Mental health calls and 911

Good morning, 

Nate with you today. I’m back from my East Coast trip, where I did some of the best eating of my life. My friends in Toronto took me on an incredible food tour across the city. 

We gushed over street-side pani puri and sweet paan in Little Bangladesh, gourged on dim sum in Richmond Hill, delighted in Trinidadian doubles near the Beaches, feasted on Jamaican jerk chicken in Christie Pits, and chowed down on pakora and chai in Mississauga’s fascinating Ridgeway Plaza. 

It was an invigorating experience, gastronomically and culturally, and gave me an entirely new perspective on how much the GTA has to offer when you know where to go. But it also got me thinking about all the great food around the Lower Mainland that I’m not familiar with. 

So please, if you’ve got a favourite hole-in-the-wall eatery, street-side hawker, or out-of-the-way fav, I’m eager for recommendations on all the delicious, flavorful food I’ve been missing out on here at home. 

With that saliva-inducing aside out of the way, let’s get to today’s story!

— Nate Lewis, Vancity Lookout

As always, you can send your tips, leads, and story ideas to Nate at [email protected].

PS - If you find this newsletter valuable, please consider forwarding it to your friends. New to the Lookout? Sign-up for free. 

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PUBLIC SAFETY

Mental health crisis calls and the future of 911

Read the story online here.

Content warning: This story contains references to suicide and mental health challenges. If you or someone in your life is having thoughts of suicide, you can call or text 988 for help. For support through a mental health crisis, you can also call 310-6789 (no area code needed). 

Fire. Ambulance. Police. Those are the options you get when you call 911, the emergency line that is perhaps the most well-known phone number in North America. But for someone experiencing a mental health crisis or having thoughts of suicide, those three core emergency services usually aren’t the most effective or efficient means of intervention. 

One of the main organizations that provides over-the-phone assistance to people during a mental health crisis is advocating for a fourth 911 option to be added that could quickly and directly connect them with those callers. 

Stacy Ashton is the Executive Director of the Crisis Centre of BC, a charity based in Vancouver that provides 24/7 support for people across the province, and even nationwide, who are experiencing mental health distress and crisis. 

“We know that a lot of those [mental health crisis] calls could be handled over the phone,” Ashton told Vancity Lookout. Currently, these types of calls usually default to police services, which is expensive, often unnecessary, and can be counterproductive, Ashton explained. 

“About 99 per cent of our calls we handle through a conversation with the person… so you're diverting folks away from a police intervention or a hospital intervention that just wouldn't be necessary,” Ashton said, whereas 911 services are currently focused on dispatching someone to the caller. 

If crisis services like Crisis Centre of BC were integrated into the 911 system, they could dispatch a mental health team in those infrequent instances where an in-person response was required, Ashton said. 

On a local level, taking an alternative approach to divert some of these mental health calls away from police is something Vancouver has been experimenting with over the past two years.

Since 2023, the city has provided approximately $11.5 million in grant funding to Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) for programs addressing urgent mental health and substance use situations. One of those is the Mobile Crisis De-Escalation Team (MoDe), which VCH created to provide urgent in-person mental health crisis response without police involvement. 

The MoDe teams include nurses, physicians, social workers, care coordinators, and mental health clinicians who provide assessment, intervention, and support to people who are in a non-violent mental health crisis. 

It’s an approach that’s seen success in diverting people away from emergency services, according to Vancouver Coastal Health. Following interactions with a MoDe team in 2024, there was a 38 per cent reduction in emergency room visits. “What we’re seeing is this is a very effective model,” Ashton said. “It works in Vancouver. It will work in other communities.”

However, people can only be referred to MoDe through certain groups, like supportive housing and shelter operators, community service providers, public libraries, and the Vancouver Police Department (VPD). 

The city funding has also allowed VCH to add nurses to the VPD’s command centre, who can divert mental health calls away from police when appropriate. In the first half of 2025, that program resulted in an estimated average of 10 calls per day being diverted. 

The MoDe program also led to a 35 per cent reduction in referrals to the Car 87/88 program, a response team that includes both a police officer and a mental nurse.  

Additionally, the funding enabled VCH to establish an Indigenous Crisis Response Team in 2024, similar to MoDe, but focused on providing culturally appropriate care for Indigenous clients. 

Continued funding for VCH’s suite of programs in 2026 will be considered by city council as part of its social policy grants later this year. 

Need for an overhaul

More broadly, the current 911 system in BC is in need of change. As it stands, local governments in BC are responsible for providing 911 services, and an overwhelming majority of them use E-Comm, a non-profit organization that handles 99 per cent of 911 calls in the province. 

