Public Education & Awareness Committee

The Public Education and Awareness Committee (PEAC) facilitates interprovincial collaboration in the development and implementation of public education and awareness strategies. Organ donation and transplantation is complex and not well understood by the public. There are many misconceptions that contribute to barriers to registering intent to donate or consenting to donation. Educating Canadians, fostering a culture of donation and increasing the number of conversations about donation, and ultimately the number registered organ and tissue donors, is part of a comprehensive system-wide approach to increasing donation rates in Canada. Our collective aim is to shift Canadian attitudes so that donation is accepted as a social responsibility and donation becomes the norm, not the exception.

Goals and objectives

• Increase the number of registered donors in Canada
• Ensure all Canadians have accurate information to make an informed decision about donation
• Construct strong, simple, coordinated national messaging to encourage Canadians to act on their decisions about donation
• Conduct research on public opinions and attitudes, and keep abreast of international advancements, to continuously inform strategy and activities
• Collaborate on a national approach to engage with external stakeholders, organizations and interest groups
• Develop a national public education strategy

Scroll down to find links to PEAC projects and initiatives

The PEAC shall function under the authority of the ODTEAC, and recommendations will be made using a coordinated, collaborative approach.

Membership

Committee core membership includes representatives from each jurisdiction who have direct oversight for OTDT public awareness initiatives, campaigns and communications within their respective organ donation organization and transplant programs. They understand processes used to identify the need for and impact of public education and awareness activities and initiativesand are able to engage their respective health system team to provide advice and direction on related matters.

Three times a year PEAC broadens its membership to host a community forum meeting to foster continued knowledge exchange related to education and awareness activities and intiatives. The community forum meetings take place in October, February and June. 

PEAC Committee core members

Roberta Koscielny (Chair), Communications Specialist, Transplant Manitoba - Gift of Life, Health Science Centre, Winnipeg, Manitoba

Co-Chair TBD

Jessica Bonnelly, Nurse Manager, New Brunswick Organ and Tissue Program, Horizon Health Network, Moncton, New Brunswick

Angela Carpenter, Provincial OTDT Manager, Health PEI, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island

Barbara Gibbons, Organ Donor Coordinator, Organ Procurement and Exchange of  Newfoundland and Labrador (OPEN), St. John's, Newfoundland

Laura Grantham, Manager, Regulation, Policy, Directive & Communication, Alberta Organ & Tissue Donation Agency – Acute Care, Edmonton, Alberta

Su-Ling Goh, Give Life Alberta, Alberta Health Services, Edmonton, Alberta

Jennifer Harden, Sr. Program Consultant, Acute and Emergency Services Branch, Ministry of Health, Regina, Saskatchewan

Claudia Hawkins, Director, Education and Marketing, Trillium Gift of Life Network, Ontario Health, Toronto, Ontario

Paramjeet Kaur, Manager, Donation Program, Saskatchewan Health Authority, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan

Alain Landry, Program Manager, Legacy of Life and Critical Care Organ Donation, Halifax, Nova Scotia

Rachel Levy, Manager, Public Education and Marketing, Trillium Gift of Life Network, Toronto, Ontario

Alexis Manick, Communications, Health Canada, Ottawa, Ontario

Annie-Carole Martel, Director, Communications and Public Relations, Transplant Québec, Montréal, Québec

Angela Payne, Manager, Saskatchewan Transplant Program, Regina, Saskatchewan

Elaine Yong, Manager, Communications & Community Relations, BC Transplant, Vancouver, British Columbia

Canadian Blood Services

Peggy John (Operational Lead), Interim Director, OTDT, Canadian Blood Services, Vancouver, British Columbia

Jenny Ryan, Associate Director (Interim), OTDT Public Education & Awareness, Canadian Blood Services, Ottawa, Ontario

Breanne Spencer, Team Lead, Stakeholder Engagement, Program Operations, Canadian Blood Services, Ottawa, Ontario

Last updated November 2024

Upcoming Meetings

Intent to donate / organ donation registration in Canada

Each province manages its own system to record organ and tissue donor intent to donate. Developed in collaboration with provincial partners a national registration portal provides Canadians with a single platform to navigate to the organ and tissue donor registry in their province.  Learn more: https://organtissuedonation.ca/en

General information about living and deceased donation

General public information and educational materials related to both living and deceased organ and tissue donation can be found here: https://www.blood.ca/en/organs-tissues 

Organs and tissues for life education portal https://learn.organtissuedonation.ca/ 

The Orgamites in Canada - Education Toolkits for K-8

National Collaborative Campaign Portal - Leave Well So Others Can Live Well donateyourorgans.ca  

For more information about the Public Education and Awareness Committee, contact  OTDT@blood.ca Keep up to date on what's new in OTDT. Sign up for our monthly OTDT newsletter digest here.