Being new to the city, its always a good idea to see the public services available to a city's residents. We found 211 at a suggestion of a PhD friend of ours. This site provides information about community, social, health and government services and its available not only in Toronto but also in the Niagara Region and Simcoe County. And its available by dialing 211 on your phone (or checking this site). This reminds us of a similar service in NYC.
211 is available 24-hours-a-day and is a free, confidential service, available in many languages. Your call is directly answered by whom they say is a Certified Information and Referral Specialist* who will assess your situation, help you find answers to your questions, dand provide you with options and appropriate referrals.
As per their website, 29% of Ontario’s population currently have 211 service. Maybe its a good idea to check it now before you check it when you need it and you may not have the service. We called from the Financial District and the lady that answered our call responded politely, courteously and knowledgably to our made up stupid questions. She passed our test.
Overall, we are rating this a World Class public service.