“Municipally-funded 9-1-1 services in B.C. face a number of pressures, including growing call volumes, necessary and costly technology improvements, and coverage gaps in parts of the province… a new solution is urgently needed,” according to E-Comm 911’s website. The City of Vancouver noted in its proposed 2026 budget that rising E-Comm fees are one of the many financial pressures the city is currently facing.

But complaints about unpredictable and non-transparent fee increases for E-Comm’s services prompted the province to commission a pair of independent reviews of the service, which were released last week. The reviews made over two dozen recommendations for E-Comm to improve its governance and budgeting practices, while highlighting the need for the province to clearly define its role in emergency communications. 

The review presented a variety of options to move forward, but recommended that the province manage E-Comm or other emergency response services through legislation, which would standardize 911 service levels and cost throughout BC.

“While most actions fall to E-Comm, successful implementation will require collaboration among the Province, local governments, public safety agencies, and E-Comm,” the review concluded. 

For Ashton with Crisis Centre of BC, the review creates new opportunities to integrate mental health services, like the ones they or Vancouver Coastal Health provide, into a new version of the 911 service.

“Now would be the time to start to embed that in, because we're opening up the whole structure now and rebuilding it essentially from scratch,” Ashton said, who noted the Crisis Centre has already been in conversation with E-Comm for several years about integrating their services together.  

While E-Comm has said it will act on the recommendations as soon as possible, the province has not committed to the approach it will take on emergency dispatch services moving forward.

“The priority is for E-Comm to strengthen its financial and operational efficiencies, as well as governance practices, to get a clear picture of the true cost of service and to help ensure that costs to local governments remain sustainable,” the province said in a press release.  

“[I] think it's inevitable [to have a fourth 911 option for mental health resources], because police and ambulance are just such an expensive tool to use for mental health crises,” Ashton said.

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THE VANCOUVER NUMBER

11th

That’s where Vancouver billionaire Jim Pattison lands on Maclean’s list of Canada’s 40 wealthiest people, with an estimated net worth of $11.9 billion. Other billionaires on the list with ties to Vancouver include David Cheriton, Chip Wilson, Anthony von Mandl, and the Lalji and Gaglardi families. Read more. [Maclean’s]

THE AGENDA

💰 The cost for municipal permits, parking, water and sewer services are expected to rise in 2026 as a result of Mayor Ken Sim’s goal of not increasing property taxes in the city’s 2026 budget. This morning, council will meet to discuss the proposed 2026 budget, with the final Budget vote on Tuesday, November 25. Read more. [Vancouver Sun]

✂️ Speaking of the budget, unnamed sources say the city plans to eliminate the city's sustainability and climate department as part of budget cuts. The city said it’s “too early to comment on specific changes” in response to the report. Read more. [Canada’s National Observer] 

🚰 After receiving dozens of complaints about a strange taste in municipal drinking water, Metro Vancouver staff are blaming a compound called geosmin, which is produced by algae. Staff are reassuring the public that the water is safe to drink, and recommend consuming water at colder temperatures or adding cucumber to mask the funky flavour. Read more. [CBC]

⛔ Details are coming to light about a meeting of neo-Nazi and white supremacist groups that met this summer in Vancouver. Vancouver’s Scottish Cultural Centre, where the gathering was held, has disavowed the event, saying that they were told the space was booked for a “book release gathering”. Read more. [CBC]

🏠 A new poll says that most non-homeowners in Vancouver don’t think they’ll ever be able to afford to own a home in the city. Read more. [City News]

🚛 The Vancouver Fraser Port Authority says plans to dredge Burrard Inlet could begin as early as next year, but project plans remain in the preliminary stages, with no timelines or costs associated. Read more. [CBC]

🛥️ The Transportation Safety Board of Canada is investigating a marine collision between a motorboat and a container ship this weekend in English Bay. Read more. [City News]

🧑‍⚖️ A B.C. Supreme Court overturned the sexual assault conviction of the owner of the Brickhouse Bar in Chinatown, ruling that the trial judge overstepped their role and created the appearance of an unfair trial. The case will now be sent back to a lower court to be heard by a different judge. Read more. [Richmond News]

💳 A Vancouver retiree says scammers posing as her bank stole almost $400k from her bank account over three days. Read more. [City News]

👮 A Vancouver woman was found stabbed to death at a spa in Belize. One person is in custody and police are searching for two additional suspects. Read more. [CBC]

HOME OF THE WEEK

This two-bedroom one-bathroom unit on Kingsway has everything you need in a condo: a balcony, in-unit laundry, a parking stall, and bedrooms that don’t share a wall. And as a bonus, it has a gas fireplace.

Sure, it’d be nice to have more windows. And sure, it’d be nicer if it was a little more affordable (evergreen statement). But this is Vancouver…

VANCOUVER ARTS GUIDE

Performance

The East Van Panto is taking on Romeo and Juliet with a West Van vs. East Van vibe. Shows start on November 19 and tickets are on sale now. 

