1. Terms of Use

United Way of Calgary and Area and United Way of the Alberta Capital Region are the legal entities jointly responsible for 211 Alberta. Please note that in the document below when “211 Alberta” is used it is referring to these two legal entities.

Please read this Terms of Use Agreement (the ”Agreement”) carefully. It governs your use of this website (the “Website”) operated by 211 Alberta. The Agreement states the terms and conditions under which you (the “User”) may access and use the Website and all written and other materials displayed or made available through the Website, including, without limitation, information on Alberta-wide human services, human services statistics and critical services (the “Content”). BY ACCESSING AND/OR USING THE WEBSITE, YOU ARE INDICATING YOUR ACCEPTANCE TO BE BOUND BY THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF THIS AGREEMENT. IF YOU DO NOT ACCEPT THESE TERMS AND CONDITIONS, YOU MUST NOT ACCESS OR USE THE WEBSITE.

211 Alberta may unilaterally revise this Agreement from time to time, in which case we will provide you with a notice of such revisions by posting the amended Agreement on this Website. Use of the Website after such notice will signify your acceptance of these revised terms. You should visit this page periodically to review the Agreement.

2. 211 Alberta Listing Policy

Last Reviewed: January 20, 2022 

 211 Alberta hosts an online database of information on www.ab.211.ca. This database, populated with information about human and social services, is used for providing referrals to 2-1-1 callers and for use by visitors to the website looking to make informed choices to improve their quality of life. The information is published on the InformAlberta.ca website, the 211 Alberta website, and appears in various publications including Directories and Resource Lists.  

2.1 Listing Criteria  

These criteria apply to services available on the public website.  

211 Alberta includes, without fee, the following types of human and social service agencies:   

  • Non-profit agencies which provide a human service, program, or resource and are registered non-profit organizations or charities.  
  • Publicly funded services providing a direct human or health service.  
  • Federal, provincial, or municipal government services providing a direct human service.  
  • Self-help support groups.  
  • Networks or coalitions of direct service providers.  
  • Services provided by physician(s) or other licensed professional(s) in Alberta that are at least partially covered by Alberta Health Care insurance.  
  • Sources to search and find federal, provincial, and municipal representatives in an area.  
  • Advocacy groups.  
  • Public education institutions, including post-secondary institutions and K-12 school jurisdictions.  
  • Agencies that are involved in licensing, planning, funding, or coordinating direct services.  
  • Agencies (such as service clubs, faith-based organizations, or social clubs) that offer a community service and explicitly state their intention to make the proposed service available to clients without regard to their beliefs, religion, or political persuasion, and who avoid use of the proposed service as a means of attempting to convert clients from one faith, opinion, creed, or party to another. Worship services will not be listed. 

Non-profit organizations included in the 211 Alberta database will:  

  • Have been providing a service for a minimum of one year.  
  • Reasonably expect assured funding to continue operation for at least one year.  
  • Have a publishable address and/or phone number.  
  • Preferably, adhere to the principles and practices of the Canadian Code For Volunteer Involvement (for agencies who utilize volunteers).  

2.2 Discretionary Listings  

These criteria apply to services internally available for referral and are not available on the public website. 

211 Alberta may consider listing the following:  

  • For-profit, private, commercial agencies that provide a community service not sufficiently offered by the government or non-profit sector. 
  • For-profit mental health practitioners, including private practitioners, sole proprietors, or other business formats who provide services which are not sufficiently met by the non-profit sector.  
  • For-profit, private, commercial agencies that are licensed by the government or have special contractual agreements to operate long-term care facilities and certain home care services.  
  • For-profit services that have a contractual relationship with a funding agency to provide a publicly funded service. 

For-profit, private, commercial agencies that provide a community service will:  

  • Have been providing service for a minimum of one year.  
  • Have a publishable address and/or phone number.  
  • Not have volunteer opportunities listed.  
  • Only have those services included that are provided at no cost to the client or on a significant sliding scale.   

