Men who have sex with men

Men are currently eligible to give blood if it has been more than three months since their last sexual contact with another man.  

Canadian Blood Services will introduce new criteria no later than Sept. 30, 2022 that will ask all donors, regardless of gender or sexual orientation, if they’ve had new and/or multiple sexual partners in the last three months. If they answer yes to either, they would be asked if they’ve had anal sex with any of these partners. If they have, they will be required to wait three months from when they last had anal sex to donate. If they have not and meet all other eligibility criteria, they will be able to donate. 

We will implement the new criteria no later than Sept. 30, 2022.

When the new criteria is implemented, all donors will be asked if they’ve had new and/or multiple sexual partners in the last three months. If they answer yes to either, they would then be asked if they’ve had anal sex with any of these partners. 

If they have, they will be required to wait three months from when they last had anal sex to donate. If they have not and meet all other eligibility criteria, they will be able to donate. 

Statistically, anal sex has a significantly higher chance of HIV transmission per sex act than vaginal or oral sex. 

This does not account for individuals’ safe sex practices but is based on an evidence-based approach to overall risk. Our submission to Health Canada drew upon scientific evidence that supports this screening approach.

The chance of a new/recent infection of HIV that cannot be detected in our testing (window period infection) increases with new sexual partners and multiple sexual partners.  

Statistically, anal sex has a significantly higher chance of of HIV transmission per sex act than vaginal or oral sex. Multiple sexual partners can increase the chance of HIV transmission.  

Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is a highly effective medication regimen used for HIV prevention.   

In people taking PrEP or post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP), low levels of HIV may be missed in testing. We rely on accurate HIV testing as part of our multi-layered approach to safety.    

There needs to be more research on how PrEP and PEP affect HIV testing. At this time, individuals who take PrEP or PEP are unable to donate for 4 months from last use.    

This is an issue impacting blood operators worldwide. Tests used to detect HIV and other viruses are manufactured by other companies, not Canadian Blood Services. Work to understand the true impact of PrEP and PEP medication regimens on HIV tests can only be completed in collaboration with or directly by the manufacturers of the test, who hold the licensing for these products.   

Canadian Blood Services and other blood operators are highly interested in ongoing studies assessing impact of PrEP on testing assays.    

We know that the slow pace of changes to donor criteria that have excluded many gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men has been painful and frustrating for many. It has taken time to collect the evidence needed to apply to our regulator Health Canada to make changes to these criteria.   

In Canada, blood donor eligibility criteria are developed within a strict, evidence-informed regulatory framework that focuses on patient safety.   

Health Canada alone has the authority to approve changes to donor selection criteria that impact human safety or the safety of blood. For Canadian Blood Services to apply to make a change, we needed to be able to provide evidence that the proposed change would not compromise patient safety.  

As a blood operator, Canadian Blood Services is responsible for gathering sufficient evidence to make a request for change to Health Canada. Our changes are informed by the available science and the frequency and pattern of health events in a population (epidemiology).   

To make this change to gender-neutral sexual behaviour-based screening for all donors, we needed to have a bedrock of evidence in support of new criteria. The MSM Research Program, findings from the international research community, epidemiological data and our own extensive modelling informed our submission to make this change.   

It takes time to implement any eligibility change, and this is a significant one affecting all current and future donors.   

We will spend the next several months updating our systems and processes, as well as training staff on the new criteria and how to have sex-positive conversations.   

We look forward to implementing the criteria no later than Sept. 30, 2022.

This criteria change will not compromise the safety or adequacy of Canada’s blood and plasma supplies.    

Canadian Blood Services has a profound responsibility to the patients we serve. Safety is paramount in everything we do.    

The criteria will continue to defer those with a higher chance of acquiring a new HIV infection. Other criteria already in place identify additional risk factors for acquiring HIV, and these will continue to be applied.     

Health Canada alone has the authority to approve changes to donor eligibility criteria that affect human safety or the safety of blood.    

For Canadian Blood Services to change the eligibility criteria, we needed to provide strong evidence to the regulator, Health Canada, that the proposed change will not compromise safety.   

The evidence we have gathered through the MSM Research Program, which received funding from Health Canada, as well as findings from the international research community, epidemiological data and our own risk modelling support making this change.    

