OTTAWA – It has been well over a year since the federal government sent the CRTC a letter asking it to come up with a three-digit suicide crisis support phone number.
Last June, the CRTC opened a proceeding asking for comments on the implementation of such a number. The original deadline for submissions was Sept. 1, 2022, but on Nov. 30, the Commission extended the deadlines for interventions to January 31, 2022, and the deadline for replies to March 17, 2022.
It is unclear at this point how much longer Canadians will have to wait to have the phone number implemented, but the CRTC decision is supposed to come this year.
“The CRTC intends to issue a decision on the matter in 2022,” a CRTC spokesperson told Cartt.ca via email. “Should the CRTC require the implementation of a three-digit code, it will set a deadline for telecommunications services providers to make the requisite changes to their networks and implement process changes.”
The CRTC decision, however, is just one part of getting the three-digit number up and running as the Commission is limited to administering the phone numbers and requiring service providers to implement the three-digit number.
“Collaboration with other entities will be required to implement a three-digit number, including the Public Health Agency of Canada, the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, the Canadian Mental Health Association, Crisis Services Canada, territorial and provincial governments, and the organizations that provide mental health crisis and suicide prevention services,” the CRTC spokesperson explained.
Meanwhile, in the U.S., the number 9-8-8 is expected to be introduced for mental health crisis services in July.
Because of this, the CRTC determined in June “it would be appropriate to take certain measures addressing the national introduction of 9-8-8 in the United States on 16 July 2022 to attenuate the risk that someone in mental health crisis calling or texting this three-digit code in Canada would not be able to reach the help they need.”
As such, the Commission is requiring announcements be made on mobile wireless networks for texts and voice calls, and for local exchange carriers, wireless service providers, and local voice over Internet protocol service providers to provide information about the non-availability of 9-8-8 in Canada on their websites.
Because of the time it could take to implement announcements on wireline networks, and the possibility for that work to cause delays, the Commission decided it would not require the announcements on such networks.
In a letter this week, the CRTC suggested wording for the text and voice call announcements on mobile wireless networks, which it came up with in consultation with the Public Health Agency of Canada.
The suggested message for texts reads: “9-8-8 is not available yet in Canada, but help is still available. Adults can text 741741 and youth can text 686868. Quebec residents can text 1-855-957-5353. You can also call Canada’s suicide prevention service at 1-833-456-4566.” (Le 9-8-8 n’est pas encore disponible au Canada, mais de l’aide est disponible. Les adultes peuvent texter le 741741 et les jeunes le 686868. Les résidents du Québec peuvent texter le 1-855-957-5353. Vous pouvez aussi appeler le service canadien de prévention du suicide au 1-833-456-4566.)
The suggested message for voice calls is: “9-8-8 is not available yet in Canada, but help is still available. Please hang up and call Canada’s suicide prevention service at 1-833-456-4566.” (Le 9-8-8 n’est pas encore disponible au Canada, mais de l’aide est disponible. Veuillez raccrocher et appeler le service canadien de prévention du suicide au 1-833-456-4566.)
