National Organ and Tissue Donation Awareness Week

In 2022, National Organ and Tissue and Awareness Donation Week will take place April 24-30.

National Organ and Tissue Donation Awareness Week (NOTDAW) raises awareness about the critical need for more donors across the country.

It’s an opportunity to recognize those who have donated to save others, celebrate those who have received lifesaving transplants, and inspire Canadians to learn about organ and tissue donation, talk to their families about their decisions, and register their intent to become organ and tissue donors.

April 2022 marks the 25th anniversary of National Organ and Tissue Donation Awareness Week (NOTDAW). Bill C-202, enacting National Organ and Tissue Donation Awareness Week in Canada was passed unanimously by the Senate Committee on Social Affairs, Science, and Technology on Feb. 4, 1997. The bill was brought forward by former Liberal Member of Parliament Dan McTeague. The last full week of April was chosen to mark the occasion and to commemorate the death of Stuart Herriott, a toddler killed in a motor vehicle incident in McTeague’s riding of Pickering-Scarborough East. Parents of two-and-a-half-year-old Stuart donated his organs and, in turn, helped to save and improve the lives of four others.

Canadian Blood Services is grateful for the collaboration that makes National Organ and Tissue Donation Awareness Week possible. We congratulate our partners in the organ and tissue donation community in Canada for their amazing work in increasing awareness of the importance of organ and tissue donation in Canada, making the essential difference in saving lives and honouring the contributions of families that have lost their loved ones.

Download your NOTDAW 2022 toolkit and access digital resources here