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Learn more about the Living Donor Circle of Excellence program.

The Kidney Foundation of Canada has implemented a top-up Wage Replacement Policy for Living Organ and Tissue Donation that aims to remove barriers to organ donation by ensuring an employee’s income remains unchanged throughout the process of making a living donation and for up to 15 weeks of recovery. 

“We know just how transformative a kidney transplant can be,” says Elizabeth Myles, The Kidney Foundation’s National Executive Director. “The Foundation has always been a champion of organ donation, so this policy was a question of talking the talk and walking the walk.”

Further to its new policy, The Kidney Foundation of Canada has been approved to join an elite group of organizations and businesses as a member of the Canadian Society of Transplantation (CST) Living Donor Circle of Excellence. The program was initially founded by the American Society of Transplantation.

“We encourage other Canadian organizations and companies to explore their own policies and to take a bold step to help those who so altruistically decide to dramatically improve the health of someone through the selfless act of organ donation,” said Ms. Myles. “It is empowering for employees to feel supported throughout the process. From an employer’s point of view, it was relatively easy to implement.”  

At the time of implementation, one employee immediately benefitted from the new policy.