211 Day takes on its full meaning in Greater Montréal in 2018!

Press release

For immediate broadcast

211 Day takes on its full meaning in Greater Montréal in 2018!

Montréal, February 11th, 2018—« In light of 211’s full implementation in the 94 municipalities of Greater Montréal, it is with great enthusiasm that we celebrate 211 Day this year. We encourage people to use this service which helps thousands of people in Québec like it does the rest of Canada. » states Mrs. Pierrette Gagné, Executive Director of the Information and Referral Centre of Greater Montréal (IRCGM) and 211 manager. « To IRCGM, the month of April will be very special since the full 211 service (the 2-1-1 telephone and the www.211qc.ca web site services) will be made available to all Greater Montréal citizens, namely in every Communauté Métropolitaine de Montréal municipality. » she added.

We remind you that 211 is an easy to remember telephone number (2-1-1) that enables citizens with social needs (food assistance, housing, transportation, accompaniment, training, job search, support for seniors and families, immigrant integration etc.) to telephone the info-referral counsellors of the Information and Referral Centre of Greater Montréal to obtain information on social and public organizations able to help them.

Combined with the www.211qc.ca web site, where 5000 Greater Montréal social and community organizations are catalogued and continuously updated, the 211 service is a social lever in the fight against poverty and social exclusion. It enables people to quickly access the resources that they need and to find solutions to difficult situations. It is a local service that further helps people find their ability to act upon their situations, improve their living conditions and thus, improve the social fabric of the community.

As for Mrs. Lili-Anna Pereša, President and Executive Director of Centraide of Greater Montréal and 211 partner, she states that « the 211 service will not only help the population

but also, the counselors from greater metropolitan area community organizations and the health and social services network to easily direct people towards local appropriate resources. It will also ensure a better match between citizens and available resources. »

« After having first been implemented in Laval, the MRC de L’Assomption and the MRC Thérèse-De Blainville, 211’s arrival on the Greater Montréal territory is the fruit of considerable efforts and concerted action with the 211 partners: Centraide of Greater Montréal, the Ministère de la famille du Québec, the Communauté Métropolitaine de Montréal, the City of Laval, as well as, representatives from the MRC de L’Assomption, MRC Thérèse-De Blainville and the MRC de Vaudreuil-Soulanges », pointed out Mrs. Pierrette Gagné.

Other Montérégie municipalities will join the ranks in 2018, which will mean that more than 62% of Québec’s population will have access to this essential service.

For some history: It was in 2001 that InformCanada, which groups the Canadian information and referral centres, as well as, Centraide/United way, obtained authorization from the CRTC to reserve the 211 telephone number for Canadian I & R community centres. InformCanada and

Centraide have since been responsible for granting 211 licences and quality control.

In Québec, 211 covers the areas of Capitale-Nationale, Chaudière-Appalaches and Haute-Yamaska. The 211 Québec-Régions will celebrate its 10th anniversary in the spring of 2018.

The Information and Referral Centre of Greater Montréal

The Information and Referral Centre of Greater Montréal offers 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: 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 areas 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 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 Advisor
Centraide of Greater Montréal
Telephone : (514) 288-1261, ext. 242
[email protected]
centraide-mtl.org