Ontario

The Ontario government says it will introduce legislation that prohibits payments for blood or plasma donations in the province. The issue of paying donors has been contentious ever since clinics began popping up last year — two in Toronto and one in Hamilton. The federal government has said it will respect any provincial and territorial […]

Ontario is raising concerns about new clinics that would pay people to give blood plasma, saying Health Canada should delay any approvals until it has consulted the provinces and other groups. The prospect of three paid-donor blood plasma clinics being set up in the province is a cause for concern, Ontario Health Minister Deb Matthews […]

A private company that had been trying to open three plasma clinics in Ontario is giving up and leaving the province, saying the Liberal government’s determination to ban compensation for plasma donors has forced it to look elsewhere for a home. The chief executive officer of Canadian Plasma Resources says his company is in talks […]

It may ultimately be up to the province whether or not a Canadian company gets the go-ahead to open paid-plasma donor clinics in Toronto. The company, Canadian Plasma Resources, must overcome two regulatory hurdles before it can pay donors $20 for their plasma, a protein-rich liquid found in blood and manufactured into life-saving treatments. Health […]

Survivors of the tainted blood crisis of the 1980s are sounding the alarm about a proposal by Canadian Plasma Resources (CPR) to pay people for donations of blood plasma, saying it flies in the face of lessons learned 25 years ago when blood was collected from high-risk populations. CPR, which has two clinics in downtown […]

Ontario plans to join Quebec in banning payments to people for their blood and blood plasma after a paid-plasma clinic in Toronto opened to donors. The governing Liberals re-introduced legislation on Wednesday that also incorporates recommended changes to pharmacy oversight in response to cases in which more than 1,200 cancer patients in Ontario and New […]

Health Canada should hold off on approving blood clinics that pay people for their plasma, Ontario’s health minister says. Ontario Health Minister Deb Matthews asked her federal counterpart on Monday to hold off approving two clinics in Toronto and one in Hamilton planned by Canadian Plasma Resources. “As health regulators and care providers, I strongly […]

It was an ‘invitation only’ meeting at a downtown Toronto hotel. The media were banished to the hallway. Inside, a handpicked group of people gathered, with no one sure who else was around the table. There was no official agenda, no list of the names of the presenters. The only record of the proceedings was […]

On behalf of Ontario’s registered nurses (RNs), nurse practitioners (NPs) and nursing students (BScN), the Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario (RNAO) extends its warmest congratulations on your election as Ontario’s premier. As you know, RNAO is the professional body representing RNs, NPs and BScN students across the province. Premier, we would also like to take […]

Ontario is moving to become only the second province in Canada to ban payments for blood and plasma, but the Toronto-based business that is the target of the proposed law intends to begin limited collection of plasma next week regardless. The provincial Liberal government announced Friday that it would introduce legislation making it illegal to […]

Ontario Introducing Legislation to Prohibit Paying Donors for Blood and Plasma, March 14, 2014 – Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care. Ontario intends to introduce legislation to preserve the integrity of the province’s voluntary blood and plasma donation system. If passed, the new legislation would: – Prohibit payments to individuals for their blood and plasma including reimbursement […]

A pay-for-plasma clinic is opening a downtown Toronto clinic Tuesday to begin training staff in defiance of promised legislation from Ontario’s minority Liberal government that would ban it. Canadian Plasma Resources will have 15 staff — including medical lab technicians and registered nurses — at its Adelaide St. location and expects to have donors on […]

A company that has tried to establish three pay-for-plasma operations in the Greater Toronto Area says it’s halting a $400 million expansion planned for Ontario and taking it to western Canada due to this province’s intention to ban paid blood donations. Toronto-based Canadian Plasma Resources says it had planned to open 10 plasma collection centres […]

Ontario’s new health minister is going ahead with legislation to ban pay-for-plasma clinics —including one set to open in Hamilton. “We will be reintroducing this bill in the upcoming session,” said Samantha Grant, spokesperson for Health Minister Dr. Eric Hoskins. Bill 178, the Voluntary Blood Donations Act, was introduced by former health minister Deb Matthews […]

Health Canada has received an application by an private for-profit company to operate two plasma collection sites in Toronto. This comes on the heels of Canadian Blood Services closing down its last dedicated plasma collection site in Thunder Bay last week. The company, ExaPharma, appears to be run by members of the Toronto Iranian community, […]