Organ Donation and Transplantation Collaborative - ODTC Project Summaries

Since 2018, Health Canada has been leading an initiative called the Organ Donation and Transplantation Collaborative (The Collaborative) with provinces and territories, Canadian Blood Services (CBS), patients, families, clinical and administrative stakeholders and researchers from across the country.

The Collaborative’s goal is to achieve organ donation improvements that result in better patient outcomes and an increase in the number and quality of successful transplantations. The Collaborative has funded 11 key projects including those described in the snapshots below.

ODTC Project Snapshots

Improving Access to Living Donor Kidney Transplantation (LDKT) in Communities Marginalized by Race and Ethnicity in Canada	This project aims to improve equitable access to LDKT in racialized groups in British Columbia and Ontario by implementing and evaluating culturally safe tools and clinical pathways.
Implementation of a Pan-Canadian Data Management and Performance Reporting System	This project aims to modernize pan-Canadian data management and performance reporting systems for organ donation and transplantation to improve consistency and quality of data from across the country, and expand the use of data for decision-making.
Developing a Brain-based Definition of Death and Evidence-based Criteria for its Determination after Arrest of Circulation or Neurologic Function in Canada	The objective of this project is to develop a clinical practice guideline that includes a brain-based definition of death as well as evidence-based and expert-informed criteria for death determination after arrest of circulation or neurologic function.
Implementation of Donation Advisor - a Personalized Clinical Decision Support Tool for Improved Efficiency and Effectiveness of Deceased Organ Donation and Transplantation	This project aims to implement and evaluate a clinical decision support tool, called Donor Advisor, in six hospitals, which will assist in identifying potential DCD donors.
Donor Identification and Referral as a Critical Patient Safety Event Leading to Preventable Harm for Transplant Candidates	This project aims to develop an implementation strategy to reduce missed donor identification and referral opportunities and improve accountability mechanisms in deceased donation.
Assessing and Improving the Governance of Organ Donation and Transplantation in Canada	The project will support the achievement of a pan-Canadian consensus on a new ODT system governance structure, approach or mechanism, which includes a clear accountability framework and associated decision-making process, and respects jurisdictional authority.
Legislative Strategies to Improve Deceased Donation in Canada: A Special Focus on Evaluating the Impact of Opt-Out Legislation in Nova Scotia	This project will gather evidence to inform legislative strategies aimed at improving organ donation and to evaluate the impact of opt-out legislation on organ donation in Nova Scotia.
Mapping Provincial/Territorial Decision-Making Mechanisms and Implementation Procedures for Organ Sharing Policies	The goal of the project is to understand the current context and practices that exist in each province with the aim of developing recommendations to address long-standing barriers in the dissemination and adoption of organ sharing policies.
Improving Engagement and Empowerment of Patients and Families through their Transplant Journey	The project will focus on three overarching objectives: 1) improve health services and products for patients on a transplant journey; 2) empower patients to navigate the system across jurisdictions and advocate for their own needs; and 3) develop recommendations for patient-led and patient-focused approaches for renewed and improved ODT health policies and services in Canada.
Implementation and Evaluation of an Electronic Patient Reported Outcome Measure Platform in Pediatric Transplantation	This project aims to transform the delivery of care, and improve the health outcomes of pediatric solid-organ transplant patients in Canada by implementing patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) as an innovative approach to clinical care in pediatric transplantation.
Surgical Recovery Models in Canada: Current and Future State	This project will map out the existing organ recovery processes in each province, including successes, gaps and challenges within the existing structures, and propose opportunities and recommendations for improvements.
Mapping the Canadian Research and Innovation Ecosystem in Organ Donation and Transplantation	The objective of this project is to develop a shared vision of the future direction for R&I with and within the ODT community to improve ODT outcomes to the benefit of patients and Canadians at large.
Role of Patients in Organ Donation and Transplantation Governance Models and Decision-Making Processes	The project aims to conduct an environmental scan of patient-centered governance models in Canada’s healthcare sectors and make recommendations on patient involvement. The recommendations will inform the Organ Donation and Transplantation Collaborative ( the Collaborative) as they move forward on the development of a pan-Canadian ODT governance model.
All ODTC Project Snapshots We are currently working on ensuring all PDFs are accessible.	Improving Access to Living Donor Kidney Transplantation (LDKT) in Communities Marginalized by Race and Ethnicity in Canada Implementation of a Pan-Canadian Data Management and Performance Reporting System Developing a Brain-based Definition of Death and Evidencebased Criteria for its Determination after Arrest of Circulation or Neurologic Function in Canada Implementation of Donation Advisor - a Personalized Clinical Decision Support Tool for Improved Efficiency and Effectiveness of Deceased Organ Donation and Transplantation Donor Identification and Referral as a Critical Patient Safety Event Leading to Preventable Harm for Transplant Candidates Assessing and Improving the Governance of Organ Donation and Transplantation in Canada Legislative Strategies to Improve Deceased Donation in Canada: A Special Focus on Evaluating the Impact of Opt-Out Legislation in Nova Scotia Mapping Provincial/Territorial Decision-Making Mechanisms and Implementation Procedures for Organ Sharing Policies Improving Engagement and Empowerment of Patients and Families through their Transplant Journey Implementation and Evaluation of an Electronic Patient Reported Outcome Measure Platform in Pediatric Transplantation Surgical Recovery Models in Canada: Current and Future State Mapping the Canadian Research and Innovation Ecosystem in Organ Donation and Transplantation Role of Patients in Organ Donation and Transplantation Governance Models and Decision-Making Processes