Montreal crisis line closes for first time in decades amid critical staff shortage
A 24-hour crisis help line in Montreal is being forced to close for the first time in nearly 35 years because too many staff members are either on sick leave or burnt out.
The holiday closure was difficult but necessary, according to West Island Crisis Centre President Deborah St-Martin.
“They're doing double shifts, they're calling in sick, we have three people on sick leave, so we knew that the holidays were going to be very hard,” said St-Martin, who added that the temporary holiday closure was a difficult but necessary choice to make.
The West Island Crisis Centre will close Friday and hopefully reopen Jan. 3.
Ordinarily, it offers round-the-clock assistance, fielding 1,500 calls each month. The centre also offers emergency housing.
But St-Martin says the centre is short staffed, and those who remain are just too exhausted to work.
“With COVID-19, nobody's applying for the jobs,” she said. “There are still openings in the public sector, so they're leaving to go to hospitals, CLSCs, and stuff like that.”
Intervention centres province-wide are experiencing labour shortages. Some are calling on the government to increase funding so that local organizations can raise staff salaries.
Timing is critical, they say, as public demand for mental health services is increasing.
“Our responders have more calls coming in, and it is directly related to the pandemic,” said Kathy Laramee, Deputy Director of Suicide Action Montreal.
Suicide Action Montreal partners with the West Island Clinic. She says it’s still too early to say whether the closure will affect their call volume.
The regional health authority says it is concerned about the closure, writing in a statement to CTV that “the mental health of Quebecers is being put to the test with the emergence of the new variant and because the holiday season is an especially difficult time for some.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'I just can't believe that it took so long': Body found in wreckage 3 months after deadly fire
A man accused of arson in a January Old Strathcona apartment fire is expected to be charged with manslaughter after a body was discovered in the burned building late last month.
No proof man lied to brother about number of kittens born in litter, B.C. tribunal rules
A man was denied a $5,000 payout from his brother after a B.C. tribunal dismissed his claim disputing how many kittens were born in a litter.
Quebec police hand out hundreds of tickets to Hells Angels and other bikers before 'first run' meeting
Quebec provincial police handed out hundreds of fines to Hells Angels members and other supporting motorcycle clubs who met for their 'first run' in a small town near Sherbrooke, Que.
Grandparents killed in wrong-way crash on Hwy. 401 identified
A 60-year-old man and a 55-year-old woman killed in a wrong-way crash on Highway 401 earlier this week have been identified by the Consulate General of India in Toronto.
Auston Matthews skates ahead of Game 7, status unclear with season on the line
Centre Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs hasn't been ruled out of tonight's Game 7 against the Boston Bruins.
Snakes almost on a plane: U.S. TSA discovers a bag with small snakes in passenger's pants
According to an X post by the Transportation Security Administration, officers at the Miami International Airport found the small bag of snakes hidden in a passenger's trousers on April 26 at a checkpoint.
A Chinese driver is praised for helping reduce casualties in a highway collapse that killed 48
A Chinese truck driver was praised in local media Saturday for parking his vehicle across a highway and preventing more cars from tumbling down a slope after a section of the road in the country's mountainous south collapsed and killed at least 48 people.
Russia puts Ukrainian President Zelenskyy on its wanted list
Russia has put Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on its wanted list, Russian state media reported Saturday, citing the interior ministry’s database.
Britney Spears 'home and safe' after paramedics responded to an incident at the Chateau Marmont, source tells CNN
A source close to singer Britney Spears tells CNN that the pop star is 'home and safe' after she had a 'major fight' with her boyfriend on Wednesday night at the Chateau Marmont in West Hollywood.