Canada

CRCL, pronounced “circle,” was previously known as the Peer Assisted Care Team program. It offers people 13 and older help during mental health crises, in Metro Vancouver’s North Shore, Victoria, New Westminster, Comox Valley, Prince George and Kamloops.

Since January 2023 five teams have responded to nearly 10,000 calls. Ninety-nine per cent of those calls were resolved without involving police, Kim Mackenzie, director of policy at the Canadian Mental Health Association B.C. division, told The Tyee. The Kamloops team is just launching now, she added.

In some communities, Mackenzie said, police officers will refer calls to CRCL. And if a call involves a life-threatening situation, CRCL will escalate it to police, she added.

But this happens very rarely. In the last two years, about one per cent of calls CRCL responded to needed to involve police, she said.