Sleepy Queers Productions is closing out the year with a Star Wars-themed drag and music show at the Fox Cabaret on November 20. Tickets are $25.

The Chutzpah! Festival of dance, performance, comedy and theatre through the lens of Jewish experiences begins tonight and runs through November 23.

Indigenous choreographer Santee Smith used survivor testimonials to tell the stories of children attending the Mohawk Institute, Canada’s longest-running residential school in a theatrical dance performance called The Mush Hole. Performances take place from November 14 to 16 as part of this year’s TRANSFORM Festival. Some tickets are still available, starting at $35. 

Art

Vancouver Indigenous Fashion Week 2025 is taking place from November 19-22, bringing together more than 70 Indigenous artists and designers on and off the runway. Tickets are available for each day’s events, ranging from $35-80, and there is also an artists’ market.

Western Canada’s largest craft market is taking place until the 16th at the Vancouver Convention Centre. 

Lumière, a free, accessible festival of light and art, is celebrating their 12th year, with installations across Vancouver.

More than 80 artists are participating in a preview of the Eastside Culture Crawl, running through November 30 at three venues: the Cultch’s Historic Theatre, Alternative Creations Gallery, and Pendulum Gallery. Dates vary depending on venue. 

Music

Keep the party going at DD Mau Chinatown, which recently launched a $10 per dish after-hours menu, with performances by local DJs. 

French-Algerian jazz saxophonist Illyes Ferfera’s quartet is performing on November 13 at Alliance Française Vancouver. Tickets are $25, or $18 for AFV members. 

On November 14 and 15, Canadian pianist Louis Lortie plays Ravel’s Piano Concertos (Mother Goose!) with the VSO at the Orpheum. Tickets start at $50. 

Movies

The Cinematheque is hosting the 28th annual European Union Film Festival from November 13 to 26. On the final day of the festival, there will be a solidarity screening of Oscar-nominated Porcelain War to benefit the Canada-Ukraine Foundation. 

Sixty per cent of the films screening at the 25th edition of the Whistler Film Festival are Canadian. Other notable films include the new Knives Out movie, and the latest from director Noah Baumbach. 

Want to see your event here? Submit them to our event calendar. 

CITY HALL

How will Vancouver replace aging and underfunded recreation facilities?

Looking around Vancouver, one can’t help but notice that so many public facilities are old and falling apart: The crumbling Vancouver Aquatic Centre. Kits Pool leaking. Outdated community hubs in Grandview-Woodland and the West End. Ancient ice rinks. The derelict Stanley Park train. Broken and inefficient water features. The list goes on and on. 

It’s a widespread issue that’s particularly noticeable when it comes to Vancouver’s recreation facilities. Out of 24 community centres, 14 pools, and eight ice rinks, 72 per cent are in ‘poor’ or ‘very poor’ condition, according to a 2022 analysis by the city.

There’s a pressing need to renew and replace these facilities, and the stakes are high for Vancouverites' quality of life. Rec centres improve people’s lives on a daily basis, and are an expectation of urban life – especially for families, youth, seniors, and people with middle to low incomes.  

But the combination of increasing construction costs and declining revenues from development contributions has led to a situation where our local government struggles to keep up with the maintenance needs of aging facilities, much less afford to build many new ones at the rate required to expand service. 

As of 2022, the city had an annual infrastructure funding deficit of $500 million – which is the difference between the amount of money needed to renew and replace existing infrastructure and the amount that’s budgeted. That includes an underfunding of recreation facilities by about $33 million per year, according to the recent audit by the city’s Auditor General Mike MacDonell.

COMMUNITY HIGHLIGHTS

• On Saturday, Rummage Community Thrift is hosting a re-opening party at their new location at 1854 W. 4th Ave., promising a DJ set, tarot card readings, free treats, promos, games, and more. [Tiktok]

• Mucker Next Door at 2295 East Hastings is closing at the end of the year, and is offering 25% off all purchases online and in person with promo code “RAOP25”. [Tiktok]

• Help a kid have a great holiday season by donating to one of Metro Vancouver’s many toy drives. [Miss 604]

• The 2025 Van Mag Wish Book is out and features nearly 70 gift ideas from local shops and brands. [Vancouver Magazine]

• The team behind Tofino Korean restaurant, Jeju, is opening a Vancouver location at 540 East Broadway. [Daily Hive]

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GAME TIME

Today’s Wordle is a common sea duck with a name that’s been soaring around town recently. Can you work out what it is?

PHOTO OF THE DAY

A gorgeous shot of the courtyard grounds in full autumn colour 🍁