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Mental Health & Well-being

NATIONAL

211 - Health and Social Services

211 is Canada’s primary source of information for government and community-based, non-clinical health and social services. The free and confidential service can be accessed 24 hours a day, in more than 150 languages, by phone, chat, text, and web. 211 helps connect people to the right information and services, making their pathway to care and resources a guided and trusted one.

211 is available by phone, chat, website, and text in different regions:

Logos/988-logo.png

! STARTING NOVEMBER 30, 2023 !

New 9-8-8 number for mental health crisis and suicide prevention services in Canada:

Call or text 9-8-8 from anywhere in Canada for free. You will be directed to the appropriate mental health crisis or suicide prevention service in your area.

The implementation of 9-8-8 as an easy-to-remember three-digit number will help reduce barriers to mental health and suicide prevention resources. The number will enable greater access regardless of geographic location or socioeconomic status as it will be available from coast to coast, 24/7 and free of charge. Furthermore, the ability to text to 9-8-8 will ensure that people in crisis who are unable to safely call, or prefer texting, are able to obtain counselling.

Visit the 9-8-8 Website

Crisis Services Canada

Crisis Services Canada (CSC) is a national network of existing distress, crisis and suicide prevention line services. They are committed to supporting any person living in Canada who is affected by suicide, in the most caring and least intrusive manner possible.

  • Call: 1.833.456.4566 - Available 24/7/365
  • Send a text to: 45645 - Available 4pm - Midnight ET - Standard text messaging rates apply
  • For residents of Quebec, call: 1 866 APPELLE (1.866.277.3553)

Hope for Wellness Help Line (for Indigenous communities)

Kids Help Phone

  • 1-800-668-6868
  • or text CONNECT to 686868

Government of Canada

Wellness Together Canada

Get connected to mental health and substance use support, resources, and counselling with a mental health professional.

  • Visit their website or text WELLNESS to 741711

Mental Health Commission of Canada

Tips to help Canadians protect their mental health as they strive to safeguard their physical well-being and that of their loved ones.

The Canadian Mental Health Association

  • Your Mental Health - This section offers practical advice, articles and information to help you #GetReal about how you really feel.
  • 2021 Toolkit - They’ve created web banners, communications tools and shareable images to help you connect – and #GetReal – for the 2021 CMHA Mental Health Week.

Behind the Scenes Charity - Canadian Resources

Be Scene – Be Heard, an anonymous Peer-to-Peer Chat App for Entertainment industry professionals
It can be hard to talk with family and friends about how you’re feeling, especially now when you want to be strong for others because that’s what you do – you’re used to taking care of things. Sometimes it’s easier to talk to people who don’t know you, but who can relate because they’re in this industry too. Maybe you’re doing pretty well but you’d be willing to help someone else just by listening and offering a few words of experience.
That’s why Behind the Scenes has partnered with iRel8 to launch Be Scene – Be Heard an anonymous peer-to-peer chat app just for our industry. Be Scene – Be Heard is available Wherever you are, Whenever you need it, for Whatever is on your mind.

→ Join now at https://irel8.org/behind-the-scenes-irel8-invite.

Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Initiative - Toolbox Talks and Helpful One-Sheets
It is important to acknowledge the mental and physical stressors and challenges faced by all of us in the entertainment industry and offer your team tools to help them better manage and respond to these challenges. They suggest topics and provide sample language that you can tailor to fit your needs.

Alcohol and Substance Use
Behind the Scenes created a website to provide resources for industry professionals to answer questions about alcohol and substance use and abuse. It offers information about how to spot the signs of misuse in yourself or others and the potential long term effects. There is practical guidance on getting help for yourself as well as how you can respond if you are concerned about a co-worker or friend. It also addresses situations where you may be concerned about someone you report to or someone who reports to you. Tips are provided on how to have a conversation with someone you are concerned about as well as on coping and self-care.

→ Visit btshelp.org/substanceuse to learn more.

