Operation Red Nose


Administrator: Operation Red Nose Corporation
Sponsors: vary by jurisdiction and include: Insurance Corporation of British Columbia, Manitoba Public Insurance, Société de l’assurance automobile du Québec, Assurances générales Desjardins, NSLC, Ontario Safety League, CAPSC Safety Services, CTV
Jurisdictions: British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Saskatchewan
Start date: 1984

Background:  At the end of September 1984, Jean-Marie De Koninck was driving and listening to a radio show about the serious problems caused by impaired driving. At the time, statistics showed that more than 50% of fatal crashes were caused by motorists who had consumed alcohol. Next, a bartender came on to discuss how many customers didn’t want to leave their vehicle behind and take a cab home. That’s when De Koninck came up with an idea: volunteers could offer motorists who had had a few drinks to drive them home in their own vehicle. From this, operation red nose was born. More than 53,898 Operation Red Nose volunteers travel the roads of British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, Saskatchewan, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia between November 25th and December 31st each year and safely transport over 85,000 vehicles and their passengers home.

Goal: Operation Red Nose is an awareness and education campaign that is designed to address the issue of impaired driving by inviting motorists to be proactive and to plan ahead for a safe ride home through the use of a designated driver, by calling someone who is sober (i.e., friend, parent), calling a cab, using public transportation, or simply staying overnight. The service traditionally operates around the Christmas and New Year holiday season. The goal of this service is to keep impaired drivers off the road and to get everyone who sees or hears about the program to think about celebrating responsibly.

The Program: Operation Red Nose provides a free designated driver service during the holiday season to motorists who have been drinking or who do not feel fit to drive. Motorists can call Operation Red Nose and get picked up by a team of three volunteers including an escort vehicle, and be driven in their own vehicles to the destinations of their choice with the escort vehicle following behind. After dropping off the motorist, the escort vehicle drives the team to pick up other clients or drives back to the local headquarters. Since 1984, volunteers have provided no fewer than 1,344,569 safe rides home in Canada. All donations made by clients are given to local youth and amateur sport organizations.

Contact:

Stéphane Thériault
Executive Director
stheriault@operationnezrouge.com

National Headquarters
2539, rue Marie-Fitzbach, Maison Couillard
Université Laval (Québec) G1V 0A6

Phone: 1- 418-653-1492 or toll free 1-800-463-7222
Fax: 418-653-3315
Website: www.operationrednose.com

 

Provincial Offices

BRITISH COLUMBIA & SASKATCHEWAN

Operation Red Nose British Columbia
Red Nose National Office

2539, rue Marie-Fitzbach, Maison Couillard
Université Laval (Québec) G1V 0A6

Phone: 1-418-653-1492 or toll free
1-800-463-7222
Fax: 418-653-3315

Marie-Chantal Fortin
mcfortin@operationnezrouge.com

ALBERTA

Operation Red Nose National Office
2539 Marie-Fitzbach
Maison Couillard, Université Laval
Québec, QC, G1V 0A6

Phone: 1-418-653-1492 or toll free
1-800-463-7222
Fax: 418-653-3315

Chantal Lefebvre
clefebvre@operationnezrouge.com

MANITOBA

Operation Red Nose Manitoba / Safety Services Manitoba
Unit 3-1680 Notre Dame Avenue
Winnipeg, MB, R3H 1H6

Phone: 1-204-949-1085 or toll free
1-800-661-3321
Fax: 204-956-2897
mboffice@operationrednose.com

Donna Wilkie
dwilkie@safetyservicesmanitoba.ca

ONTARIO

Operation Red Nose Ontario / Ontario Safety League
2595 Skymark Avenue, Suite 212
Mississauga, ON, L4W 4L5

Phone: 905-625-0556 ext. 222
Fax: 905-625-0677
onoffice@operationrednose

Tracy Craig
comtcraig@osl.org

QUEBEC

Operation Red Nose National Office
2539 Marie-Fitzbach
Maison Couillard, Université Laval
Québec, QC, G1V 0A6

Phone: 418-653-1492 or toll free
1-800-463-7222
Fax: 418-653-3315

Jean-Philippe Giroux
jpgiroux@operationnezrouge.com