What ANCHOR’s expansion into Lowertown means for our community

By the Lowertown Community Association’s Health & Wellness Committee

Lowertown will soon be included in the City of Ottawa’s Alternate Neighbourhood Crisis Response (ANCHOR) program, a community-led mental health and substance-use crisis response service that offers an alternative to a police response in certain situations.

ANCHOR was launched in 2024 as a response to long-standing community calls for safer, more compassionate ways to respond to mental health and substance-use crises. Instead of police, ANCHOR dispatches trained crisis response workers who are equipped to assess situations, de-escalate crises, and connect people to appropriate supports.

What’s changing for Lowertown
With additional funding approved by City Council in December 2025, ANCHOR is expanding eastward. By the end of June 2026, the program will begin serving Lowertown, along with the ByWard Market, Sandy Hill, Lees Towers, Vanier, and Overbrook.

What ANCHOR is and how to use it
ANCHOR is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.

Residents can access the service by calling 2-1-1 when someone is experiencing a mental health or substance-use crisis, and a police response is not required. Calls are handled by trained 2-1-1 navigators, who assess whether an ANCHOR response is appropriate and can dispatch a team of two crisis workers to attend in person.

ANCHOR teams focus on de-escalation, safety, and connection to care. They can also link individuals to post-crisis response workers, who provide follow-up support and help connect people to longer-term services once the immediate crisis has passed.

If there is an immediate risk of violence or weapons are involved, residents should continue to call 9-1-1.

Why this matters in Lowertown
In its first year, ANCHOR received more than 4,400 calls, and over 92% of in-person responses were handled without police involvement. These early results suggest that many crises can be addressed more effectively through community-based care.

For Lowertown, the expansion adds another tool –one that prioritises dignity, safety, and compassion – when someone is in distress. It reflects the reality many neighbours already know – that not every crisis is best met with enforcement, and that care-first responses can strengthen both individual outcomes and community wellbeing.

Who runs ANCHOR?
ANCHOR is jointly operated by the Centretown Community Health Centre and Somerset West Community Health Centre, in partnership with Community Navigation of Eastern Ontario (2-1-1). It is funded by the City of Ottawa. The program builds on extensive community consultation led by the Ottawa Guiding Council for Mental Health and Addictions.

A new option, rooted in community
ANCHOR’s arrival in Lowertown does not replace existing emergency services – it complements them. It offers residents a clearer choice when someone is struggling and needs support rather than punishment. As the program expands into our neighbourhood, knowing when and how to use ANCHOR is one more way we can continue to look out for one another, respond with care, and strengthen the community supports that make Lowertown home.