News

BloodWatch strongly condemns federal approval of a private for-profit paid-plasma collection business in Moncton, New Brunswick. Canadian Blood Services issued a stark warning in December of 2016 stating that private paid-plasma operations are harming the voluntary blood system in Saskatchewan, putting our national voluntary blood system at risk. Read the full statement. 

Private companies that pay individuals for providing blood or plasma will be banned from operating in Alberta, under proposed new legislation from the NDP government. Bill 3, the Voluntary Blood Donations Act, was introduced Monday afternoon in the legislature by Health Minister Sarah Hoffman. Read the full Edmonton Sun article.

The changes are included in the Voluntary Blood Donations Act, introduced Monday in the legislature by Health Minister Sarah Hoffman. “Donating blood should not be viewed as a business venture, but as a public resource that saves lives every day,” said Hoffman. She said Bill 3 will protect Alberta’s voluntary blood donation system by preventing […]

Health Minister Jane Philpott Shows Signs Of “Reconsidering” Blood Policy Decision. Health Minister Jane Philpott, who has in the past expressed cautious support for paid plasma, said in a statement Tuesday that she has asked Health Canada to “carefully assess” Dr. Sher’s concerns about the Saskatoon clinic’s effect on the voluntary blood-collection system. “CBS has, […]

January 14, 2017 – The federal government has quietly approved a plasma-for-profit clinic in Saskatoon, drawing fiery criticism from politicians, scientists and patients Three days before Christmas 2016, jingly seasonal music fills the air at Canadian Plasma Resources (CPR) in Saskatoon, located in a non-descript building in a quiet industrial stretch. In one direction, a […]

CEO of CBS speaks out against private-paid plasma clinics. Confirms that they harm the voluntary donor base in Saskatchewan where the private clinic set-up. PLEASE READ CBC’s national news story here.

The lives of Canadians will be at risk if for-profit companies that pay people to give blood are allowed to operate, a Medicine Hat audience was told Tuesday night. Private plasma clinics will not benefit Albertans but will create competition for blood plasma which we will not have access to, says Kat Lanteigne of http://www.BloodWatch.org. Canadian […]

Private blood brokers are trying to secure a stake in Canada’s blood system in order to make a profit off of our blood plasma and it is putting Canadian lives at risk. Canadian Plasma Resources (CPR) was recently banned from operating in Ontario (Quebec has banned the sale of blood and plasma since 1994). CPR […]

The Globe recently came out against paid plasma in this editorial from April 27th. “Earlier this week, the CEO of Canadian Blood Services, an organization born in the aftermath of the tainted blood scandal that claimed thousands of lives and cost billions in financial settlements, mused about increasing the country’s plasma supply by, just maybe, […]

We’re happy to announce that SumOfUs.org, the amazing online campaign platform, is profiling BloodWatch on their site. Check it out and SIGN THE PETITION: Ban for-profit donor-paid plasma collection in Canada. SumOfUs.org is a new world-wide movement for a better global economy. Here’s what they stand for: Governments that answer to citizens – not corporations Fair […]

Kat Lanteigne’s opinion piece in the Ottawa Citizen: The debate over whether to pay people for their plasma is not a scientific one. It is about whether or not the people of B.C. want to allow private blood brokers to take over the role of Canadian Blood Services (CBS). Paid is private, meaning that the […]

While blood looks red, its largest component is a clear, liquid gold known as plasma — what’s left after red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets and other components are removed. And it’s worth a lot of money. Here are 10 things to know about the pay-for-plasma landscape in Canada (…) This is a business […]

The question of blood-system safety remains a flashpoint in Canada, two decades after the “tainted blood” scandal of the late ’80s and early ’90s. More than 20,000 Canadians became infected with HIV and hepatitis C due to improperly screened blood and plasma from paid donors in Haiti and American skid rows. The tragedy led to […]

Health Canada says private clinics may pay donors for plasma, but critics wonder what is behind the push for a major change in policy. (…) Was this the promised public consultation about whether Canadians are okay with the idea that a human blood fluid can be bought and sold? “It wasn’t public, it was a closed […]

A company that pays people for blood donation is trying to open a clinic in Moncton. CPR is aiming to open ten clinics across the country in the next few years. The company has been stopped in Ontario and Quebec with laws that ban payment for blood donations but it’s getting a warm reception in […]

In the early 1980s, more than 2,000 Canadians who received blood transfusions were infected with HIV and as many as 30,000 contracted Hepatitis C. This tragic scandal, and the Krever Inquiry that followed, resulted in the overhaul of our blood donation system to ensure the safety of any blood products. This made Canada one of […]