2.3 Primary Focus Areas  

211 Alberta will collect and disseminate agency and service information related to basic subsistence and survival-related services, including:  

  • Food, clothing, shelter, and transportation  
  • Emergency assistance  
  • Crisis intervention  
  • Financial assistance  
  • Legal and correctional services  
  • Victim services  
  • Immigrant and refugee services  
  • Physical and mental health services  
  • Addiction recovery 
  • Employment and training services  
  • Home support services    
  • Access to affordable housing  

Primary focus is also given to services for people who may experience barriers to services because of: 

  • Language  
  • Ethnocultural identity, including Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour 
  • Age, including risk factors associated with infants, children, youth, or seniors  
  • Low income, unemployment, lack of education, or literacy  
  • Physical, mental, or developmental disabilities  
  • Homelessness 
  • Social isolation  
  • Immigration or refugee status  
  • Gender identity, gender expression, or sexuality (2SLGBTQ+) 
  • Religious affiliation  
  • Fear of violence  

2.4 Secondary Focus Areas  

211 Alberta will consider collecting and disseminating general agency information and volunteer opportunities for services that fall outside the primary focus areas. Rather than collect comprehensive information in second-priority areas, 211 Alberta may collect information regarding representative or umbrella groups or refer users to other telephone or Internet-based services.  

These may include programs and services related to:  

  • Arts/culture  
  • Environment  
  • Festivals/special events  
  • Museums/historical sites  
  • Special interest agencies (e.g., Alberta Ferret Society, African Violet Society)  
  • Recreation/Sports  
  • Peace/international development/social justice  

2.5 Exclusion Criteria  

211 Alberta will not list:   

  • Unlicensed care services or nanny services for children, youth, or adults.  
  • For-profit home health care agencies, who do not offer a sliding scale fee structure, or who provide services which are sufficiently met by the non-profit sector.  
  • Individual practitioners and groups of consulting practitioners (who have incorporated under another name).  

Potential grounds for exclusion or removal from the database may include, but are not limited to, service non-delivery, fraud, misrepresentation, discrimination, criminal activities, or operating outside licensing mandates. 211 Alberta reserves the right to refuse to list or to discontinue listings of agencies that have had serious complaints lodged against them and agencies that fail to respond to requests to update information. 

2.6 Applying for a Database Listing 

If you are eligible and would like to apply to be listed, reach out via our Contact Us page.

2.7 Disclaimer  

211 Alberta reserves the right to be selective in listing an agency and in removing agencies and/or services that we find do not meet the listing policy criteria. 

Being listed in the 211 Alberta database does not constitute endorsement of the purpose, method, or quality of services, nor should exclusion reflect in any way on the service. See Section 3 below for further details.

2.8 Grievance/Appeal Process  

Decisions to include, exclude, or remove a service listing may be appealed in writing to 211 Alberta after a reasonable attempt has been made to resolve the issue with the 211 Community Resource Database Team. See Section 16 below.

3. No Endorsement

Inclusion of any organization and information about its programs and services on the Website does not imply endorsement by 211 Alberta nor does the exclusion indicate lack of endorsement.

Links to other websites are provided to help users locate other Internet resources that may be of interest. Parties other than 211 Alberta independently developed these other websites and therefore 211 Alberta does not assume responsibility for the content of any third party website, nor does it make any representation or warranty of any kind regarding third party websites, including, without limitation, (i) regarding the legality, accuracy, reliability, completeness, timeliness or suitability of any content on such third party websites, (ii) regarding the merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose of any material, content, software, goods, or services located at or made available through such third party websites, or (iii) that the operation of such third party websites will be uninterrupted or error free, that defects or errors in such third party websites will be corrected, or that such third party websites will be free from viruses or other harmful components.

In providing links to other websites, 211 Alberta is not acting as a publisher or disseminator of the material contained on these other websites and does not seek to control the content of, or maintain any type of editorial control over, such websites. A link to another website should not be construed to mean that 211 Alberta is associated with or is legally authorized to use any trademark, trade name, logo, or copyrighted symbol that may be reflected in the link or the description of the link to such websites. I addition, the mention of another party or its products or services on the Website should not be construed as an endorsement of that party or its products or services.

4 Disclaimer

The information on the Website is provided for information purposes only. It is not intended to provide medical, legal or professional advice whatsoever and should not be relied upon in that aspect.

