Toronto – Mayor Olivia Chow was joined by Toronto Community Crisis Service (TCCS) agency partners and community crisis workers to formally launch the service city-wide and ahead of schedule, as the City of Toronto’s fourth emergency service.
Over the last two years, the TCCS has quickly developed from a pilot program into a city-wide service and has responded to nearly 18,000 calls for service since its launch in March 2022.
The TCCS operates in partnership with the five partner organizations working with the City of Toronto to implement the service. Under this innovative, community-based model, TCCS crisis workers dispatched to mental health crisis calls are employed by partner organizations, with the City providing oversight, financial and logistical support, performance monitoring and community engagement. The partner organizations are:
- 2-Spirited People of the 1st Nations
- Canadian Mental Health Association, Toronto Branch
- Findhelp I 211
- Gerstein Crisis Centre
- TAIBU Community Health Centre
Beginning in March 2024, the City of Toronto and the TCCS partners accelerated the hiring and training of more than 100 community crisis workers to expand the service city-wide. The TCCS provides free, confidential, in-person mental health support from mobile crisis teams to Toronto residents 16 years of age or older 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Launched as a pilot in early 2022, the service provides a model of mental health and addiction crisis response that is community-based, client-centred and trauma-informed. Residents should call 211 to be connected to the TCCS.
The expansion of the Toronto Community Crisis Service is one of the priority actions in the SafeTO: Toronto’s Ten-Year Community Safety and Well-Being Plan. More information about SafeTO is on the City’s website. More information about TCCS is available on the City’s website.
“People in crisis need the right kind of response, one that helps them access the services they need. Toronto Community Crisis Service is essential because it provides that caring response. Its city-wide launch reflects the tremendous efforts and commitment of the Toronto Community Crisis Service partners and their staff. I would like to thank them and all the City staff who have taken this important and much needed community service so far so quickly.” – Mayor Olivia Chow