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If you are in immediate danger, call 911.
Drink Watch
Halifax

Help is available

Support resources in Halifax

You don’t need to be sure of what happened to reach out. These services are free, confidential, and you decide what — if anything — happens next.

Support resources in Halifax

You don’t have to figure this out alone. These services are free and confidential.

Emergency Services

Emergency

If you are in immediate danger, or someone has been seriously hurt, call 911 right away. Stay on the line if you can.

Call 911

Avalon Sexual Assault Centre

Crisis & advocacy

Halifax-based centre offering confidential crisis support, counselling, and the SANE (Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner) response line. Available to people of all genders.

24-hour crisis & SANE line: 902-425-0122

Appointments: 902-817-3821

General contact: 902-422-4240

Crisis line 24/7 · Office Mon–Fri 8:30am–4:30pm

1526 Dresden Row, Suite 401, Halifax NS B3J 3K3

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Nova Scotia SANE Program

Medical / SANE

Provincial Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner program. Specially-trained nurses provide medical care and (if you choose) forensic evidence collection within seven days of an assault.

1-833-577-SANE: 1-833-577-7263

Halifax region: 902-425-0122

24/7 · Emergency departments at QEII, IWK, Dartmouth General, Cobequid

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Halifax Regional Police (non-emergency)

Police

For situations that are not an emergency but where you want police to come or take a report. For emergencies, always dial 911.

Non-emergency line: 902-490-5020

TTY (hearing/speech): 902-490-7252

24/7

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211 Nova Scotia

Community

Free, confidential navigator for community services across the province — housing, food, mental health, addiction, legal aid, and more.

Dial 2-1-1

Toll-free: 1-855-466-4994

Text: 2-1-1

Email: help@ns.211.ca

24/7

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Kids Help Phone

Youth

Confidential 24/7 support for anyone under 20 across Canada. Trained counsellors and volunteer crisis responders. No data plan needed for texting.

Phone counselling 24/7: 1-800-668-6868

Text: CONNECT to 686868

24/7

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What happens if I go to the hospital?

In Halifax, the SANE (Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner) program operates out of the QEII, IWK, Dartmouth General, and Cobequid emergency departments. SANE nurses are trained specifically to care for people who may have been sexually assaulted or drugged.

You decide what happens. You can have a medical check-up only, or you can also have evidence collected (a "kit") in case you decide later to talk to police. You can stop or change your mind at any time.

Some substances used to spike drinks leave the body within hours — so if testing is something you might want, going sooner gives you more options. Going to the hospital does not commit you to anything.

Information & tips

Signs a drink may have been tampered with

  • Sudden taste, colour, or fizz change in your drink.
  • Feeling unexpectedly dizzy, drowsy, sick, or out of it after one or two drinks.
  • Trouble walking, speaking, or remembering — much worse than how much you actually drank.
  • Waking up with gaps in memory and no clear sense of how the night ended.

If you think your drink was tampered with

  • Tell someone you trust and stay together. Don’t leave with someone you just met.
  • If you can, ask venue staff for help — most will call you a cab and stay with you.
  • If you feel very unwell, get to an emergency department. Many substances clear from your system within hours.
  • Your safety matters more than your drink, your phone, or your tab.

Looking out for someone else

  • If someone seems much more impaired than they should be, take it seriously.
  • Stay with them. Don’t leave them alone with strangers or in a cab on their own.
  • You don’t have to be sure. Acting on a hunch is okay.

Resource contact information verified 2026-05-23. If anything here is out of date, please email support@drinkwatch.org.