The 211 service is accessible in Gatineau!

by: City of Gatineau

Gatineau, August 28th, 2023 The City of Gatineau and Centraide Outaouais have collaborated to provide the 211 service to Gatineau residents, in partnership with the Information and Referral Center of Greater Montréal who will be the service provider. To ensure the sustainability of this service in Gatineau, the City will finance 211 with a yearly amount of a little over 81 000$ until 2026. We must emphasize that this service will complement the 311 and 811 services enabling to guide the Gatineau population towards the right resources. As for Centraide Outaouais, they will contribute an annual amount of a bit over 21 000$.

 

Quick facts

  • 211 is an information and referral service that guides citizens towards local socio-community resources according to their needs.
  • It is for everyone, including seniors, families, vulnerable people, social counselors and anyone else wanting to get involved in their community.
  • 211 is free, confidential and available:
    • at all times on 211qc.ca.
    • by telephone or chat, 7/7 from 8:00 am to 6:00 pm.
    • in over 200 languages.
  • Users can be referred to various services, such as,
    • meals on wheels.
    • accompaniment to medical appointments.
    • recreational clubs.
    • and much more.
  • In addition, the service anonymously collects data to learn more about the challenges and issues faced by the population.
  • Remember that this service was available in all Outaouais from December 2020 to December 2021.
  • Emergency funds from the Federal Government were unlocked at that time to make the 211 service available in areas of Québec that didn't yet have access to it, such as Outaouais.
  • Between 2020 and 2021, 60 % of users from Outaouais were people aged 50 and up.

 

Quotes

"The City is proud to finance the 211 service on its territory and ensure its sustainability. This service is of great importance because it will enable us to keep track of changing social needs and identify unavailable resources to meet said needs. Thus, I invite the population to develop the habit of contacting 211 to get in touch with our community organizations, here in Gatineau. I would like to give special thanks to Centraide Outaouais and the Information and Referral Center of Greater Montréal who are collaborating in the implementation of the 211 service", declared the Mayor of Gatineau, Mrs. France Bélisle.

"We are pleased that the City of Gatineau has joined Centraide Outaouais to finance this service already available in many areas of Québec. 211 is a complementary service to existing actions from Centraide Outaouais that will support the social safety net which constitutes community organizations. We are very thankful to the City of Gatineau for coming onboard with enthusiasm and to the Information and Referral Center of Greater Montréal for extending its service to Gatineau", said Mr. Cédric Tessier, Executive Director of Centraide Outaouais.

"We thank the City of Gatineau and Centraide Outaouais for their trust. 211 wishes to become a bridge between Gatineau residents in vulnerable situations and their local socio-community network. 211's expertise in information and referral will enable us to efficiently guide citizens towards appropriate resources able to meet their needs. By promoting local community, public and para-public services, 211 will act to prevent poverty and social exclusion and to free-up calls to emergency services that are psychosocial in nature" mentioned Mrs. Pierrette Gagné, Executive Director of the Information and Referral Center of Greater Montréal and Manager of 211 Greater Montréal.

 

Ce contenu a été traduit grâce au soutien du Secrétariat aux relations avec les Québécois d’expression anglaise