Organ Donor Programs

Organ donation is NOT a cure, but it does offer patients with the most clinically effective treatment to organ failure. In Alberta, the average wait time is 4 years from the time a person goes onto dialysis to receiving a kidney transplant. With a kidney from a living donor this wait may be much less.

Visit My Health Alberta (Living Organ Donation) to learn more about the process.

Learn more about organ and tissue donation, who can donate, and frequently asked questions.

If you have questions about becoming an organ donor, please contact us.

Alberta Health and Alberta Health Services

Alberta Health and Alberta Health Services also offer a range of resources to assist you throughout your health journey. For more information, please use the following links:

• Kidney Health Strategic Clinical Network: The Kidney Health SCN partners with Albertans to achieve excellence in sustainable quality kidney care and outcomes through innovation and evidence-based practice. The strive to optimize prevention, early identification and appropriate management across all ages and stages of kidney health.

• Alberta Health Services Renal Services: AHS provides service delivery to people with sudden or long-term kidney disease (renal disease). Renal Services is comprised of two programs, Northern Alberta Renal Programs (NARP) and Southern Alberta Renal Program (SARP).

• Alberta Kidney Care: Treating people with sudden or long-term kidney disease (renal disease). Alberta Kidney Care is comprised of two programs, Alberta Kidney Care – North (AKC-N) and Alberta Kidney Care – South (AKC-S)

• Southern Alberta Transplant Program – Calgary: Living Donor Services (tel. 403-944-4635) and Southern Alberta Transplant Program (tel. 403-944-4280)

• Health Information for Renal Patients (AHS)

• My Health Alberta (Kidney Transplant)

• My Health Alberta (Chronic Kidney Disease)

Northern Alberta Renal Program’s Renal Transplant Services

The Northern Alberta Renal Program’s Renal Transplant Services (University of Alberta Hospital) provides evaluation for adults in kidney failure who may be candidates for a kidney transplant. Services include:

• Assessing people with chronic kidney disease for transplants

• Maintain the kidney transplant wait list

• Provide ongoing care for people who have a kidney transplant

For more information call the University of Alberta Hospital at 780-407-8099 / 1-866-407-8099.

Organ donation is NOT a cure, but it does offer patients with the most clinically effective treatment to organ failure. In Alberta, the average wait time is 4 years from the time a person goes onto dialysis to receiving a kidney transplant. With a kidney from a living donor this wait may be much less.

Visit My Health Alberta (Living Organ Donation) to learn more about the process.

Learn more about organ and tissue donation, who can donate, and frequently asked questions.

If you have questions about becoming an organ donor, please contact us.

Alberta Health and Alberta Health Services

Alberta Health and Alberta Health Services also offer a range of resources to assist you throughout your health journey. For more information, please use the following links:

• Kidney Health Strategic Clinical Network: The Kidney Health SCN partners with Albertans to achieve excellence in sustainable quality kidney care and outcomes through innovation and evidence-based practice. The strive to optimize prevention, early identification and appropriate management across all ages and stages of kidney health.

• Alberta Health Services Renal Services: AHS provides service delivery to people with sudden or long-term kidney disease (renal disease). Renal Services is comprised of two programs, Northern Alberta Renal Programs (NARP) and Southern Alberta Renal Program (SARP).

• Alberta Kidney Care: Treating people with sudden or long-term kidney disease (renal disease). Alberta Kidney Care is comprised of two programs, Alberta Kidney Care – North (AKC-N) and Alberta Kidney Care – South (AKC-S)

• Southern Alberta Transplant Program – Calgary: Living Donor Services (tel. 403-944-4635) and Southern Alberta Transplant Program (tel. 403-944-4280)

• Health Information for Renal Patients (AHS)

• My Health Alberta (Kidney Transplant)

• My Health Alberta (Chronic Kidney Disease)

Northern Alberta Renal Program’s Renal Transplant Services

The Northern Alberta Renal Program’s Renal Transplant Services (University of Alberta Hospital) provides evaluation for adults in kidney failure who may be candidates for a kidney transplant. Services include:

• Assessing people with chronic kidney disease for transplants

• Maintain the kidney transplant wait list

• Provide ongoing care for people who have a kidney transplant

For more information call the University of Alberta Hospital at 780-407-8099 / 1-866-407-8099.

Right now, kidney patients in Atlantic Canada are waiting for a transplant with their health declining as they wait. A living kidney donation comes most often from a family member, such as a parent, child, brother or sister. A donor can also be a spouse, friend, co-worker, or even a stranger. A genetic link between donor and recipient, although beneficial, is not always required, due largely to improved anti-rejection medications.

A good living donor candidate is someone who is healthy, well-informed and makes a voluntary decision to donate one of their kidneys. Take the time to learn more about organ and tissue donation and the programs available in your region.

The Multi-Organ Transplant Program

Located at the Victoria General Hospital site of The Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Centre, in Halifax, the program provides transplantation services for patients from the four Atlantic Provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland.

Speak with someone who has previously donated a kidney

Our Peer Support Program matches potential living donors with someone who has had the experience of donating a kidney.

BC Transplant 

BC Transplant oversees all aspects of organ donation and transplant across BC and manages the BC Organ Donor Registry. Working in collaboration with the regional health authorities and provincial partners, BC Transplant (BCT) is focused on increasing the availability of organs for transplantation in British Columbia. Visit the BC Transplant website for more information on becoming a living kidney donor.

Managed by the Government of Yukon Health & Social Services, the Yukon Organ Donation Program oversees all transplants in the province. For more information on becoming a living donor in the Yukon visit the Government of Yukon website.

Considering becoming a living kidney donor in Manitoba?  With advances in kidney transplant methods and improvement in transplant success, a kidney transplant is now widely considered to be the best way to treating chronic kidney disease for many people.

Depending on blood type, the wait for a kidney transplant from a deceased donor could be up to eight to ten years. With a kidney from a living donation, the wait can be much less.

Deciding to become a donor is a personal choice. There is no right or wrong choice. You may change your mind at any time. If you have questions about becoming a living donor please contact us.

Transplant Manitoba

Transplant Manitoba consists of five dynamic teams dedicated to caring for individuals before and after transplant, and includes the Gift of Life, the program responsible for coordinating and supporting organ donation in the province. Visit the Transplant Manitoba website for more information on becoming a living kidney donor.

 Transplant Quebec

Supporting Quebecers’ shared passion for saving lives and improving the health of people in desperate need of an organ, Transplant Québec:

• Coordinates the organ donation process leading to transplantation, fostering the greatest possible availability of quality donor organs;

• Ensures that organs are allocated fairly based on stringent ethical and clinical criteria;

• Helps improve clinical practice in institutional settings by holding hospital training and development activities and participating in donation- and transplant-related teaching and research activities;

• Acts as a catalyst to create interdependencies within the donation/transplantation system and serves as a facilitator tasked with fostering discussion and mobilizing stakeholders;

• Promotes pro-donation, pro-transplantation values of solidarity among the general public, health professionals and concerned institutions.

All transplants in Saskatchewan are coordinated through the Saskatchewan Transplant Program. Please feel free to contact them if you have questions about becoming a living donor, receiving a kidney from a living donor, or being put on the list to receive a donation from a deceased donor.

Saskatchewan Transplant Program
St. Paul’s Hospital
1702 20th Street West
Saskatoon SK S7M 0Z9
306-655-5054