region, six lines

Ontario, local distress and crisis centres

Quebec, regional crisis and suicide-prevention centres

British Columbia, regional crisis lines

Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, local lines

While you are waiting to be answered

If you are worried about someone else

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9-1-1, Canada's emergency number

9-1-1 is the number for the police, the fire service and an ambulance. The CRTC, the federal regulator, describes the arrangement on its own page: "The CRTC regulates telephone and cell service companies. These companies create networks that make it possible to connect 9-1-1 calls to call centres. These centres then dispatch emergency responders, such as police, firefighters, and paramedics."

Emergency: 9-1-1

Cost: not published on the regulator's pages, so we do not state one.

If you cannot speak, or cannot hear: the CRTC publishes Text with 9-1-1 as a separate service for people who are Deaf, Hard of Hearing or Speech Impaired. It has to be registered with your mobile provider in advance and it is not a general SMS channel.

One caveat the regulator states itself and this page does not smooth over: "Both emergency responders and 9-1-1 call centres fall under the jurisdiction of provincial, territorial, and municipal governments." There is no single federal page describing 9-1-1 coverage across the country, so nationwide availability is not asserted here beyond what the CRTC says. Several of the services below independently tell their own callers to dial 911 in a life-threatening emergency.

9-8-8 Suicide Crisis Helpline, call or text, at any hour

9-8-8 is Canada's national three-digit suicide crisis line, reachable by call or by text from anywhere in the country. In the service's own words: "A safe space to talk, 24 hours a day, every day of the year." It publishes a page explaining what happens when you call or text, and it routes safety emergencies elsewhere: "If your safety is at risk, call 9-1-1 right away." The service is funded by the Public Health Agency of Canada, named in its own site footer.

Tel: 9-8-8

Text: 9-8-8

Hours: "24/7/365", printed in the service's own persistent banner.

Cost: not published on the pages read, so we do not state one.

Languages: English and French. The service publishes a full French mirror of its site. No further language list appears on the pages read.

Kids Help Phone, 1-800-668-6868, for children and young adults

Kids Help Phone is a national service for children, teens and young adults. Its own words: "Kids Help Phone's e-mental health services are available 24/7 across Canada. This means that we're here for kids, teens and young adults from coast to coast to coast."

A young person who identifies as Indigenous can ask to be connected with a First Nations, Inuk or Métis crisis responder, where one is available, by texting FIRST NATIONS, INUIT or METIS to the same number.

Tel: 1-800-668-6868

Text: CONNECT to 686868

Chat: kidshelpphone.ca

Hours: the phone and text lines are answered 24/7, in the organisation's own words. The Live Chat runs a much shorter window, which the organisation publishes as midnight until 7:00 a.m., and it is recorded separately here rather than folded into the wider hours.

Cost: free, in the organisation's own repeated wording.

Languages: "multiple languages over the phone". The organisation does not itemise them.

Hope for Wellness Help Line, 1-855-242-3310, for Indigenous people

The Hope for Wellness Help Line offers immediate counselling and crisis intervention to Indigenous people, by phone or online chat. Indigenous Services Canada's own page: "The Hope for Wellness Helpline offers immediate help to all Indigenous people across Canada. It is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to offer immediate support and crisis intervention." The counsellors are described as experienced and culturally competent.

Tel: 1-855-242-3310

Chat: hopeforwellness.ca

Hours: 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, in the department's own words.

Cost: toll-free, in the department's own words.

Languages: English and French for both phone and chat. Telephone counselling is also available on request in Cree, Ojibway and Inuktitut, and those three are not available at all hours. Indigenous Services Canada states it plainly: "Supports in Cree, Ojibway, and Inuktitut are not available 24/7, so you may need to call in to find out the next time that a language-speaker will be available."

National Indian Residential School Crisis Line, 1-866-925-4419

Indigenous Services Canada's own words: "The National Indian Residential School Crisis Line provides 24-hour crisis support to former Indian Residential School students and their families toll-free at 1-866-925-4419."

Tel: 1-866-925-4419

Hours: 24-hour, in the department's own word.

Cost: toll-free.

Languages: not published on the page read.

