Below, we’ve listed 12 ways that 211 benefits Ontario’s community and social services:

1. 211 helps your clients easily navigate the human services system in Ontario. We are also a useful tool for staff and volunteers to find additional services for clients.
2. We have the most comprehensive and up-to-date database of Ontario’s community, health, government and social services. These organizations can be federal, provincial, municipal, charitable, non-profits or businesses meeting health and basic needs.
3. 211 helps locate community and social services through phone referrals and through our website. Updating your organization’s listing on our site helps 211 provide better and more accurate referrals to 211 callers. To suggest a new program go to the Working with 211 section or click here to go to Suggest a Listing. This will take you to the form. To submit a change to a listing already in the database, at the bottom of the listing you are interested in, there is a button to take you to the form to submit changes.
4. We answer the phone 24 hours a day, every day of the year, including holidays.
5. Telling your clients to call 211 if they are looking for additional services can help you empower them in their own self-care.
6. Our 211 helpline provides interpretation to callers in over 150 languages.
7. There are many ways we support community initiatives throughout Ontario, including an easy-to-remember phone number to make accessing services easier, offering assistance in pre-registering for programs, and providing warm transfers for callers. Across Ontario, several community initiatives have invited 211 to support their work – visit our Partnership page to learn more.
8. To make it easier for your site’s visitors to find local community and social services, we can provide your web manager with a short piece of code which embeds a 211 search box on your own website. Visit our Embed 211 Search page to find the embed code.
9. We have a diverse collection of free promotional material, including posters, tear cards and other materials for your program’s sites, clients or staff. Click here to order copies for your organization.
10. Our 211 On Social Services newsletter curates news from across the sector. Sign up today at the bottom of the home page.
11. Please follow us on social media at the links at bottom of page. Tag us if we’re not already following you and we will follow back.
12. Want to learn more about 211? Our YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/211Ontario) has a collection of informative videos that can be easily shared or embedded on your website. Here are three key videos about 211 for human service organizations.

For the public: Learn the difference between calling 211 and 911.

For health care workers, this four minute video explains how 211 can help support their clients and patients in find the other support they need.

How 211 helps Ontario communities

Green Shield Canada’s Support

Through their Front Line Care strategy, Green Shield Canada (GSC) has invested $1 million over three years to help build 211’s capacity to “open doors to better health” by connecting Canadians to programs and services that address the social determinants of health. The GSC investment is furthering 211’s work in offering follow up with vulnerable clients, awareness raising, agency outreach, internal education and training, and research and evaluation. We are grateful for the generous support of Green Shield in this important work.