Official Gambling Helplines in Canada: Province-by-Province List

Quick Answer: Choose Your Province or Territory

Use the official route for the province or territory where you live. Say that the concern involves gambling and whether you are calling about yourself or someone else. The service can explain what support is available locally and what to do next.

This directory is Canadian desk research checked on November 7, 2026. It does not diagnose a gambling disorder, replace a health professional, or promise that a particular service will offer counselling, treatment, money help, or emergency response. The table separates specialized gambling contacts from broader health and addiction routes.

You do not need to wait until gambling feels severe before asking what help exists. Several official pages specifically invite calls from family members or other people who are concerned.

Emergency and Suicide-Crisis Routes Come First

When someone is in immediate danger or has already taken steps to seriously harm themselves or another person, call 911 outside Nunavut or go to the nearest emergency department. Nunavut does not have 911 service. In Nunavut, call the RCMP at 1-867-979-1111 or use the local community prefix followed by 1111, or go to the local health centre or hospital.

If someone is thinking about suicide, or you are worried they may be, call or text 988. Canada's 9-8-8 Suicide Crisis Helpline is open 24 hours a day, every day, in English and French. Other language interpretation may be available by phone. Its main purpose is suicide prevention; it is not the ordinary directory for gambling counselling.

Use the provincial or territorial contact below for a gambling concern that is not an immediate emergency. If the first service says it is not the right route, ask for the current gambling, addictions, mental-health, or community-service contact in your area.

Simple Gambling-Support Decision Graph

Immediate danger?
  |
  +-- yes -- in Nunavut?
  |             |
  |       +-----+-----+
  |       |           |
  |      yes          no
  |       |           |
  |  RCMP or local   call 911
  |  health centre
  |
  +-- no -- suicide concern?
                |
          +-----+-----+
          |           |
         yes          no
          |           |
     call/text 988  use province's
                    official route

In Nunavut, the RCMP emergency number is 1-867-979-1111 or the local community prefix followed by 1111. The graph chooses the first contact, not a diagnosis. A gambling-support service may still transfer a caller to crisis care when the situation is urgent.

Official Gambling-Support Contacts Across Canada

The details below come from the linked official pages checked on November 7, 2026. Not stated means the checked page did not publish that detail; it does not mean the service lacks it.

British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba

British Columbia: the province lists a toll-free Gambling Support Line at 1-888-795-6111. It is open 24/7 and can connect people with free counselling and referral services. The provincial page includes help for a person concerned about their own gambling or a loved one's gambling.

Alberta: Alberta Health Services now directs addiction and mental-health calls, including problem gambling, through 811 or 1-866-332-2322. It describes the service as confidential, Alberta-wide, and available 24/7. It publishes interpreter and translation access.

Saskatchewan: 1-800-306-6789 provides free, confidential 24-hour help from trained counsellors. The province says it serves people with gambling problems and their families and can provide information, short-term counselling, crisis intervention, and referrals.

Manitoba: the current provincial contact directory lists 1-800-463-1554 and the Winnipeg number 204-944-6382 as 24-hour Problem Gambling Helpline routes. The checked page does not state language access, so ask when the call begins if an interpreter or a particular language is needed.

Ontario and Quebec

Ontario: ConnexOntario provides free and confidential information and service navigation 24/7 from anywhere in Ontario. Call 1-866-531-2600, text CONNEX to 247247, or use its official chat or email. It publishes translation support in more than 130 languages. Standard text or data rates may apply.

ConnexOntario can help a person find gambling treatment services, but it does not operate a casino account or decide a complaint. The Ontario family-support guide explains how a loved one can call without taking over another adult's account.

Quebec: Jeu: aide et référence offers information, listening, and referrals at 514-527-0140 in Montréal and 1-800-461-0140 elsewhere in Quebec. The Quebec government describes the service as free, confidential, anonymous, bilingual, and open 24/7 to a person worried about gambling or their entourage.

Atlantic Canada: Use the Current Numbers

New Brunswick: call 1-800-461-1234. Current New Brunswick government pages describe it as free and confidential gambling information, and Atlantic Lottery lists it as a 24/7 provincial support contact.

Nova Scotia: Nova Scotia Health now publishes 1-855-922-1122 as the intake route for mental-health and addiction services, including gambling. Published intake hours are Monday to Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., with some evening hours; check the live page because the evening schedule differs across current official descriptions. The 24/7 Provincial Mental Health and Addictions Crisis Line is 1-888-429-8167. Do not use the crisis line as if it were a specialized routine gambling directory.

Prince Edward Island: call 1-855-255-4255. The province describes it as free, confidential, dedicated, available 24/7 to all Islanders, and open to the person, family members, friends, co-workers, or another affected person.

Newfoundland and Labrador: call 811. The current provincial page labels 811 the Gambling Help Line and says it is free, confidential, province-wide, and available 24 hours a day. Older official and archived pages can still show 1-888-899-4357; the current health page checked November 7 points to 811.

Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut

TechPicks did not find a dedicated territorial gambling-counselling helpline on the current official pages checked November 7, 2026. That is a dated finding, not proof that a new service cannot appear.

Yukon: Yukon Lotteries directs readers to CMHA Yukon. Reach Out is 1-844-533-3030 from 2 p.m. to 10 p.m.; counselling is 867-668-6429 from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Yukon 811 is available at any time for general health advice and direction, but its official page does not label it a gambling-specialist service.