The same federal page publishes a second line the previous version of this page did not carry. "Individuals impacted by the issue of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls are encouraged to contact the MMIWG Crisis Line toll-free at 1-844-413-6649."

MMIWG Crisis Line: 1-844-413-6649, toll-free, and published as round-the-clock on the Government of Saskatchewan's own page.

Talk 4 Healing, for Indigenous women, across Ontario

Talk 4 Healing is run by Beendigen. In the organisation's own words, the helpline "offers help, support, and resources 24/7 through talk, text, and chat" for Indigenous women, and it has been running since 2012.

Tel: 1-855-554-HEAL (4325)

Crisis line: 1-888-200-9997

Thunder Bay: 807-346-HELP (4357)

Hours: 24/7, in the organisation's own words.

Cost: the organisation describes the lines as toll-free.

Languages: the previous version of this page listed fourteen languages, among them Ojibway, Oji-Cree and Cree. Beendigen's own pages read on the day do not repeat that list, so it is carried here as the page has long stated it, and not as a fresh verification.

Trans Lifeline, a peer line for trans and nonbinary callers

Trans Lifeline is a peer-support hotline: "When you contact us, you'll be connected to a trans/nonbinary peer operator." The organisation publishes a strict policy against non-consensual intervention, which is a material difference from other lines on this page and worth knowing before you call. In its own words, "We don't use caller ID, call tracing, or geolocation services," and "We do not perform nonconsensual intervention and sharing of your information with law enforcement via our Hotline."

Tel: (877) 330-6366, the number the organisation prints for Canadian callers

Hours: Monday to Friday only. The organisation's own words: "Trans Lifeline's hotline operating hours are Monday through Friday: 10 AM to 6 PM Pacific / 11 AM to 7 PM Mountain / 12 PM to 8 PM Central / 1 PM to 9 PM Eastern." It also publishes named holiday closures. At any other time, 9-8-8 answers.

Cost: not published on the page read.

Languages: English, and Spanish by pressing option 2.

Naseeha Mental Health, 1-866-627-3342

Naseeha takes calls and texts on the same number, and the previous version of this page described its support as anonymous and non-judgmental. Its own words: "Call our free 24/7 Helpline."

Tel and text: 1-866-627-3342

Hours: 24/7, in the organisation's own words.

Cost: free, in the organisation's own words.

Languages: not published on the page read.

The line for your province or territory

These are the province-wide and territory-wide numbers, each read on a government page. If your province or territory is not here, call or text 9-8-8.

British Columbia: 310-6789 for mental health support, dialled with no area code, and 1-800-784-2433, which the Government of BC prints as 1-800-SUICIDE. The Crisis Line Association of BC says of the second: "Since 2004, 1800SUICIDE has been operating 24/7/365 throughout British Columbia." No hours are published for 310-6789 on the page read.

Alberta: 1-877-303-2642, the Mental Health Helpline; 1-866-332-2322, the Addiction Helpline; and 1-844-944-4744 or 811, the Indigenous Support Line. Alberta Health Services lists all three under the heading "Help Available 24/7".

Saskatchewan: 811, HealthLine, and 1-800-567-9699, the French-language TAO Tel-Aide helpline, which the province publishes as answering 24/7.

Manitoba: 204-786-8686 or 1-888-322-3019, the Klinic Crisis Support Line; 1-877-435-7170, the Manitoba Suicide Line; and 1-855-662-6605, the Manitoba Addictions Helpline, which the previous version of this page already carried. Shared Health Manitoba publishes no hours for the first two on the page read.

Ontario: 1-866-531-2600, ConnexOntario, "24/7, 365", free, and answered in over 130 languages last year. Ontario's own page states a limit this page carries rather than smooths: "The helpline is not for crisis situations." It is an access and referral line. For health advice, 811, Health811, answers 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Distress and Crisis Ontario, the provincial association of distress centres, also runs a text channel and an online chat.

Distress and Crisis Ontario text: SUPPORT to 258258

Distress and Crisis Ontario chat: the chat opens through an online registration form, the same link the previous version of this page carried. We have not verified that link ourselves. The association's own site says of its members: "Distress centres offer 24/7 support and referrals at no cost."

