Ottawa will be getting a new emergency number for mental health crises

City Hall in downtown Ottawa is seen in this undated file photo. (CTV News Ottawa)

Ottawa city council has approved a plan to create a mental health emergency dispatch line and mobile crisis team that will be available 24/7, similar to 9-1-1.

The goal is to establish a new number that residents can call other than the police. A non 9-1-1 phone number would triage calls and dispatch response. A 24/7 mobile team would respond and be led by civilian professionals with expertise in mental health and substance use crises. The city says non-uniform responders would offer trauma informed and culturally appropriate crisis response services.

Council was unanimous in its support for the new program.

The program will initially run for three years in one specific area of the city that has not yet been determined, starting in 2024.

Community Services Committee chair Coun. Laura Dudas told Newstalk 580 CFRA's Ottawa Now with Kristy Cameron that she was pleased council was unanimous in its approval of the program, but she is also hopeful it can be implemented sooner.

"This will really free up police officers to do other roles they need to be on, and it's going to send the right experts to the right people when they need it," she said. "Several of my colleagues, myself included, are concerned that the timelines are too long, that we need to see this implemented as quickly as possible, but I also want to be very clear that we need to do this properly… This is too important to fail."

A motion by Coun. Ariel Troster, which was also unanimously supported, would place Dudas or committee vice-chair Coun. Jessica Bradley on the guiding council that will develop the launch of the program.

"My hope is through that ability, we'll be able to accelerate this program to see it launched faster than staff are predicting," Dudas said.

Staff will need to send out a tender for those who will become the new mobile response unit, Dudas says, and the city will need to determine what the number will be that people can call.

"Whether that takes the amount of time staff are predicting, I don't know, but I do know that the sooner we can get this program launched in our community, both as a pilot but then again as a city-wide initiative, the benefits will be there," she said.

Mental health and addictions services advocates have said the move is long overdue.

Ottawa Mission CEO Peter Tilley praised the idea when it came before committee in June.

"I think it is a great initiative that people who are properly and fully trained in those areas can intervene and deal with those situations and bring things under calm before they escalate even further," he said.

The first phase of the program is expected to cost $2.465 million, according to city staff, paid for through reserve funding.

City staff said in the report before council that the first phase could be implemented by the third quarter of next year. Dudas says she doesn't want to give residents the false hope of an unachievable deadline, but she believes it can be accelerated.

"I always would rather give a deadline that is achievable than give a deadline that is completely out of step," she said. "I would rather go with staff deadline and push the guiding council, push city staff, and push my colleagues on council to see if we can get this done faster. My hope is we can get it moving quickly, but I wouldn't want to give the community false hope that something is going to launch in a couple weeks and not have that happen."