Close X
Wednesday, November 27, 2024
ADVT 
National

Mental health minister puts $156M toward launch of 988 crisis hotline in November

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 24 Jul, 2023 03:44 PM
  • Mental health minister puts $156M toward launch of 988 crisis hotline in November

The government is putting $156 million over three years toward a new three-digit suicide-prevention hotline, Mental Health Minister Carolyn Bennett announced Monday.

Starting on Nov. 30, people in crisis will be able to dial 988 anywhere in Canada to be connected with trained responders 24 hours a day by phone or text message.

The free service will be offered in English and French.

The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health will receive the money to launch and operate the hotline.

The minister is also giving the organization $21 million to bolster the capacity of distress centres as they prepare for the increased demand for services. 

The hotline won't be able to help people in crisis unless they can connect with local mental health services, the Canadian Mental Health Association said in a statement Monday. 

Current wait-lists are overwhelming, CAMH said in a statement Monday, and the centre expects a four- to sixfold increase in demand when the new hotline launches.

Without community-based services wherever the caller is located, the new hotline will only lead to new wait-lists, the organization said.

Conservative MP Todd Doherty put forward a motion to establish a national suicide prevention hotline in December 2020, and the House of Commons passed it unanimously.

MORE National ARTICLES

B.C. must urgently change forest strategies or face more wildfire disasters: report

B.C. must urgently change forest strategies or face more wildfire disasters: report
British Columbia's independent forests watchdog is calling for the provincial government to make critical changes to how it manages forests to reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfires. It comes as the largest wildfire in the province's history, the Donnie Creek wildfire, continues to burn out of control in the remote northeast.  

B.C. must urgently change forest strategies or face more wildfire disasters: report

BOC outlook survey

BOC outlook survey
The Bank of Canada's latest business outlook survey suggests businesses still anticipate larger-than-normal wage and price increases over the next year. The central bank reports expectations are shifting closer to what they were before the pandemic.

BOC outlook survey

B.C. health authority issues drug alert after benzodiazepines found in vape juice

B.C. health authority issues drug alert after benzodiazepines found in vape juice
Fraser Health issued an overdose alert Thursday saying the juice that tested positive contained cannabis and suspected synthetic cannabinoids and was sold in refillable, unmarked and unbranded cartridges. It did not specify where the product was sold.

B.C. health authority issues drug alert after benzodiazepines found in vape juice

Teenage hiker Esther Wang is found safe after two days lost in B.C. park

Teenage hiker Esther Wang is found safe after two days lost in B.C. park
Team manager Ryan Smith with Ridge Meadows Search and Rescue says Esther Wang was located Thursday night and has gone home with her family after a medical assessment. RCMP say the 16-year-old from Langley, B.C., was part of a group of four people who were hiking in Golden Ears Provincial Park on Tuesday.

Teenage hiker Esther Wang is found safe after two days lost in B.C. park

Transit altercation results in a broken jaw and severed finger

Transit altercation results in a broken jaw and severed finger
On May 23rd just before 6:00 p.m., a physical altercation took place between two men, not known to each other, as they were boarding the same bus at the Marine Drive Canada Line Station in Vancouver. During the course of the altercation, a bus window was broken and a bystander was injured.  

Transit altercation results in a broken jaw and severed finger

B.C. staff who failed to check on two abused foster children lose jobs: ministry

B.C. staff who failed to check on two abused foster children lose jobs: ministry
While the Ministry of Children and Family Development did not provide the names or the number of people involved, it said in a statement "the staff who were directly involved in this case are no longer employed by the ministry." The statement said ministry staff did not follow its policy that children in care should be seen regularly by a social worker.    

B.C. staff who failed to check on two abused foster children lose jobs: ministry