Quebec: 811, Info-Social, "24 heures par jour, 365 jours par année". Quebec's own page states a limit worth knowing: a person living in Quebec cannot reach Info-Social 811 from outside the province. For suicide prevention, 1 866 APPELLE is below, under the Quebec regional centres.

New Brunswick: 1-866-355-5550, the New Brunswick Addiction and Mental Health Helpline, which the province publishes as a 24/7 line.

Nunavut: 1-800-265-3333, which the Government of Nunavut's own resource page leads with, and 867-979-3333 in Iqaluit. It is answered by the Nunavut Kamatsiaqtut Help Line, whose full entry is below.

Northwest Territories: 1-800-661-0844, the NWT Help Line, answered by the Distress Centre of Ottawa and Region, which publishes it as current although the territorial government's own help-line pages do not list it.

Distress Centre of Ottawa and Region, six lines

Six of the lines on the previous version of this page are answered by one organisation, the Distress Centre of Ottawa and Region, under contract for different parts of the country. Its own directory publishes the hours, languages, ages and coverage of each, and every one of the six is stated as answering "24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year".

The organisation's own standing note applies to all of them: "Please note that the Crisis Line is not an emergency service. If you have an immediate life-threatening emergency, please dial 911."

Ottawa Distress Line: 613-238-3311, all ages, English and French, in operation since 1969.

Champlain District Crisis Line: 613-722-6914 within the City of Ottawa, or 1-866-996-0991 outside it. Age 16 and over, English and French, serving Akwesasne Territory, the City of Ottawa, the County of Renfrew, Prescott and Russell, and Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry.

Grey and Bruce Crisis Line: 1-877-470-5200, age 16 and over, English only, for the Counties of Grey and Bruce.

Outaouais Distress Line: 1-866-676-1080, all ages, English only, for the MRC La Vallée-de-la-Gatineau, Les Collines-de-l'Outaouais, Papineau and Pontiac, in operation since 2002.

Nunavut Kamatsiaqtut Help Line: 1-800-265-3333, or 867-979-3333 in Iqaluit, all ages, English and French, for Nunavut and the Region of Nunavik in Quebec, in operation since 1990. Inuktitut is available on this line from 7:00 pm to midnight only, which is recorded separately here rather than folded into the line's wider hours. Its own site: "Call us. 24 hours a day. Every day."

NWT Help Line: 1-800-661-0844, all ages, for all regions of the Northwest Territories, in English and French plus the territory's nine other official languages through interpretation.

Cost: not published for any of the six.

Ontario, local distress and crisis centres

These are the local centres. Most answer around the clock; the ones that do not say so beside the number. If your area is not here, ConnexOntario above can name your local crisis line, and 9-8-8 answers from anywhere.

Toronto, Distress Centres of Greater Toronto: 416-408-4357, "24 hours a day, 365 days a year". The centre also answers in eight named languages, Monday to Friday from 10am to 10pm, which is narrower than its main line.

Toronto, Gerstein Crisis Centre: 416-929-5200, for adults 16 and over in the City of Toronto. Its own words: "Crisis Workers are available 24-hours a day, 7 days a week." Interpretation is offered in over 180 languages.

Durham, Distress Centre Durham: 905-430-2522 locally or 1-800-452-0688. Both numbers are published by Lakeridge Health, which hosts the service.

Peel, CMHA Peel Dufferin: 905-278-9036 or 1-888-811-2222. The organisation's own wording: "Call 24.7 Crisis Support Peel Dufferin".

Halton and Hamilton, Distress Centre Halton: 905-681-1488 in Burlington, 905-877-1211 in Milton and Halton Hills, 905-849-4541 in Oakville, and 905-561-5800 in Hamilton. All four are published together on the centre's own distress-line page.

Hamilton, COAST: 905-972-8338, "24-hour / 7 days a week", a partnership between St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton and the Hamilton Police Service. Its host says plainly that "COAST is not a rapid-response unit".

Lanark, Leeds and Grenville: 1-800-465-4442. The organisation publishes the distress line as running "5:00 pm to midnight 365 days a year", and a separate crisis line as "Available 24/7/365 days a year".

