Coalhurst councillors hear about importance of 211 Alberta

Posted on February 13, 2026 by Sunny South News

By Kristine Jean
Sunny South News

Help in finding a service, resources or supports in Alberta can be found in just three digits – 2-1-1. 

Town of Coalhurst councillors heard about 211 Alberta in a presentation at the Jan. 20 Town of Coalhurst regular council meeting. 

Janelle Marietta, Engagement and Resource Specialist for 211 Alberta, South Zone, provided councillors with a snapshot of 211 Alberta and shared details about the work they do and the services and supports they offer. She also noted how 

211 Alberta connects people to a range of community, social and government services.  

“211 Alberta is a partnership with the United Way Alberta Capital Region in Edmonton, our Canadian Mental Health Association in Edmonton, and our distress center in Calgary,” said Marietta. “So this is a rather unique partnership of three organizations that have come together. 211 was rolled out in the Edmonton and Calgary areas in 2004.” 

Since 2020, the 211 Alberta program has been rolled out to the entire province and all communities across Alberta can access 211.  

“211 is essentially a 24/7 calling. We are a help service. It’s completely free to all Albertans that can access information in terms of service navigation within their communities,” she said. 

211 Alberta operates seven days a week, including holidays like Christmas Day, noted Marietta, adding they are available to help navigate services by phoning 2-1-1 to speak with a person, by texting 2-1-1 to begin texting with a person, or if people want to keep personal information out of the conversation, they can do a web chat.    

“We have a unique service in that we have our language line,” said Marietta. “We can bring in a live translator onto the call in 170 languages, which is a rather fantastic resource for a lot of our communities.”  

She noted the free 2-1-1 service is confidential and anyone calling from Coalhurst will have their call picked up by the distress center in Calgary, where staff are trained to answer calls at different capacities. 

She shared the number of calls that came into 211 Alberta across the province in 2024.

“We’re looking at just about 100,000. It has since increased since 2025’s numbers, we’re at 121, 492 to be exact for 2025,” she said, noting calls for accessing services and obtaining supports, include a partner who may be experiencing domestic violence and needs support or a teacher who might be concerned about a student and doesn’t know what kind of supports the family might need. 

“We also work a lot with seniors,” said Marietta, noting that the highest needs were for individual and family supports, which points to isolation, within the community. “Mental health resources was certainly the second highest request for supports, as well as basic needs,” explained Marietta. “So things like housing, food, utilities, often turns to emergency funding and things like that.”

She also pointed out the demographic of callers to 211 Alberta in the Coalhurst area in the past has been quite young, whereas they typically see an older demographic.

“Your community (had) 56.5 per cent of callers in the age range of 25 to 34, which is actually quite interesting,” she told council. 

Marietta said 211 Alberta has been working closely with the Ministry of Mental Health and Addictions and Recovery Alberta on a provincial alignment for all of their mental health and addiction referral services. Beginning April 1, 2026, 211 Alberta will be promoted as the “provincial front door” for mental health and addictions (MH&A) services.   

211 Alberta also plays a role in disaster response. Marietta spoke about the role 211 Alberta had for residents in their re-entry into Jasper in the summer of 2024 following the devastating wildfires. 211 Alberta was set up at the Jasper Re-entry Support Centre, she noted. 

Every year, Feb. 11 is known as 2-1-1 Day, said Marietta, pointing out the Canada-wide campaign this year to share awareness about 211. The Town of Coalhurst is sharing about 211 Alberta in their monthly newsletter and sharing 2-1-1 Day on social media as well.  

Landmarks across Canada will light up red in support of 211 on Feb. 11, 2026, including the Calgary Tower, the Alberta Legislature Building, as well as city halls in Lethbridge and Red Deer, the CN Tower in Toronto, and Niagara Falls, will all light up red.   

Marietta said putting a day on the calendar helps remind communities “that we are here.” 

“They can call, they can ask for support and they’re not on their own,” said Marietta. “It’s a quick and easy way to remember 2-1-1.”