From exam panic to money woes to the ache of true mental disorder, Ontario post-secondary students will be able to dial up help on a special new 24-hour helpline.

Queen’s Park will spend $27 million over three years to tackle growing concerns about campus mental-health problems, and the first $12.3 million instalment will launch 10 new programs, including the hotline.

“Early identification and intervention can help put young people back on track, and the new province-wide helpline will provide support for college and university students 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, no matter where they are,” MPP Brad Duguid, the minister of training, colleges and universities, said Tuesday at the office of Kids Help Phone, which will co-ordinate the new service.

If one in five Ontarians experiences some form of mental health illness, and possibly more at this age, “that’s a lot of students who need help,” said Duguid, whose government has earmarked $6 million over three years for the service.

The phone line — yet to land a campus-friendly name but soon to be pilot-tested for launch in September — will have staff trained to deal with issues facing students aged 18 to 25, noted Kids Help Phone President Sharon Wood.

“They could be anything from suicide crisis calls to someone just needing to be referred to a service on their own campus that they may not know about,” added Wood, whose organization will work with post-secondary institutions, the referral service ConnexOntario and Ontario 211 which provides community information.

“Many of the calls may be from young adults in a panic at 2 in the morning from the loneliness of being away from home — so they need someone to listen and spell out options and give a sense of hope.”

The province also launched an online hub of expertise where campus staff can see and share new methods for helping students. This Centre for Innovation on Campus Mental Health will be run by the Canadian Mental Health Association with the help of Colleges Ontario, the Council of Ontario Universities, the College Student Alliance and the Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance at a cost of $1.1 million over three years.

“It will have a pool of experts who can offer advice on the often complex mental health issues that arise on campus,” said Linda Franklin, president of Colleges Ontario, who noted that college staff are so concerned about student mental health that a conference last year on the issue “sold out in a nanosecond. Everyone’s hungry for ways to help.”

Humber College has received $752,286 over three years to train 2,500 staff across 12 colleges and universities to spot the early signs of mental distress, noted Jen McMillen, Humber’s director of student access, wellness and development.

“We tell them to look for signs of a change in behaviour; someone suddenly showing up late or dishevelled or who no longer makes eye contact or hands assignments in late,” said McMillen, who has trained 400 Humber staff in the two-day ‘mental health first aid’ program, including deans.

“We give them the confidence to reach out and ask if everything’s OK or if they’re struggling and could use someone to talk to,” she said. “Especially in larger universities, sometimes just one person noticing you can make the difference.”

Is all this just coddling students who should learn to cope with the stress of higher learning?

“Not at all; more students today make it into post-secondary education with pre-existing mental disorders because of new treatments, which is great,” said Rylan Kinnon, executive director of the Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance. “But we also need to make sure we’re serving their needs once they’re here.”

Says Bonnie Patterson, president of the Council of Ontario Universities: “To just tell students to ‘Suck it up’ about mental health? I don’t think so. We know so much more now about mental health, we want to avoid the sort of catastrophic outcomes that can be avoided with the right intervention early on.”

As well, the province announced projects designed to:

set standards for how to meet the special needs of students with mental health issues, led by Queen’s University at a cost of $1 million over three years;

help colleges in northern Ontario better meet the mental health needs of students, at just $973,000 over three years;

boost support for northern, rural and aboriginal students’ mental health needs, led by Sault College in Sault Ste Marie, at $772,000 over three years;

improve the student experience for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer students and recruit students as peer educators, led by Égale Canada Human Rights Trust and the Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance, at $493,631 over two years;

develop a province-wide peer mentoring program for students with mental health issues, led by Queen’s University at $426,000 over three years;

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test a new model for addressing campus mental health issues, to be led by Ryerson and the Ontario College of Art and Design University at $352,750 over three years;

create an online website to offer expertise to students in the Niagara area, to be led by Brock University and Niagara College, at $360,240 over three years;