Formation | 1998 |
---|---|
Type | Non-profit |
Purpose | To provide lifesaving products and services in transfusion and transplantation for Canadian patients, and to safeguard Canada's systems of life essentials in blood, plasma, stem cells, and organs and tissues. |
Headquarters | Ottawa, Ontario, Canada |
Region served | Canada |
Chief executive officer | Dr. Graham D. Sher |
Revenue | CAD $1.37 billion (2023) |
Expenses | CAD $1.38 billion (2023) |
Staff | 4,000 |
Volunteers | 4,180 (2023) |
Website | blood.ca |
[1] |
Canadian Blood Services (French: Société canadienne du sang) is a non-profit charitable organization that is independent from the Canadian government.[2] The Canadian Blood Services was established as Canada's blood authority in all provinces and territories except for Quebec in 1998.[3] The federal, provincial and territorial governments created the Canadian Blood Services through a memorandum of understanding.[4] Canadian Blood Services is funded mainly through the provincial and territorial governments.[4]
Canadian Blood Services is a health-care system that is part of Canada's broader network of systems, and it is currently the only organization that is funded by Canada's provincial and territorial governments for manufacturing biological products.[4] In addition to providing blood and blood products, the organization also provides transfusion and stem cell registry services on behalf of all provincial and territorial governments besides Quebec.[4] All provinces and territories are able to access the national transplant registry for inter-provincial organ sharing and related programs.[4]
It has a unique relationship with Héma-Québec, the provincial blood system operator that provides products to patients and manages Quebec's stem cell donor registry.[5] The two organizations work closely to share blood products in times of need and collaborate regularly to share information, insights and data.[6][7]
There are several reasons why individuals can be deferred from donating blood, including intravenous drug use, living in the UK for certain periods of time, coming from an HIV-endemic country, and engaging in activities that confer a high risk of HIV.[8]
Canadian Blood Services has been criticized for moving away from an unpaid voluntary donor model towards a commercial model based on monetary incentives for donation.[9]