A major step has been taken today / 211 soon to be available to all citizens of Greater Montréal
Press release
For immediate publication
A major step has been taken today:
211 soon to be available to all citizens of Greater Montréal
Montréal, September 28, 2017 - Today, the conseil de la Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal (CMM) has given the green light to the financing of the 211 service at the metropolitan scale. Already offered to the citizens of Laval, of Montréal and of the MRC de L’Assomption, the 211 service will soon be available to the entire population of the 82 municipalities of Greater Montréal.
« We are very proud to announce today that all the citizens of the Greater Montréal, will soon have access to the new service. In a very short while, every person looking for help will be able to obtain rapidly and freely reliable and detailed information and updated references on available community services. This demonstrates our social solidarity and the inclusive character of the Greater Montréal », declared Mr. Denis Coderre, Mayor of Montréal and President of the CCM.
The Information and Referral Centre of Greater Montréal (IRCGM) and Centraide of Greater Montréal welcome the Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal’s (CMM) decision to move forward with extending the 211 service to all 82 CMM member municipalities starting January 2018. During the Je vois Montréal event, Mrs. Lili-Anna Pereša, President and Executive Director of Centraide of Greater Montréal and Mrs. Pierrette Gagné, Executive Director of IRCGM, co-leaders of the 211 project, had committed to launch the service throughout the CMM in 2017, year of the 375th anniversary of Montréal. “Mission accomplished! 211 will soon see the day and we can only applaud the accomplishment of this milestone project for Centraide of Greater Montréal”, Mrs. Pereša mentioned. “The implementation of 211 throughout the Greater Montréal area in the upcoming months is great news for all citizens with unmet social needs who are seeking to rapidly gather information and contact details of resources that can help them”, said Mrs. Gagné, whose organization is in charge of the 211 service. “211 is also an important tool for all social workers and counsellors, as well as for all community organizations that will benefit from added visibility on the Web to better reach their client populations”, Mrs. Gagné added.
Reachable by phone and online, 211 provides a centralized information and referral service that can quickly direct people to appropriate social, community and public resources in Greater Montréal. It is to be fully functional in the metropolitan area by April 2018. An easy-to-remember, three-digit phone number, 2-1-1 puts people of all ages in touch with IRCGM counsellors and enables them to easily find resources close to their homes.
By phone and on the Internet
Available from 8 am to 6 pm, 7 days a week, including on holidays, info-referral counsellors will refer citizens to any of the 5000 organizations in the greater metropolitan area that can better address their needs. Moreover, the 211 website of the Greater Montréal, www.211qc.ca, will allow to search for social and community services at all times, whether it be for resources for seniors or for immigrant people, for food or material assistance, affordable housing, youth or family services, assistance for homeless people, education, employment, volunteering and more.
In Canada, 211 is already established in most major cities such as Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Ottawa, Halifax, Regina, Ottawa and Québec City. It is also operating in many provinces. The Greater Montréal area has been a missing link up until now.
It may be recalled that InformCanada, the Canadian coalition of information and referral centres, together with Centraide/United Way Canada, have been granted the authorization to reserve the 211phone number for Canadian community information and referral centres by the CRTC in 2001. InformCanada and United Way have since been responsible for granting the 211 license as well as for establishing quality standards.
Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal
Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal is a planning, coordinating and funding organization created in 2001 that brings together 82 municipalities, totalling close to 3.9 million people distributed over more than 4,360 square kilometres.
The CMM carries out responsibilities with regard to land use planning, economic development, social housing, public transportation, environment as well as metropolitan services, equipment, infrastructures and activities.
The Information and Referral Centre of Greater Montréal celebrated its 60th anniversary in 2016. It offers bilingual social and community information and referral services to citizens and counsellors of Greater Montréal by phone, online and through printed directories. It also manages the 211 service, the Referral Helpline for Seniors as well as two specialized support, information and referral phone lines offering addiction-related assistance across Québec; Drugs : Help and Referral and Gambling : Help and Referral. The TeleCounselling program for compulsive gamblers is one more of its projects.
Proud partner of the 211 service, Centraide of Greater Montréal campaigns to mitigate the cumulative impacts of poverty on people and on future generations in Laval, Montréal Island and the South Shore. In the Province of Québec, 18 Centraide/United Way organizations work to support 1,500 community organizations and projects, helping and soothing 1.3 million vulnerable people.
Source:
Marie-Claude Forget
Conseillère en communications et consultations publiques
Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal
Phone : 514 350-2550
Marie Vaillant
Director of Communications
Information and Referral Centre of Greater Montréal (IRCGM)
Phone : (514) 527-1388, extension 215
Cellular phone : (514) 889-9535
marie.vaillant@info-reference.qc.ca
Annick Gagnon,
Public Relations Counsellor
514 288-1261, extension 242