The Alternate Neighbourhood Crisis Response (ANCHOR) program, which acts as a community-led alternative to police for mental health and substance use crisis response in Centretown, says it responded to over 4000 calls in its first year of operation. The pilot project offers 24/7 crisis response for Centretown at a 2-1-1 phone number and is scheduled to run for three years. According to the ANCHOR Year One Update, the program is meeting its objectives. “Feedback from service users and community partners highlights the positive impact of ANCHOR and demonstrates ANCHOR’s effectiveness in providing timely and compassionate support,” the report reads. ANCHOR launched in 2024 with approval for funding from city council, and Centretown was chosen as the pilot project location. According to the report, Ottawa’s Community Safety and Well-Being office will be advocating for “sustainable sources of funding.” The ANCHOR Year One Update shows that ANCHOR received over 4,464 calls between Aug. 15, 2024 and Aug. 15, 2025, its first year of operation. “ANCHOR is a safer alternate response to mental health and substance use (MHSU) crises because it is community-led, culturally sensitive and equity-centered and dispatches skilled crisis response teams to people experiencing a MHSU crisis,” the Year One update reads. The report indicates that ANCHOR addressed 52.40 per cent of calls over the phone, dispatched crisis response workers to 41.98 per cent of calls and redirected 5.62 per cent to 9-1-1. Calls were redirected to 9-1-1 when they came from outside ANCHOR’s catchment zone or when they included potential for serious bodily harm. According to the report, onsite support offered by crisis response workers included “active listening and emotional support, wellbeing check, crisis counselling, crisis de-escalation, and referrals for ongoing case management and system navigation.” Of the 4,464 calls ANCHOR received, 4,138, or 92.70 per cent, were made directly to ANCHOR’s 2-1-1 phone number. The remaining 326 calls were transferred to the crisis response team from Ottawa police or 9-1-1, which the report considers “calls that [Ottawa Police Service] would have handled if ANCHOR (a community-based response) did not exist, thereby creating additional capacity for [Ottawa Police Service] to focus on other calls.” “We’ve been able to help folks redirect to resources that will help them, provide a health and social response to their mental health and substance use issues and avoid unnecessary and sometimes harmful interactions with emergency services,” said Caroline Cox, the Centretown Community Health Centre’s director of Mental Health, Substance Use Health and Addictions. “We’ve worked really seamlessly with police and paramedics. They want this program as much as anyone. You know, we get calls from police in the field who will say ‘we got to a call and we realized right away this wasn’t a crime but this person needs help’ and now they have a resource that’s dedicated, that’s fast, that they can call and we can get there and they can be like ‘okay, you’ve got this. We’re here if you need us.’” In August, Ottawa police shared figures indicating that police had responded to fewer overdose calls in 2025 than in 2024. The Year One Update states that 92.47 per cent of ANCHOR calls dispatched to crisis response workers did not involve police. The Year One Update also notes that ANCHOR saw an uptick in calls over its first year. The program measured data throughout its first 11 weeks of operation. Compared to the first period of measurement, ANCHOR says calls to its 2-1-1 line increased by 8 per cent. “We are helping individuals and dealing with situations that we ourselves have been through and know how best to support our individuals and people who we take care of,” said Betty Nantumbwe, a crisis response worker. “People have called us angels. We reach people where they’re at and we are able to offer support with trauma-informed and culture sensitive approaches.” The program will be adjusting its catchment boundaries in the fall to include a greater portion of Centretown. In its first year, ANCHOR’S zone of operation extended north to the Ottawa River, east to the Rideau Canal, south to Highway 417 and west to Preston Street. The new boundary will expand west to Island Park Drive and south to Carling Avenue. With files from CTV News Ottawa’s Katie Griffin
