Canadian Blood Services

About Canadian Blood Services

Canadian Blood Services is a healthcare organization located on Wharncliffe Rd S in the Cleardale neighbourhood. It provides a system for transfusion and transplantation essentials across Canada. The organization collects, tests, and manufactures red blood cells, platelets, and plasma. It manages a national public cord blood bank and provides stem cell products for transplantation. It oversees a formulary of plasma protein and related products for medical conditions and operates the Canadian Blood Services Stem Cell Registry to locate unrelated marrow donors. The organization is the national coordinating agency for organ and tissue donation and transplantation and manages a registry for interprovincial organ sharing. Diagnostic laboratories provide routine and referral services including perinatal testing, transfusion reaction investigations, and complex antibody investigations. Canadian Blood Services was established in 1998 as an independent registered charity following a memorandum of understanding between the federal and provincial governments, excluding Quebec, in response to a Royal Commission of Inquiry by Justice Horace Krever. The organization is regulated as a biologics manufacturer by Health Canada and receives most of its funding from provincial and territorial governments, excluding Quebec. Donors can book appointments online to visit the donor centre. The organization provides 24/7 physician support to hospitals and care providers. Hospital blood orders are processed via fax using specific order forms. The organization maintains nine distribution sites across the country to service specific groups of hospitals.