THE WEBSITE AND THE CONTENTS IS PROVIDED ‘AS IS’. WHILE 211 ALBERTA ENDEAVORS TO PROVIDE INFORMATION THAT IS CORRECT, ACCURATE AND TIMELY, 211 ALBERTA MAKES NO REPRESENTATION OR WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, REGARDING THE WEBSITE AND THE CONTENT INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION , NO REPRESENTATION OR WARRANTY THAT (I) THE CONTENT CONTAINED IN OR MADE AVAILABLE THROUGHOUT THE WEBSITE WILL BE FIT FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, (II) THE WEBSITE OR CONTENT WILL BE ACCURATE, COMPLETE, CURRENT, RELIABLE, OR TIMELY, (III) THAT THE OPERATION OF THE WEBSITE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE, (IV) THAT DEFECTS OR ERRORS, WILL BE CORRECTED, (V) THAT THE WEBSITE WILL BE FREE FROM VIRUSES OR HARMFUL COMPONENTS, AND (VI) THAT COMMUNICATIONS TO OR FROM THE WEBSITE WILL BE SECURE AND NOT INTERCEPTED.

5. Listing Updates

Organizations listed on the Website are asked annually to update a document or to update their information by telephone, fax, or e-mail. In addition, the editorial team monitors service changes, and major changes are made as soon as the information is known and verified with the service provider. Nevertheless, community services change so rapidly that some omissions and in accuracies are inevitable.

211 Alberta encourages organizations to use the Website and to notify the editorial team of service changes throughout the year. 211 Alberta reserves the right to verify each change with the service provider.

The amount of detail, the language used and the presentation of information in describing a service or organization is at the discretion of 211 Alberta.

Changes submitted will not appear automatically or immediately on the Website. Changes will first be verified and processed by staff.

6. Linking

211 Alberta encourages organizations to use the website as a central collection of quality information. If you would like to link to the Website, we request that you:

  • Inform us that you are creating a link by sending a message via our Contact Us page. Please indicate the URL of the page where the link will be placed. We will add you to our e-mail list to provide you with automatic updates about this website; and
  • Link to the Website home page instead of specific pages within the Website.

While 211 Alberta encourages links to the Website, it does not wish to be linked to or from any third party website which contains, posts or transmits any unlawful information of any kind, including, without limitation, any content i) that constitutes or encourages conduct that would constitute a criminal offence, give rise to civil liability or otherwise violate any local, provincial, national or international law or regulation; ii) that may be damaging or detrimental to the activities, operations, credibility, or integrity of 211 Alberta; or iii) that contains, posts, or transmits any information, software or other material that violates or infringes upon the rights of others, including material which is an invasion of privacy or publicity rights, or which is protected by copyright, trademark or other proprietary rights.

211 Alberta reserves the right to prohibit or refuse to accept any link to the Website, including, without limitation, any link which contains or makes available any content or information of the foregoing nature, at any time. You agree to remove any link you may have to the Website upon the request of 211 Alberta.

The framing, mirroring and deep-linking of the Website or any of its content in any form or by any methods is strictly prohibited. You may not cause any advertisement including pop-up or banner advertisement to appear at, or on, or after exiting, the Website.

7. Privacy Policy

7.1 Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA)

This information is intended for general information purposes only and should not be distributed, copied or disclosed to anyone else. Its contents are protected by privilege, and all rights to privilege are expressly claimed and not waived. Further, any information that is confidential or personal will be subject to the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) and other relevant legislation.

7.2 Confidentiality Warning

211 Alberta strives to ensure confidentiality in email communication. Nevertheless, absent the use of encryption, the internet is not a secure medium and privacy cannot be ensured. Internet email is vulnerable to interception and forging. 211 Alberta will not be responsible for any damages you or any third party may suffer as a result of the transmission of confidential information that you make to 211 Alberta, or that you expressly or implicitly authorize 211 Alberta to make, or for any errors or any changes made to any transmitted information.

The Website measures site visits but does not collect or maintain information on the identity of such users.

