Launch of the 211 Greater Montréal Web Site FIRST PHASE OF THE 211 SERVICE IMPLEMENTATION IN GREATER MONTRÉAL

Montréal- January 16th, 2018 – Today, the Information and Referral Centre of Greater Montréal, the Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal (CMM), as well as, Centraide of Greater Montréal jointly announce the launch of the 211 Greater Montréal web site. Thanks to this new service, any citizen within the metropolitan area looking for help can, from now on, obtain quick and free information that is detailed and reliable, as well as, updated referrals on socio-community resources available locally.

Grouping the resources from 82 municipalities together on a same platform constitutes an important step forward. The CMM is proud to offer its population a service that will help fight poverty and social exclusion by enabling people with social needs to get quick information on available socio-community resources.

«Already available to the citizens of Laval, Montréal, MRC de L’Assomption and MRC Thérèse-de- Blainville, the 211 service is now accessible to the population of all 82 CMM municipalities. Today, the first implementation phase is reached by launching the 211 Greater Montréal web site. In April, the 211 telephone service will be implemented and will be available from 8 am to 6 pm, 7 days per week, including holidays. », states Mrs. Pierrette Gagné, Executive Director of the Information and Referral Centre of Greater Montréal, manager of the 211 service.

As for Mrs. Lili-Anna Pereša, President and Executive Director of Centraide of Greater Montréal and 211 partner, states that «the 211 Greater Montréal web site and later the 211 telephone service will not only help the population but also help counselors from the greater metropolitan area community organizations and the health and social services network to easily direct people towards local appropriate resources. They will also provide a better match between the needs of citizens and the services that are offered»

The 211 service

The 211 Greater Montréal web site will enable, at all times, the search for social and community services such as, resources for seniors or immigrants, for food or material assistance, affordable housing, youth or family services, assistance for homeless people, education, employment, volunteering and much more. In Canada, 211 has already been implemented in most major cities. It is also present in many provinces. Today, with the creation of 211 Greater Montréal, 82 municipalities have joined the 211 network.

We remind you that in 2001, InformCanada, the Canadian coalition of information and referral centers, together with Centraide/United Way Canada, were granted by the CRTC, the rights to retain the 211 telephone number for Canadian community information and referral centers. InformCanada and United Way have since been responsible for granting 211 licenses, as well as, establishing quality standards.

The Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal

The Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal (CMM) is a planning, coordinating and funding organization created in 2001 that brings together the 82 municipalities, totalling close to 4 million people spread over more than 4,360 km2.

The CMM carries out responsibilities with regards to land use planning, economic development, social housing, public transportation, environment, as well as, municipal services, equipment, infrastructures and activities.

The Information and Referral Centre of Greater Montréal

For more than 60 years, the Information and Referral Centre of Greater Montréal has been offering bilingual social and community information and referrals to citizens and counsellors, either by telephone, online or through printed directories. It also manages the 211 service, the Referral Helpline for Seniors, as well as, two specialized support, information and referral helplines offering addiction-related assistance across Québec; Drugs: Help and Referral and Gambling: Help and Referral, as well as, the TeleCounselling program for compulsive gamblers.

Centraide of Greater Montréal

Centraide of Greater Montréal is active within the territories of Laval, Montréal and the South Shore. Nearly 57 000 volunteers are involved within some 350 organizations it supports and

22 000 volunteers devote their time to organizing its annual campaign. In Québec, Centraide is present in 18 regions and receives support from companies, private, public and para-public institutions, as well as, unions. The funds raised are locally distributed in order to break the cycle of poverty and social exclusion.

Source :

Marie-Claude Forget

Conseillère en communications et consultations publiques

Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal

Téléphone : (514) 350-2550

Marie Vaillant

Director of Communications

Information and Referral Centre of Greater Montréal

Telephone : (514) 527-1388, ext.215

Cellular : (514) 889-9535

[email protected]

Annick Gagnon

Public relations counsellor

Centraide of Greater Montreal
Telephone : (514) 288-1261, ext. 242

[email protected]

centraide-mtl.org