Peterborough, Telecare: 705-745-2273, "24 HOURS A DAY, 7 DAYS A WEEK", and free to call, in the centre's own words.

Niagara, Distress Centre Niagara: 905-688-3711 for St. Catharines and Niagara Falls, 905-734-1212 for Port Colborne and Wainfleet, 905-382-0689 for Fort Erie, and 905-563-6674 for Grimsby and West Lincoln. All four are answered by one centre, "24/7/365", and it also answers a text line the previous version of this page did not carry.

Niagara text: 905-682-2719

Wellington and Dufferin, Community Torchlight: distress line 519-821-3760 or 1-888-821-3760; crisis line 519-821-0140 or 1-877-822-0140. All four are published together by Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health.

Sarnia-Lambton, Family Counselling Centre: 519-336-3000 or 1-888-347-8737, which the organisation prints as 1-888-DISTRES. Its own words: "Volunteers are ready to answer your call." The distress line has long been listed as running from 9:00 to 23:00 daily; the organisation itself publishes no hours, so that is left as it stands rather than restated as verified.

Kingston, Telephone Aid Line Kingston: 613-544-1771, which the service publishes as answering from 6 p.m. to 2 a.m. Outside those hours it routes callers to the AMHS-KFLA 24-hour crisis line, 613-544-4229.

Certified Listeners Society, chat only: certifiedlisteners.org. The organisation describes itself as an emotional support chat centre and publishes chat support at any hour. It publishes no telephone number on any page read on the day, so none is printed here.

Quebec, regional crisis and suicide-prevention centres

1 866 APPELLE is Quebec's province-wide suicide-prevention line, and three of the entries on the previous version of this page were regional centres printing it. It is answered around the clock.

Tel: 1 866 277-3553

Texto: 535353

Chat: suicide.ca

The regional centres below answer their own local numbers as well.

Montréal, Centre de prévention du suicide de Montréal, listed on this page for years as Suicide Action Montréal: 1 866 277-3553, with text and chat as above. Its own words: "Disponible 24/7, toujours confidentiel."

Centre Prévention Suicide Faubourg: 450-569-0101, alongside 1 866 APPELLE. Its own words: "LIGNE D'URGENCE Prévention Suicide 24/24", 24h/24, 7 jours/7.

Lanaudière, Centre de prévention du suicide: 450 759-6116, alongside 1 866 APPELLE, on a line the centre publishes as "Ligne d'intervention téléphonique 24/7".

Granby, Centre de prévention suicide de la Haute-Yamaska: 450-375-4252, for Haute-Yamaska and Brome-Missisquoi. Quebec's health ministry publishes this line's opening hours as 8 h to 16 h, and its own rolling schedule showed the service closed on the weekend after it was read. Outside those hours, 1 866 APPELLE and 9-8-8 both answer.

Estrie, JEVI Centre de prévention du suicide: 819 564-1354, for suicidal people, their families, people bereaved by suicide and those who work with them.

Châteauguay, La maison sous les arbres: 450-699-5935, a line the organisation publishes as "Ligne d'intervention de crise et de prévention du suicide 24/7", alongside a 24-hour crisis centre. It prints its toll-free line as 1-855-450-699-5935, and that is reproduced exactly as the organisation publishes it.

Le Tournant: 450 371-4090, or toll-free 1 833 371-4090, a number the previous version of this page did not carry. Its own words: "LIGNE DE CRISE ET DE PRÉVENTION DU SUICIDE 24 heures sur 24, 7 jours sur 7."

Tel-Aide Outaouais: 819 775-3223 in Gatineau, 613 741-6433 in Ottawa, or toll-free 1 800 567-9699. The organisation publishes these lines as open 24 h sur 24, 365 jours par année, in French.

British Columbia, regional crisis lines

The Interior, Interior Crisis Line: 1-888-353-2273. Two entries on the previous version of this page printed this number, one under CMHA for the Kootenays and one under CMHA Vernon. Both sites name it the Interior Crisis Line, a network of five community agencies covering the Interior Health Region, "available in English and French, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year".

Fraser Health Crisis Line: 604-951-8855 or toll-free 1-877-820-7444, "24 hours a day, everyday". The same volunteers answer 1-800-SUICIDE and 310-6789.