Northwest Territories: call 811 or 1-844-259-1793 and press 1 for the Mental Health and Wellness Support Line. The N.W.T. describes it as confidential, available 24/7 in every community, and able to help with mental wellness and addiction-recovery concerns. It is broader than gambling.

Nunavut: start with the local health centre for mental-health or addiction services. The government also lists the Nunavut Kamatsiaqtut Help Line at 1-800-265-3333 or 979-3333 in Iqaluit for anonymous, confidential support 24/7. Nunavut Consumer Affairs publishes 1-866-223-8139 for responsible-gaming information. Do not call that information line counselling. Nunavut does not have 911 service; for immediate danger, call the RCMP at 1-867-979-1111 or the local community prefix followed by 1111, or go to the local health centre or hospital.

What to Say When You Call

A short opening is enough:

I live in [province or territory]. Gambling is affecting [money, time, health, work, or family]. I am calling about [myself or someone else]. What official support is available near me, and what can I do today?

You can ask:

• Is this call free and confidential?
• Does the service cover my community and age group?
• Can I speak in another language or use an accessibility service?
• Can a family member or friend receive support?
• Is this information and referral, brief support, crisis support, counselling, or treatment intake?
• What happens next, and is a referral or health card needed?

You do not need to tell a complete life story before asking what the service does. Share only what is needed for the next safe step. Do not send banking passwords, casino login codes, or identity documents to an unexpected caller.

Family and Friends Can Ask for Help Too

Several official services explicitly accept calls from people worried about someone else. British Columbia includes loved ones, Saskatchewan includes families, Quebec includes the person's entourage, ConnexOntario accepts calls about someone you care about, and Prince Edward Island includes family, friends, co-workers, and other affected people.

A caller can ask how to start a conversation, protect their own money, find family support, or respond to immediate risk. They cannot normally use a helpline to enrol another competent adult in self-exclusion, access an account, move a balance, or make a medical diagnosis.

Use the loved-one support guide for boundaries and safer conversation steps. Do not ask for another person's password or impersonate them when contacting a casino.

Language and Accessibility Questions

Language access is not the same across the country. Alberta publishes interpreter and translation services. Ontario publishes translation support in more than 130 languages. Quebec publishes a bilingual service. Prince Edward Island publishes translation services in many languages. The N.W.T. publishes English and French service plus interpretation for Indigenous and other languages.

When the checked official page does not state language or accessibility details, this guide says so. Call the official number and name the language or accommodation needed at the start. Ask whether an interpreter, relay service, text, chat, video relay, or call-back option is available.

For Indigenous people anywhere in Canada, Hope for Wellness offers immediate support and crisis intervention at 1-855-242-3310 or by online chat, 24/7 in English and French. Telephone support in Cree, Ojibway, and Inuktitut is available on request but not at every hour. Hope for Wellness is culturally specific support, not a dedicated gambling helpline.

If the Number Does Not Connect or the Service Is Not the Right Fit

1. Recheck the number on the current official page, not a copied directory or old brochure.
2. Check the published service area and hours. A toll-free line may work only within its province.
3. Call 211 in most of Canada or use 211.ca for community and social-service navigation. Ask specifically for gambling, addictions, mental-health, financial, family, or language support.
4. Contact the provincial health or addictions service and ask for the current gambling route.
5. Use 988 for a suicide concern. For immediate danger, call 911 outside Nunavut. In Nunavut, call RCMP at 1-867-979-1111 or the local prefix plus 1111, or go to the local health centre or hospital.

Do not rely on a number from an old PDF when the current official page lists a different route. Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador show why a dated official check matters.

What a Helpline Does Not Decide

A support line can listen, explain options, make referrals, or begin intake according to its mandate. It does not automatically:

• close or unlock a casino account;
• enrol another person in self-exclusion;
• refund a deposit, reverse a loss, or cancel debt;
• decide whether an operator broke a rule;
• replace a bank, lawyer, doctor, emergency department, or regulator; or
• guarantee a treatment result.

Use the Canadian casino-reporting guide for operator complaints. Use the Ontario gambling-debt guide when essential bills, borrowing, collections, or insolvency options need a separate financial route.

Pair Human Support With Practical Barriers

A conversation can help choose the next step. It does not itself block gambling access. Depending on the person's choice and location, practical barriers may include formal self-exclusion, account limits, removing saved payment methods, bank gambling blocks where offered, device or website blocks, and a plan that protects housing, food, medicine, transport, and other essentials.

The Canada self-exclusion guide maps the current official access-block routes. The Ontario safer-gambling tools guide separates limits, breaks, operator exclusion, and BetGuard.

Do not chase a loss, borrow more money, or open another account while waiting for support. A helpline and an access barrier solve different parts of the problem and can be used together.

Bottom Line

Start with the current official contact for the province or territory where you live. Check whether it is a specialized gambling line, a broader addiction or health service, or a general support route. Note the published hours and service area before calling.

For immediate danger, use 911 outside Nunavut. In Nunavut, call RCMP at 1-867-979-1111 or the local prefix plus 1111, or go to the local health centre or hospital. Call or text 988 for a suicide concern. Those crisis routes should not be hidden inside an ordinary directory.

Phone numbers change. This page records what official sources published on November 7, 2026, and links every route so readers can confirm it again.

Frequently Asked Questions