The ANCHOR mental health crisis response program is now available in east Ottawa, offering residents in distress an alternative to calling 9-1-1. The expansion follows a successful launch in Centretown, where the program diverted 93% of calls away from police.
How ANCHOR works
ANCHOR is a 24/7 service that sends crisis support workers instead of police to mental health emergencies. Services include de-escalation, crisis counselling, suicide intervention, wellness checks, emotional support, community resource connections, and overdose response.
Grace Kamanda, a crisis support worker with ANCHOR since its launch in August 2024, averages 10 community visits per shift. She recalled a call about an elderly woman with a knife who was in distress.
“We started receiving calls from neighbours for this particular elderly woman who was dealing with neurological disorders, and she lived alone. We heard she was a danger to herself and those around her since we heard that she would sometimes walk around her apartment with knives,” Kamanda said.
When Kamanda arrived, the woman no longer had the knife and was confused. “She seemed very sweet. She didn’t have the knife anymore. She was confused, and it just seemed like she really needed support. She explained that she was trying to scrape something off the building walls that she had written with the knife, but it was seen as her acting suspicious,” she said.
Expanding on early success
The program received $700,000 in December 2025 to expand eastward. From August 2024 to December 2025, ANCHOR received nearly 6,000 calls, with 93% dispatched to crisis workers instead of police, according to the City of Ottawa website. Of those, only about 2,300 required in-person dispatch after the initial phone call.
Kamanda noted that the program’s approach changes outcomes. “If it was a 9-1-1 call, a police call, this is how the situation could have been escalated because the caller could have the perspective of someone being dangerous. So they go in with a different game plan, and that’s how we end up with situations where people might be killed because of excessive force,” she said.
Caroline Cox, director of the ANCHOR program, said the program works because it is the only 24/7 option for those in crisis who do not want to call the police.
