Leading practices, guidelines, and current initiatives

Our mission is to improve access to organ donation and to lifesaving transplants for all Canadians. We aim to shift culture so organ and tissue donation is the norm and not the exception. Published work and initiatives underway are described here. Older reports may have been archived. (Please note: If you require documentation in alternate format, please submit a request by email to OTDT@blood.ca). 

Brain-based Definition of Death and Evidence based Criteria for its Determination after Arrest of Circulation or Neurologic Function in Canada

Public Awareness - National Organ and Tissue Donation Awareness Week

Public Awareness - Green Shirt Day, April 7

Donor Identification and Referral as a Critical Patient Safety Event Leading to Preventable Harm for Transplant Candidates

Optimizing Utilization of Deceased Donor Kidneys Forum

Organ and Tissue Donation after Medical Assistance in Dying: Guidance for Policy Update Forum

Public Education - The Orgamites

National curriculum in deceased organ donation

Withdrawal of Life Sustaining Measures

The SHARE Study - Canadian family members sharing their experiences with critical care and organ donation

The BRiC Study - Burnout and Resilience in Organ Donor Coordinators

Commonwealth Tribute to Life MOU

Patient, donor and donor family engagement

Liver Leading Practice on Listing Eligibility for Patients with Alcohol Use Disorder forum

Organ Donation and Transplantation Collaborative - ODTC Project Summaries

Public Awareness - OTDT public opinion polling

Equitable access to organ donation and transplantation

COVID-19: Update on organ donation and transplantation services

Communities of Practice

National Pediatric and Neonatal Deceased Donation and Transplantation Strategy

Public Education - Teacher Resource Portal (K-12)

Public Education - Living Kidney Donation and Transplantation

Cornea Donation and Transplantation

Heart Donation and Transplantation After Circulatory Determination of Death

World Brain Death Project: Implications for Canadian Practice

Shipping of Living Donor Kidneys

Medical management to optimize donor organ potential

Living Donation Coordinator and Administrator Network

Advancing Living Donation Forum 2020

Donation after cardiocirculatory death (DCD)

Measuring Quality in Kidney Transplantation: Canadian Consensus Workshop

Virtual Crossmatch functionality in the CTR

Her Last Project - the documentary

Deceased organ and tissue donation after medical assistance in dying and other conscious and competent donors (2019)

Potential organ donor identification and system accountability (2019)

Canadian guidelines for controlled pediatric donation after circulatory determination of death

Public Awareness - Donor Registration Portal

End-of-life conversations with families of potential donors - Leading practices in offering the opportunity for donation

Liver listing and allocation forum - May 2016

Allocation of organs for combined transplantation

The Canadian cPRA calculator

Kidney paired donation protocol for participating donors

International guidelines for the determination of death (2014)

Brain blood flow in the neurological determination of death (2008)