The Distress Centre of Ottawa and Region (DCOR) has been a proud partner of the 9-8-8 National Suicide Crisis Helpline since its launch across Canada on November 30, 2023.

This critical, 24/7 service offers nationwide support to individuals experiencing thoughts of suicide or emotional distress and is co-delivered by 34 partner centres across Canada.

9-8-8 is led and coordinated by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) and is funded by the Government of Canada.

DCOR’s first full year of service as a 9-8-8 partner was a year of learning, growth, and success with quality support at its foundation.

The guidance and responsiveness of CAMH’s National Hub has been instrumental in supporting all partners, ensuring a smooth integration into the national framework, working constantly on future service enhancements, and more recently, in providing helpful and meaningful support for responders.

Since joining 9-8-8, the 2024-2025 year has seen changes to DCOR’s fully remote team of dedicated English responders growing from 10 to 16, and a team of 7 Service Support Workers who answer the French lines.

In growing the responder team and increasing the number of shifts, DCOR has been able to increase the number of cross country callers that we are able to support.

From April 2024 to March 2025, our responders answered 14,330 calls from our area and across the country.

Of these calls, only 170 required escalation to 911 — a rate of only 0.01% — demonstrating the effectiveness of the service. Our escalation specialists follow 9-8-8’s model of least intrusive intervention, reaching out to Poison Control and Child Protective Services for advice and reporting when absolutely necessary and contacting 911 as a last resort.

This past year’s results underline the vital role that The Distress Centre of Ottawa plays in 9-8-8’s life saving initiative and supporting people in crisis in our communities.