Entertainment Industry Therapist - United States & Canada
BTS created the Entertainment Industry Therapist Finder (EITF) specifically for our community of industry colleagues. The Finder only includes mental health professionals who have personal experience in our industry and/or have worked with entertainment industry professionals and are familiar with their unique pressures. If you know of a therapist with the required experience, please tell them about the finder and ask them to email mh@btshelp.org to receive a special discount code. You can also send their email address to mh@btshelp.org and we will reach out to them. BTS will continue to actively recruit therapists for the finder that meet the industry’s needs. Learn more here.

Actsafe

CALLTIME: Mental Health

An initiative by British Columbia's motion picture industry unions to assist workers and employers grappling with mental health and addiction issues both in and out of the workplace. Wether you are looking TO help or FOR help.

The AFC

  • Designated Sharing Time (DST) is a virtual meeting space to talk, vent, problem-solve, laugh, collaborate, cry, and feel the strength of others. It takes place bi-weekly on Thursdays at 1 pm (ET). Participants are not obligated to join every session.
  • Mental Health First Aid Virtual Course: People are experiencing an overwhelming amount of uncertainty and stress caused by COVID-19 right now, so now more than ever, it can be vital to understand the signs and symptoms of someone in a mental health crisis and knowing how to help.
  • Exploring the Juggling Act is a peer group where you can cut through the noise of external pressure and find clarity about your unique career path. Industry peers facilitate the group discussions to help participants support each other to find healing, growth, and confidence in their individual juggling acts. The sessions also include a social worker to offer mental wellness support and create a safer space for an open dialogue.

UNISON

The Unison Benevolent Fund offers a toll-free number to connect Canadian music professionals with resources and support for personal and practical issues. This service is free, anonymous, confidential and available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Before you make the call, you may register with Unison. 1-855-986-4766. Service is available in English and French.

CCOHS (Canadian Center for Occupational Health and safety)

Healthy Minds @Work
Everyone at the workplace has a shared responsibility for safety and health, and that includes mental health. Discover tools to help support your mental health efforts in creating a space where workers feel safe, respected, and valued.

The Affordable Therapy Network - A DIRECTORY OF THERAPISTS OFFERING AFFORDABLE COUNSELLING ACROSS CANADA
Their listed therapists and counsellors provide affordable counselling in Toronto, Vancouver, Halifax, Winnipeg, Calgary, Ottawa, Regina, Montreal, Edmonton, Saskatoon, and anywhere In Canada. Visit the website.

Food Banks Canada

As a national charitable organization, Food Banks Canada are dedicated to helping Canadians living with food insecurity by supporting a network of Provincial Associations; affiliate food banks; and food agencies that work at the community level to relieve hunger. Food Banks Canada supports a network of 10 Provincial Associations and 4,750 hunger relief organizations from coast to coast to coast, in every province and territory. 

Wellbeing in Entertainment and Creative Arts

WECA believes that those who work in entertainment have the right to work in healthy and safe environments guided by principles of prevention and harm reduction. Although located in the United States, their services and resources apply to a world-wide community.

Vision: WECA envisions an entertainment industry guided by trauma-informed principles, by which the health, safety, and wellbeing of artists and entertainment workers are prioritized throughout the entire creative process, from pre- to post-production.

Services: Resource Hub, Online Courses, Process Groups, Blog, Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) Certification, Suicide Prevention and Intervention Training, Customized Training and Consultation, Trauma-Informed Risk Assessment. And much more.

Learn more about and register for their online course Wellbeing Essentials for Sets, Stages and Productions.

PROVINCIAL

YUKON

BRITISH COLUMBIA

ALBERTA

SASKATCHEWAN

MANITOBA

ONTARIO

QUEBEC

NEW BRUNSWICK

NOVA SCOTIA

PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND

MORE RESOURCES

GUIDE: How to recover from burnout, by Debbie Sorensen | PSYCHE

Feeling worn down, checked out, or bitter about work? The answer is not to ‘just work harder’.

Debbie Sorensen is a clinical psychologist in private practice in Denver, Colorado. She is a co-host of the podcast Psychologists Off the Clock and co-author of ACT Daily Journal: Get Unstuck and Live Fully with Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (2021). Her newest book is ACT for Burnout: Recharge, Reconnect, and Transform Burnout with Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (2024).

Association of British Theatre Technicians (ABTT) - Free, downloadable resources: