A Public Resource
Where to Get Mental Health Help in Waterloo Region
Crisis lines, free and low-cost counselling, child and youth services, addictions support and student services in Kitchener, Waterloo and Cambridge. Every number below was checked against the organisation's own website in July 2026.
Start here
In immediate danger, or thinking about ending your life: call 911, or go to your nearest emergency department. You can also call or text 9-8-8, the Suicide Crisis Helpline, any time, in English or French.
Urgent but not an emergency, in this region: Here 24/7 on 1-844-437-3247. It is the single access point for addictions, mental health and crisis services across Waterloo Wellington, staffed 24 hours a day, every day of the year. TTY 1-877-688-5501.
A child or youth under 18: Front Door on 519-749-2932, Monday to Friday. That is the way into publicly funded child and youth mental health services in Waterloo Region.
Not sure what you need: call 211 for community services, or ConnexOntario on 1-866-531-2600 for mental health, addictions and gambling services, both free and both available 24 hours.
We are a small private therapy practice in Kitchener. We put this page together because we kept having the same conversation: someone calls, private therapy is not the right fit for them right now, and there is nowhere good to point them. The region's services are genuinely decent and almost impossible to navigate from the outside. Several of them changed names recently, which does not help.
We are not a crisis service and we are not affiliated with any organisation below. Nothing here is a referral or an endorsement. It is a list, checked as carefully as we could manage.
Crisis and urgent support
9-8-8 Suicide Crisis Helpline
Call or text 9-8-8. 24 hours a day, every day, free, English and French, anywhere in Canada.
Here 24/7
1-844-437-3247 (local 519-821-3582, TTY 1-877-688-5501). The coordinated access point for addictions, mental health and crisis services across Waterloo Wellington, covering a dozen partner agencies. The phone line runs 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
Walk-in is a different thing from the phone line and runs office hours only. In Waterloo Region there are two walk-in sites: 55 King Street West, 2nd floor, Kitchener and 9 Wellington Street, Suite 3, Cambridge. Check current walk-in hours before travelling.
Emergency departments
For a mental health emergency, the emergency department at Waterloo Regional Health Network @ Midtown, 835 King Street West, Kitchener. In Cambridge, Cambridge Memorial Hospital, 700 Coronation Boulevard, 519-621-2330.
Grand River Hospital and St Mary's General Hospital merged in 2025 to form the Waterloo Regional Health Network, so older directories still list them separately.
Children and youth, under 18
Front Door
519-749-2932, Monday to Friday. The single point of access to child and youth mental health services in Waterloo Region, from birth to a child's 18th birthday, for children, youth and their parents or caregivers. Operated by Starling Community Services, which was called Lutherwood until May 2024.
After a short triage conversation they may connect you with community services, a provider inside Starling or elsewhere, quick-response or walk-in counselling, crisis services, or a fuller assessment. Front Door is not an emergency service.
Camino Wellbeing + Mental Health, Child and Youth Quick Response
Single-session counselling at 480 Charles Street East, Kitchener, fully funded and confidential. Main line 519-743-6333.
KidsAbility
519-886-8886 or 1-888-372-2259. The SmartStart Hub for Waterloo Region: the route for concerns about a child's development, including speech, motor skills and autism assessment. If what you are seeing looks developmental rather than behavioural, start here rather than with a psychotherapist.
Kids Help Phone
Call 1-800-668-6868 or text CONNECT to 686868. 24 hours, free and confidential, for children, teens and young adults across Canada.
Youth Wellness Hub, Cambridge
Operated by Langs at 1145 Concession Road, Cambridge, for youth aged 12 to 25. There is no Youth Wellness Hubs Ontario site in Kitchener or Waterloo, only in Cambridge.
On waits: the Office of the Auditor General of Ontario reported the average wait for intensive child and youth mental health treatment in Ontario was 105 days in 2023/24. Waterloo Region's agencies do not publish current wait times. Counselling waits are generally shorter than intensive-treatment waits. Getting on a public list and starting privately are not mutually exclusive.
Free and low-cost counselling for adults
Ontario Structured Psychotherapy
1-833-944-9966, or refer yourself at ospwest.ca. Free, publicly funded, short-term cognitive behavioural therapy for people 18 and over with depression, anxiety or anxiety-related concerns. No doctor's referral needed and no OHIP card required.
As of July 2026 the West region advises eight to ten weeks to first contact after a referral. Locally it is delivered through Camino Wellbeing + Mental Health and other Waterloo Region sites. It is not available for children or youth.
Camino Wellbeing + Mental Health
519-743-6333, 400 Queen Street South, Kitchener. Individual, couple and family counselling on a sliding scale based on income, and Waterloo Region residents may be eligible for fully funded counselling at no cost. Formed in 2023 from the merger of Carizon, KW Counselling Services and Monica Place, so all three older names now point here.
Adult Quick Response drop-in counselling runs at 400 Queen Street South, Monday to Thursday and Friday mornings. Call to confirm current hours.
BounceBack Ontario
1-866-345-0224. Free coach-supported workbook programme for ages 15 and up, delivered by phone with online videos. Run by the Canadian Mental Health Association.
Community Healthcaring Kitchener-Waterloo
519-745-4404, 44 Francis Street South, Kitchener. Counselling and psychotherapy through a community health centre.
Woolwich Counselling Centre
519-669-8651, 65 Memorial Avenue, Elmira. Individual, couple and family counselling for children, youth, adults and seniors in the townships.
Porchlight Counselling and Addiction Services
519-622-9394. Counselling and addiction services in Cambridge and North Dumfries.
Addictions and substance use
ConnexOntario
1-866-531-2600. Free information and referral for mental health, addiction and problem gambling services across Ontario, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
Withdrawal Management Centre
519-749-4318, 52 Glasgow Street, Kitchener. Open 24 hours, operated by Waterloo Regional Health Network.
Rapid Access Addiction Medicine clinics
Walk-in, no appointment or formal referral needed, open to anyone. Regional line 1-844-722-2977.
Sanguen Health Centre
519-603-0223, 29 Young Street East, Waterloo. Community health services including support for people who use substances.
Students
If you are enrolled, your institution's counselling service is free and already paid for through your fees. It is usually the fastest route available to you.
- University of Waterloo Counselling Services, Campus Wellness, Needles Hall second floor: 519-888-4096.
- Wilfrid Laurier University Student Wellness Centre, second floor of the Student Services Building, Waterloo campus.
- Conestoga College counselling services: 519-748-5220.
- Good2Talk, free and confidential 24/7 support for post-secondary students in Ontario: 1-866-925-5454, or text GOOD2TALKON to 686868.
Pregnancy, birth and new parents
Together: For Perinatal Mental Health
A Waterloo Region non-profit running free virtual drop-in peer support groups for birthing, adoptive and foster parents and primary caregivers. togetherwaterloo.ca
Healthy Babies Healthy Children
519-575-4400. A free Region of Waterloo Public Health home-visiting programme for pregnant people and families with young children.
Postpartum Matters
A free Ontario-wide online therapist-facilitated group for postpartum depression and anxiety. Formerly called Mother Matters, so older listings use that name.
More detail on perinatal mental health is on our pregnancy and postpartum therapy page.
Specific communities
OK2BME
Camino Wellbeing + Mental Health's services for Two-Spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer, intersex and asexual youth and their families. 519-743-6333.
SPECTRUM, Waterloo Region's Rainbow Community Space
226-779-9695, 283 Duke Street West, Unit 210, Kitchener.
Healing of the Seven Generations
519-570-9118, 300 Frederick Street, Kitchener. Serving Indigenous people in Waterloo Region.
Kitchener-Waterloo Multicultural Centre
519-745-2531, 715 Fischer-Hallman Road, Suite 401, Kitchener. Settlement and support services for newcomers.
Seniors
CMHA Waterloo Wellington runs a Seniors Mental Health programme in partnership with geriatric specialists: 1-844-264-2993. Waterloo Regional Health Network also operates a seniors' mental health inpatient unit.
Victims of crime
Victim Services of Waterloo Region: 519-585-2363. Among other supports they administer the Victim Quick Response Program+, an Ontario government programme that funds short-term counselling for victims of violent crime, their immediate family and witnesses. Eligibility and limits are set by the programme, so contact them directly.
KW Therapy is a registered VQRP+ provider, which means if you are approved for counselling under the programme you may use it here. The approval comes from Victim Services, not from us.
Navigating it all
211: call 211, free and confidential, connects you to community and social services across Ontario.
ConnexOntario: 1-866-531-2600, 24 hours, for mental health, addictions and gambling services specifically.
Family Compass Waterloo Region, the region's old child and youth service navigation tool, is offline. If a search sends you there, use 211 or Front Door instead.
About this page
Every phone number, address and eligibility detail above was checked against the organisation's own website in July 2026. Services change, merge and get renamed, and several on this page did recently: Lutherwood became Starling Community Services in 2024; Carizon, KW Counselling Services and Monica Place merged into Camino Wellbeing + Mental Health in 2023; Grand River and St Mary's became the Waterloo Regional Health Network in 2025; Mother Matters became Postpartum Matters.
If you find something here that is wrong or out of date, please tell us at leanne@kwtherapy.ca and we will fix it. A wrong number on this page is worse than no page, so corrections are genuinely welcome.
This list is not exhaustive, and being on it is not a recommendation from us. We have no affiliation with any organisation listed and receive nothing for listing them.
KW Therapy is a private psychotherapy practice at Suite 304, 678 Belmont Avenue West, Kitchener. We are not a crisis service and we do not offer same-day or emergency appointments. If you are looking for private therapy, our services and fees are set out plainly, and a free 15-minute consultation is the usual starting point. Page last reviewed 20 July 2026.
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If one of the options above is a better fit, please use it. If private therapy is what you need, start with a free 15-minute conversation.
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