Canadian Blood Services

Canadian Blood Services is a national, not-for-profit charitable organization that manages the blood supply in all provinces and territories of Canada, outside of Québec, and oversees the OneMatch Stem Cell and Marrow Network (formerly Unrelated Bone Marrow Donor Registry). A separate organization, Héma-Québec, operates in the province of Québec. A team of 4,600 staff and 17,000 volunteers help Canadian Blood Services operate 41 permanent collection sites and more than 20,000 donor clinics annually. It was created in 1998 as a successor to the Canadian Red Cross Blood Program and the Canadian Blood Agency.

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Canadian Blood Services collects approximately 880,000 units of blood annually and processes it into the components and products that are administered to thousands of patients each year through blood transfusions. In addition to donating whole blood, some locations also offer platelets and blood plasma donations.

While Canadian Blood Services is not a government agency, it does receive its funding from the provincial and territorial ministries of health, and is regulated by Health Canada.

Canadian Blood Services is governed by an independent Board of Directors. Current directors include: Dr. Verna M. Skanes (Chair), James Kreppner, Gord Sanford, Dr. Bernadette Garvey, Frank D. Jones Q.C., W. John Dawson, Dr. Gary Glavin, Vice Admiral Lynn Gordon Mason (ret'd), Dr. Michael D. Mehta, Kenneth Wayne Ezeard, Thomas Warner, Marilyn Robinson, and Leah Hollins (Vice-Chair).