If you need help now

Free. Around the clock. No referral, no diagnosis, no health card.

You do not have to be suicidal to call any of these. “I am not coping” is a good enough reason. You can call on someone else’s behalf.

If someone is in immediate danger, call 9-1-1 or go to the nearest emergency department. In Vancouver that includes Vancouver General Hospital and St. Paul’s Hospital, both of which have 24-hour emergency departments.

Anyone, anywhere in Canada

9-8-8 — call or text
Suicide Crisis Helpline. Call or text the three digits, free, 24 hours a day, in English and French. For thoughts of suicide, and for anyone worried about someone else.
Kids Help Phone — 1-800-668-6868
Or text CONNECT to 686868. Free, 24 hours, for young people. Counsellors, not a recording.
Hope for Wellness — 1-855-242-3310
For all Indigenous peoples across Canada, 24 hours. Available in English and French, and on request in Cree, Ojibway and Inuktitut.

In British Columbia

310-6789
BC Mental Health Support Line. No area code needed, anywhere in the province. 24 hours. Emotional support, information, and a route into local services. You do not need to be in crisis.
1-800-SUICIDE — 1-800-784-2433
BC’s suicide prevention and intervention line, 24 hours.
604-872-3311
The Vancouver Coastal regional distress line, 24 hours.
KUU-US Crisis Line — 1-800-588-8717
Indigenous-specific crisis support for all Indigenous people in BC, 24 hours, staffed by Indigenous crisis responders.
VictimLink BC — 1-800-563-0808
For victims of crime, including family violence and sexual violence. 24 hours, and multilingual — interpretation is available in a great many languages, including Arabic.
2-1-1
Not a crisis line. The way to find food, housing, income support, settlement services and community programmes near you, 24 hours, with interpretation.

إذا كنت بحاجة إلى مساعدة الآن

في حالة الخطر الفوري، اتصل بالرقم 9-1-1.

خط مساعدة الأزمات على مدار الساعة: 9-8-8 (اتصال أو رسالة نصية، بالإنكليزية أو الفرنسية).

للحصول على دعم باللغة العربية مع مترجم، اتصل بخط VictimLink BC على 1-800-563-0808، أو بخط 2-1-1 للخدمات المجتمعية.

الصفحة الكاملة بالعربية ←

If English is not your first language

Two of the lines above have interpretation built in, and they are the ones to use if you would rather not do this in English:

  • VictimLink BC — 1-800-563-0808 offers interpretation in a great many languages, Arabic among them.
  • 2-1-1 — dial 211 for community, settlement and practical services, also with interpretation.

9-8-8 answers in English and French. If you call it and English is hard, say the language you want and ask for an interpreter — asking is normal and it is not a bother.

About this list

Every number here was checked against the organisation that runs it on 28 August 2026. Crisis services do change — lines merge, numbers get retired. If one of these does not work, that is worth telling us so it can be fixed, but please do not stop at a dead number: dial 9-8-8 or 9-1-1.

This page is deliberately the plainest one on this website. It carries no images, no animation and no scripts that it needs, so it loads on a bad connection and an old phone, and it prints onto one sheet of paper if that is more use to you.

If you are in danger right now, do not wait for an appointment.

Counselling is not emergency care and this website cannot help in a crisis. If you are thinking about ending your life, or someone is in immediate danger, call 9-1-1 or go to your nearest emergency department. The lines below are free, answered around the clock, and need no referral, no diagnosis and no health card.