If an employee comes forward seeking help for a personal problem, or if the issue comes up in a performance management meeting, employers should have some optional resources available to guide the individual to the assistance they need.

1. The Company Employee Assistance Program

One option is a contracted Employee Assistance Program which would normally provide access to counselling services 7 days a week, 24 hours a day through a toll free number accessible anywhere in North America. The professional intake counsellor will ask for some basic information, discuss the individual’s concerns, and match him/her to a qualified counsellor in the community. However, if the nature of the call is urgent, immediate telephone counselling will take place. In addition, the intake cousellor is also trained to help workplace supervisors and key personnel when dealing with employee problems.

2. Provincial Sources for Assistance – Substance Abuse Issues

If the company does not have an employee assistance program, employees can make use of the services offered in their community through the provincial health care organizations. Access to assessment and treatment services is provided in each province as follows:

• British Columbia: Directory of Substance Abuse Services in BC is provided through the Kaiser Youth Foundation; it provides a province-wide listing of alcohol and drug services. Contact 604-681-1888 or their web site:

  www.preventionsource.bc.ca/pdf/workplace.pdf
  
  
  The Kaiser directory is at:

  http://www.kaiserfoundation.ca/desktopdefault.asp?
  TabID=3&SectionID=1&CatID=1

• Alberta: Alberta alcohol and Drug Abuse Commission has a Business and Industry Clinic which can be contacted at 780-538-6350 or 1-800-419-1149. Further information about assistance services is on their web site:
  
  http://corp.aadac.com/finding_help/
  
  Also, AADAC has a Business and Industry Clinic which can be contacted at 780-538-6350 or 1-800-419-1149. Further information about assistance services is on their web site:
  http://corp.aadac.com/workplace/business_industry_clinic/

• Saskatchewan: Alcohol and Drug Services can be reached through their community care line at 306-787-7126. There is further information about treatment services at their web site:

  www.health.gov.sk.ca/ps_alcohol_and_drugs.html

• Manitoba: The Addictions foundation can be reached at 204-944-6200 and further information about alcohol and drug services can be found at their web site:

  http://www.afm.mb.ca/mainhome_22.asp?contentID=75
  
  then select adult services from the list on the left.

• Ontario: The Centre for Addictions and Mental Health can be reached at 416-595-6111 or 1-800-463-6273. The Drug and Alcohol Registry of Treatment (DART) can be reached at 1-800-565-8603 or their web site at:

  www.dart.on.ca

  The web site providing information on addiction treatment programs in a variety of settings, including direct line phone numbers, is found at:

  www.camh.net/guide/addiction/assess_gen_treatment_prog.html

• Quebec: The Association des intervenants en toxicomanie du québec is accessed through the following site for further information about alcohol and drug dependencies:

  www.aitq.com

• La Fédération Québecoise des centres de réadaptation pour personnes alcooliques et autre toxicomanes can be accessed through the following site, which provides information on treatment resources available in the province:

  www.fqcrpat.qc.ca

• New Brunswick: Health and Wellness can be reached at 506-453-2536. Information on addiction treatment services is found at their web site:

  www.gnb.ca/0051/0378/index-e.asp

  An additional New Brunswick site on Addictions is found at:
  
  http://www.gnb.ca/0378/whatisanaddiction%2De.asp

• Nova Scotia: Health Resources can be accessed for general enquiries at 902-424-3377 or 1-800-565-3611, and information on health resources is on their web site at:

  www.gov.ns.ca/health/links.htm

• Prince Edward Island: Addiction Services can be contacted through
  1-888-299-8399 or their web site at:

  www.gov.pe.ca/infopei/Government/GovInfo/Health/Addiction

• Newfoundland and Labrador have addictions information set up by region; select the region you want and it will provide addictions information and contact points.
  The web site is:

  www.gov.nf.ca/health

Hit the search function, type in “addictions” and a list of the regions will be provided.

• Northwest Territories: The Community Mental Health Services can be contacted at 403-873-7709. Their web page on addictions was not completed as of April 2003, but the government web page leading to it is found at:

  www.hlthss.gov.nt.ca

  
  The NWT help directory is found at:

  http://www.hlthss.gov.nt.ca/content/Publications/Reports/HelpDirectory/
  2001/Help%20Directory.pdf

• Yukon: Addiction Services can be contacted at 867-667-5777 or 800-661-0408 #5777. Their web site has considerable information on how to access assessment and treatment services, at:

  www.hss.gov.yk.ca/prog/ads/

• Nunavut: the general information number is 1-888-252-9869 and a listing of regional health centers is found at:

www.gov.nu.ca/Nunavut/English/departments/HSS

3. Alternative Sources of Assistance - Federal

The Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse maintains a data base of treatment services by city which can be accessed at:

http://www.ccsa.ca/CCSA/EN/Addiction_Databases/
TreatmentServicesForm.htm

Further contact points for provincial resources can be found on the following web page for the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse:

http://www.ccsa.ca/CCSA/EN/Addiction_Databases/
AddictionsOrgsForm.htm

4. Other Sources of Assistance:

Employees can also access assistance through their personal physician, or through an agency such as Alcoholics Anonymous which has branches across Canada and can be found through the phone book or through their North American web site:

www.alcoholics-anonymous.org/default/en_services_aa.cfm?pageid=40

or:

www.theagapecenter.com/AA/AAinCanada.htm