Defence Team– Mental health and wellness
Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) members and Department of National Defence (DND) public service employees can access a variety of resources and information to help maintain and improve our mental health and overall personal well-being.
If you are in distress, please contact the:
- Canadian Forces Member Assistance Program 1-800-268-7708 (TTY: 1-800-567-5803)
- Employee Assistance Program 1-800-663-1142 (TTY: 1-888-384-1152)
- Kids Help Phone provides a crisis texting service for children, youth, and young adults:
- For kids of CAF families, text the keyword CAFKIDS to 686868
- For kids across Canada, text the keyword CONNECT to 686868
- If you or someone you know is thinking about suicide, call or text 9-8-8. Bilingual support is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week through the 9-8-8: Suicide Crisis Helpline.
- If you or someone you know is in immediate danger, call 9-1-1 or go to your nearest emergency department.
On this page:
- Resources for CAF members
- Resources for DND public service employees
- Wellness courses and learning events
- Additional resources and articles
Resources for CAF members
There are a range of services available to help you and your family members get the care and support you need. You're not alone, help is available.
- Canadian Forces Member Assistance Program (CFMAP) – Provides free and confidential, short-term professional counselling and crisis services to members of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF), veterans, and their families. You have two ways to access CFMAP to set up counselling:
- By Phone, call the Crisis and Referral Centre available 24/7, at 1-800-268-7708 or 1-800-567-5803 (for people with hearing impairments).
- By Chat at www.canada.ca/eap-chat (password: canada), available Monday to Friday, from 0800-1930 (Eastern time), excluding statutory holidays.
The Chat Service is only for making an appointment for professional counselling, not for immediate counselling. If you need immediate support, call the Crisis and Referral Centre.
- Military Mental Health. You're not alone – The Canadian Armed Forces offers exceptional medical and mental health care, support for families, and return to work programs.
- The Family Information Line (FIL) – Speak to friendly, experienced professionals who are well-versed on CAF communities and services. FIL counsellors are available to handle calls in confidence 24 hours a day, seven days a week. To speak with a FIL counsellor, call 1-800-866-4546 (toll-free in North America) or 1-613-995-5234 (collect calls accepted).
- The HOPE Program – Provides CAF members and their families who have recently lost a loved one with peer support. Members and families are eligible for this service if they have lost a loved one who served in the Canadian Armed Forces, either active or retired, Regular or Reserve Force. Contact HOPE by email or by calling 1-800-883-6094.
- Military Family Resource Centres (MFRCs) – CAF members and their families have access to dedicated, frontline service providers, responsible for connecting military families to a wide range of programs and services.
- Military Medical Centres – Locate a medical and dental centre anywhere in Canada.
- Sexual Misconduct Support and Resource Centre – Confidential support services for CAF members affected by sexual misconduct and those who want to support them.
- Integrated Conflict and Complaint Management – service that helps CAF members submit, track, and resolve complaints.
- Chaplain Services – Spiritual guidance and support is available.
- Operational Stress Injury Social Support (OSISS) – We provide a national peer support network for Canadian Armed Forces members, veterans and their families who are experiencing an Operational Stress Injury (OSI).
Resources for DND public service employees
Whether you are looking to improve your well-being, increase your awareness, or access any of the many services and programs that are available to you, support is available when and how you need it.
- Employee Assistance Program – The EAP is a professional, confidential and proactive service to support you and your family members with a wide range of personal, family and work-related concerns. These services are designed to enable a proactive approach to supporting your well-being.
- The Office of Disability Management (accessible only on the National Defence network) was created to be an impartial, collaborative and inclusive group that supports employees and supervisors/managers dealing with disability-related matter due to illness, impairment and injury.
- The Workplace Harassment and Violence Prevention Centre of Expertise provides guidance to Defence Team personnel, develops training, and focuses on prevention initiatives.
- Sexual Misconduct Support and Resource Centre - Confidential support services for DND public service employees affected by sexual misconduct and those who want to support them.
- Organizational Well-Being SharePoint site (accessible only on D365) – Helpful information about the mental health and well-being services available to DND public service employees.
Wellness courses and learning events
Discover ways to support your personal well-being through courses, events, and interactive activities.
- Mental Health Learning Series | Canada School of Public Service
- Defence Learning Network Catalogue (accessible only on D365)
- Workplace Strategies for managers and employees
- Webinars and virtual events:
- Register for wellness webinars and access the recording of past webinars on the Organizational Well-Being SharePoint (only accessible on D365)
- CAF Community:
Commemorative Events
Additional resources and articles
- Health and wellness articles on a wide variety of health and well-being topics (for internal audiences only).
- Newsletters:
- Subscribe to DND's Organizational Well-Being distribution list to stay informed on mental health and wellness topics, learn about upcoming webinars, and much more.
- Subscribe to get the latest healthy eating updates and monthly newsletter from Health Canada
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