Getting Mental Health Help When You Need It

According to the Canadian Mental Health Association, in any given year, one in five people will personally experience a mental health problem or illness. By age 40, half of Canadians will have or have had a mental illness.

Given these stats, mental health and addictions challenges will affect virtually everyone at some point in their lives, whether directly or through family, friends, or coworkers. To help you find the right mental health and addictions support and get information about many confidential and free options, here is a comprehensive list of available resources.

CLAC Resources

1. If you or someone you know is struggling with a mental health issue, CLAC has a number of resources and interactive tools available on myCLAC to help you at My Health and Wellness.
2. CLAC’s Substance Abuse Case Management Program (SACM) employs in-house substance abuse experts to assist members who have expressed a desire to overcome addictions or dependency issues. To speak with a substance abuse case manager, please call 877-863-5154 or email sacm@clac.ca.
3. Since 2019, CLAC has been providing Mental Health First Aid to members at no charge. This two-day certification program is credentialed by the Mental Health Commission of Canada.
4. LifeWorks is a CLAC’s employee family and assistance program provider and is provided free to all members enrolled in a CLAC benefits plan. LifeWorks provides initial intake and referral to an appropriate care provider based on the need and location of the member, and with up to six sessions of direct counselling by a professional with the expertise for the challenge faced by the member. It provides 24/7 crisis intervention, including for addiction and dependency issues.

National Resources

1. Crisis Services Canada is a 24/7 national network of distress, crisis, and suicide prevention line services. This service is available across Canada via toll-free phone in English or French, or text in English.
2. Hope for Wellness Helpline offers immediate mental health counselling and crisis intervention for all Indigenous peoples across Canada (available in some Indigenous languages).
3. Kids Help Phone provides 24/7/365 professional counselling services for children, teens, and young adults across Canada.
4. Mental Health First Aid Canada provides an extensive list of resources for a wide spectrum of mental health concerns including substance-related disorders, mood-related disorders, anxiety and trauma-related disorders, psychotic disorders, deliberate self-injury, and eating disorders as well as general mental health resources.
5. Stronger Minds features videos and quick reads from mental health experts, activities to help you gain resilience, and ask-an-expert videos in response to questions.
6. WellCan offers free well-being resources to help Canadians develop coping strategies and build resilience to help deal with uncertainty, mental health, and substance abuse concerns during the COVID-19 pandemic.
7. Wellness Together Canada (1-866-585-0445) provides free mental health and substance use support for Canadians, including information and videos on common mental health issues, mental wellness programs you can do on your own and with coaching, monitored communities of support, and individual phone, video, and text counselling.

Provincial Resources

Provincial government websites have helpful information and many links to resources and services to help you and your family.

•  Alberta

•  British Columbia

•  Manitoba

•  Ontario

•  Saskatchewan

Click the image below to learn some signs that a family member, friend, or coworker may be having a mental health crisis.