Community Resources – CD BRAIN Hub

IN CASE OF AN EMERGENCY, PLEASE CALL 911 or YOUR LOCAL EMERGENCY SERVICE

Canada has a range of other resources and supports for mental health and substance use crises. Many of these are available 24 hours.

Most of these services are by phone. Some have a chat service available online or by text.

You can see a list of emergency services across Canada Here: Get Help With Substance Use

Types of Services and Treatment Centers

Types of Services

There are different types of services that have different purposes:

Emergency services: for physical, mental health, or substance use emergencies. This can include 911/hospitals, crisis phone/chat/text lines, or shelters.

Non-emergency support: can be short or long-term.

Naloxone kits: you can obtain a naloxone kit for free from a local pharmacy without any stigma. All you need to do is tell them that you or somebody you know uses drugs. You can ask how to use it, carefully read the instructions, and/or find instructions online, such as a video.

Services for Specific Populations

Some services and treatment centers are designed to serve specific populations of people:

Gender-specific: male-identifying only or female-identifying only (including transgender)
Indigenous
Youth
People with families

Inpatient vs Out-patient Treatment Centers

Some treatment centers are in-patient while some are out-patient. Treatment centers are considered non-emergency

In-patient treatment centres: you live at the treatment centre for several weeks or months

Out-patient treatment centres and services: you visit the centre for regularly scheduled sessions (e.g., weekly) but do not stay overnight

Some services may also be online or by phone

Some services are individual (e.g., 1 to 1 therapy) while others are conducted in groups (e.g., group therapy)

Who Pays for Treatment?

Some treatment centers are covered through your provincial/territorial or federal government-provided health insurance and you will not need to pay.

Some treatments do have a fee. If you have extended health insurance, they may pay for part or all of it but you should contact them to ask if you are not sure. Otherwise, you will need to secure your own way to pay for it.

Some services require a referral from a doctor, social worker, or therapist. If you are not sure how to get help, you can:

Call 811 to speak with a medical professional (most provinces)
Ask your doctor, case manager, social worker, or therapist
Phone a mental health support line
Search Online. The Goverment of Canada provides links to provincial services.
Call or email the treatment center or look at their website. Questions you can ask are:

– How would I be able to get treatment
from this place?
– Do I need a referral?
– How long is treatment?
– What does treatment involve?
– Is there a waitlist?
– How long would it take for me to be able to get treatment?
– Do you have any other services you would recommend for me?
– Will I need to pay for treatment?
– Are you accredited? (Accredited means that the service/treatment centre has been formally evaluated and assessed to meet a specific set of standards. A place that is not accredited may still provide good treatment but the quality of treatment has not been carefully assessed by an outside organization).