Vancouver Island Crisis Line: 1-888-494-3888, a 24-hour line contracted by the Provincial Health Services Authority, for the islands of the Georgia Strait and the mainland communities between Powell River and Rivers Inlet.

Abbotsford and Mission, Telecare Crisis and Caring Line: 1-888-852-9099 toll-free, or 604-852-9099 locally. The organisation's own site publishes two different windows on two pages, 1pm to 9pm seven days a week on one and 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on the other. Both are printed here rather than one being chosen.

S.U.C.C.E.S.S. helplines, in four languages: one number, 1 (888) 721-0596, with a different extension for each language. Mandarin is extension 1 and Cantonese extension 2, both answered seven days a week from 10 am to 10 pm. Korean is extension 3 and Farsi-Dari extension 4, and both of those are answered Monday to Friday from 10 am to 8 pm and at weekends from 10 am to 5 pm. The service offers emotional support and referrals to community resources.

Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, local lines

Calgary, Distress Centre Calgary: 403-266-4357, which the centre publishes as taking both text and phone, giving "24-hour crisis support by phone, text and chat to Calgary and Southern Alberta".

Calgary, CMHA Calgary Region office: 403-297-1700. This is the branch's own office number, not a crisis line. CMHA Calgary's own crisis banner says: "If you or someone you know is in crisis, please call 911 or contact a 24/7 crisis line in your area. For urgent mental health support, reach out to the Distress Centre at 403-266-HELP (4357)."

Calgary, Wood's Homes: 403-299-9699, for children and families. The programme page that publishes this number gives its hours as 8 a.m. to 11 p.m., seven days a week, which is narrower than the previous version of this page claimed. Wood's Homes runs several programmes, and no page we read states round-the-clock availability for this number.

Edmonton, CMHA Edmonton distress line: 780-482-4357, published by the branch as "Distress Line (24/7) ... any time".

Southwestern Alberta, Distress Line: 403 327 7905 or toll-free 1-888-787-2880, "24 hours, 7 days a week telephone support", run by CMHA Lethbridge.

Taber, Taber Safe Haven, listed on this page for years as Safe Haven Women's Shelter Society: 403-223-0483, published by the organisation as a 24/7 crisis line. It provides emergency shelter for women and children, and takes calls from family and friends worried about someone.

Strathmore, True North, listed on this page for years as Wheatland Crisis Society: 1-877-934-6634 or 403-934-6634. It provides safety, shelter, crisis counselling, referral and advocacy for people affected by family abuse or in crisis.

Alberta, Stepping Stones to Mental Health Society, listed on this page for years as the Dr. Margaret Savage Crisis Centre: 780-594-3353, published by the organisation as a 24/7 helpline, for people in Alberta in distress or in crisis.

Fort McMurray, Some Other Solutions: 780-743-4357, a 24/7 crisis line for the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo, in the organisation's own words.

North East Outreach and Support Services: 306-752-9455, "24 hrs a DAY", in the organisation's own words. It offers information, referrals and support for victims of sexual assault and for people at risk of suicide. It publishes no coverage statement on the page read, and the previous version of this page named none either.

While you are waiting to be answered

A line that is open can still be busy, and several of the services above answer only part of the day. If you are waiting, try to stay with someone you trust, or ask someone to sit with you until the call connects.

If you have anything near you that you could use to harm yourself, put it somewhere harder to reach, or ask someone else to hold it for you. Distance and time both help.

If waiting is not possible, dial 9-1-1, or go to a hospital emergency department. You do not need an appointment and you do not need to explain yourself well.

If you are worried about someone else

Ask them directly. Asking someone whether they are thinking of suicide does not put the idea there, and it often comes as a relief to be asked plainly.

Listen more than you advise. You do not need the right words, and you are not expected to fix anything.

If they are willing, offer to sit with them while they call one of the numbers above, or to make the call together. If they are in immediate danger, treat it as you would any medical emergency.

Supporting someone through this is heavy, and it is reasonable to want support of your own. 9-8-8 answers at any hour, and so do most of the distress centres above, which take calls from people worried about someone else and not only from the person in crisis.

For services in other countries, see the list of helplines and suicide hotlines worldwide.

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