7.3 Submissions

211 Alberta shall be free to use, for any purpose, any ideas, concepts, know-how or other techniques contained in information provided to 211 Alberta through the Website or sent through email. 211 Alberta shall not be subject to any obligations of confidentiality regarding any such information submitted to it unless specifically agreed to by 211 Alberta, or required by law.

211 Alberta may use comments submitted by users about the Website for promotional purposes. 211 Alberta will seek written permission of the user before publishing his or her personal name, organization or program name or direct comment. 211 Alberta may combine comments and attribute them to pseudonyms without seeking permission of the user.

7.4 Google Analytics

In order to serve you better, 211 Alberta uses Google Analytics to capture non-identifiable information about visitors to analyse the use of our website.  These tools use cookies to collect and generate information about your visits to our sites (including your IP address) that is transmitted to their servers in an anonymous form for processing. We study patterns of website activity so we can improve the experience of visitors to our sites.

We also use the Google Analytics Demographics and Interest Reporting features to capture non-identifiable information on web visitors age, gender and other categories provided by cookies from other websites you may have visited.  We also provide links to other websites managed by third parties/may permit third parties to offer users subscriptions/registration-based services through its website. As we cannot control or be responsible for the actions or policies of such third parties, you should check the applicable privacy policy of such third parties when visiting their websites or when

providing personal information to them. Please also note we cannot control or prevent the use of cookies or any information obtained through cookies by such third parties.

You can opt-out of analytics activity by setting your browser to notify you when a cookie is sent and block analytics cookies if desired. Please consult your browser’s Help Menu for instructions. Visiting our website with analytics cookies disabled will have no significant impact on your browsing experience.

Google currently offers a free Google Analytics opt-out tool for Internet Explorer (versions 7 and 8), Google Chrome (4.x and higher), and Mozilla Firefox (3.5 and higher).

8. Ownership and Limited Licence

This Website and its Content are protected by copyright law and are owned by 211 Alberta and/or 211 Alberta contributors. Individual listings on this Website are the property of the organization identified. The Website application and design is the property of 211 Alberta. 211 Alberta grants to the User a limited, non-transferable and non-exclusive license to access, view and use (display or print) a reasonable number of search results for their own person, non-commercial use, provided the information is not modified and that all copyright , trademark and other notices contained in the Website are maintained. None of the information may be otherwise reproduced, republished or re-disseminated in any manner or form without the express prior written consent of 211 Alberta or its affiliates, as the case may be.

The taxonomy used to index the services, including the definitions of listed terms, was originally published in the Information and Referral Thesaurus, First Edition, 1996. Except as expressly indicated above, no part of this taxonomy of human services terms and definitions may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the express written consent of 211 Alberta.

To find out how the information on the Website can be customized to your needs, please send an email to info@ab.211.ca.

9. Trademarks

Certain words, phrases, names, titles, graphics, icons, designs, logos and trademarks displayed on the Website may constitute registered or unregistered trademarks, service marks or trade names of 211 Alberta or third parties. While certain trademarks of third parties may be used by 211 Alberta under license, the display of any such marks or names on the Website does not imply that 211 Alberta or other entities have granted a license or authorization of any kind.

Any use of trade-names, trademarks, service-marks, and logos (collectively “Trademarks”) displayed on the Website, except as expressly provided in this Agreement, is strictly prohibited. Nothing appearing on the Website or elsewhere shall be construed as granting, by implication, estoppels, or otherwise any license or right to use any Trademarks displayed on the Website.

10. Prohibited Uses

The User is prohibited from posting or transmitting on or through the Website any unlawful, threatening, libelous, defamatory, obscene, indecent, inflammatory, pornographic or profile material that could constitute or encourage conduct that would be considered a criminal offence, give rise to civil liability, or otherwise violate any law. In addition, the User is prohibited from posting or transmitting on or through the Website any information which (a) infringes the rights of others or violates their privacy or publicity rights or (b) is protected by copyright, trademark or other proprietary right, unless with the express written consent of the owner of such right.

Furthermore, you may not, no may you allow others to, directly or indirectly:

  • use the Website in any manner that could damage, disable, overburden or impair it;
  • use the Website or its Content for commercial or philanthropic prospection purposes (including by the use of unsolicited commercial email or SPAM);
  • interfere with the security of, or otherwise abuse, the Website or any services, system resources, accounts, servers or networks connected to or accessible through the Website or affiliated or linked Websites;
  • disrupt or interfere with any other person’s use or enjoyment of the Website or affiliated or linked Websites;
  • upload, post or otherwise transmit on the Website any items, including, without limitation, computer viruses, Trojan horses, worms or other harmful, disruptive or destructive, files or computer programs; or
  • use any robot, spider, or other automatic program or device, or manual process to monitor, copy, summarize, or otherwise extract information from the Website or the Content in whole or in part.

You agree that you are solely responsible for all your actions and communications undertaken or transmitted in the course of your usage of the Website, and that you will comply with all applicable laws concerning the use of or activities on the Website in respect of the Content. You will be solely liable for any damages resulting from any infringement of copyright, trademark or other proprietary right, or any other harm resulting from your use of the Website.

11. Limitation of Liability

In no event shall 211 Alberta be liable for damages of any kind, including, without limitation, any indirect, special, incidental or consequential damage or any other damages whatsoever and howsoever caused, arising out of or in connection with the use of the Website or in reliance on the information available on the website, including, without limitation, any loss of use, lost data, lost business profits, business interruption or other loss incurred in connection with the use or misuse of the Website, regardless of the cause and whether the action is in contract, tort (including negligence), civil liability or otherwise. The foregoing limitation shall apply even if 211 Alberta knew of or ought to have known of the possibility of such damages.

12. Indemnity

You agree to defend, indemnify and hold harmless 211 Alberta and all third parties mentioned at the Website, from and against any and all claims, actions or demands, including without limitation reasonable legal and accounting fees, resulting from your use of the Website or you breach of this Agreement.

13. Security

While every effort is made to ensure that the information provided on the Website does not contain computer viruses, the User should take reasonable and appropriate precautions to scan the User’s computer systems for computer viruses and to protect against harmful effects of such viruses, including by means of maintaining a complete and current backup of the applicable items or information contained on the User’s computer system.

14. Termination

211 Alberta reserves the right to remove and/or disable access to the Website, with or without notice, to any User who violates this Agreement. If the User violates any provision of this Agreement, the User’s permission to use the Content automatically terminates and the User must immediately destroy any copies it has made of the Content. 211 Alberta retains also the right to take appropriate legal actions to enforce its rights and disclaims any liability for unauthorized use or reproduction of any portion of the Website.

15. General Provisions

The User agrees that all matters relation to the access to, or use of the Website and its Contents, shall be governed by the laws of the Province of Alberta and the laws of Canada notwithstanding any otherwise applicable conflict of laws rule. The User hereby consents and submits to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of the Province of Alberta in any action or proceeding instituted or related to this Agreement.

If any provision of this Agreement is found to be unlawful, void or for any reason unenforceable, then that provision shall be deemed to be severed from the rest of this Agreement and shall not affect the validity and enforceability of any remaining provisions.

The provisions of this Agreement will inure to the benefit of and be binding upon the parties and each of their respective successors and assigns.

No waiver, express or implied, by 211 Alberta of any breach or default by User under this Agreement will constitute a continuing waiver of such breach or default or deemed to be a waiver of any proceeding or subsequent breach.

Any rights not expressly granted by this Agreement are reserved to 211 Alberta and its affiliates.

16. Grievance Policy

If you would like to appeal 211’s decision to include, exclude, or remove a service listing from the 211 database, please submit a request via our Contact Us form. Please review the 211 Alberta Listing Policy (section 2 of this page) before submitting an appeal. Your appeal will be reviewed and recommendations will be made to the 211 Alberta Leadership Team. Any final decision regarding changes to the database or 211 Alberta policies rests with the 211 Alberta Leadership Team.

Please note: Multiple agencies maintain the information in the 211 database. This grievance policy applies only to information maintained by 211. If your appeal is about information maintained by an agency other than 211, your appeal will be forwarded to be addressed in accordance with that agency’s own policies.

17. Contact Us

If you are experiencing difficulties in using the Website or if you have any questions or comments regarding the Website please Contact Us.