Currently the risk of HIV being introduced to the blood system is extremely low, and according to the evidence, the new criteria will maintain safety.     

Yes, every donation is tested for an array of infections that could be transmitted by blood transfusion. But, no test is perfect, and there are some infections for which there’s no test.  For example, there are no Health Canada-approved tests for malaria or Zika for blood production.   

One reason we have such a safe blood system in Canada is the layering of a donor screening questionnaire with donation testing.   

Tests that are used to test every blood donation have a limitation called the “window period”. The window period is the time between when a donor has acquired a new infection and is able to transmit it, to the time a lab test can reliably detect the infection.  If an HIV or hepatitis infection is newly acquired, testing may not pick it up. The donor questionnaire is critical in helping identify people who may have had a recent new exposure to an infection of concern, such as HIV or hepatitis C. 

Canadian patients depend on us to provide a safe, secure and cost-effective blood system that meets their full range of health-care needs. Our screening practices are in place to protect both patients and donors. All donors are subject to the same eligibility criteria. These criteria ensure that we accept donations only from individuals from whom it is safe for patients to receive blood. To protect the safety of patients who rely on blood products for treatment, we often have to make difficult decisions, based primarily on scientific evidence of risk, about who can and cannot donate blood.

Donating blood isn’t the only way to support patients. There are many ways that those who may not be eligible to give blood can work with us to make a valuable contribution to patients in need, such as financial donations, by registering as an organ and tissue and/or as a stem cell donor. 

Currently, in addition to meeting all other donor eligibility criteria (at the time of screening), men are eligible to donate blood if their last sexual contact with a man (anal or oral sexual contact) was three months before. In addition, sexually active gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men who live in the Vancouver area are eligible to donate blood for important research and development projects at our Network Centre for Applied Development (netCAD).  

Gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men may be able to donate source plasma at our London and Calgary donor centres. At these centres, if you are a man who answers “yes” to having had sex with a man in the last three months, you will be eligible to donate source plasma if:  

• You have not had a new sexual partner in the last three months,  
• You and your partner have only had sex with each other in the last three months, and  
• You meet all other criteria for donation.  

Regulations for organ and stem cell donations are different than those for blood donation. Men who have sex with men can register to become organ donors through their provincial organ donation registry. Organ and tissue donors are asked questions on topics ranging from their general health to specific risk behaviours. Each case is assessed in consultation with the attending physician and based on patient consent. To find out more about organ donation, visit the Organs and Tissues section of our website. 

MSM who are between the ages of 17 and 35 can also join the Canadian Blood Services Stem Cell Registry. Similarly, to organ donations, stem cell matches require input from an attending physician as well as patient consent. To find out more about stem cell donation, visit the Stem Cells section of our website. 

Currently, trans donors are asked risk questions based on their anatomical sex (genitalia) at the time of donation. Donors who have not had lower gender affirming surgery are screened using questions based on their sex assigned at birth, and are eligible to donate or are deferred based on these criteria. Donors who have had lower gender affirming surgery are deferred from donating blood for three months after their surgery. After the three months, donors will be screened using questions based on their affirmed gender. 

When the new criteria are implemented by Sept. 30, 2022, trans donors will no longer be asked whether they’ve had lower genital gender-affirming surgery.   

Trans donors will also be able to register in their gender. Due to limitations of the binary registration computer software system, non-binary donors will still need to register in a binary gender.   

We are working on changes to our processes in consultation with trans and non-binary community members as well as the registration software owner to improve this registration and screening process.  

Condom use, while an excellent sexual health practice, isn’t an evidence-based method of screening donors because condoms are not always effective and can break or slip. We also know from research that questions about condom use are less reliably answered because people don't always recall correctly.   

It is important to note our current criteria and the proposed sexual behaviour-based screening questions are not comprehensive in asking about safe sexual practices, such as condom use, that can effectively mitigate the risk of acquiring HIV.   

Our questionnaire is designed to be applied as broadly as possible to screen a large number of potential donors and identify the possibility of new exposures to certain viruses within the window period of our testing platforms. It can’t comprehensively screen each donor on their individual safe sex practices. 

It’s amazing that HIV care has reached a point where people’s viral loads can be undetectable.   

Undetectable equals untransmissible only applies to sexual transmission of HIV. Unfortunately, even those who have an undetectable viral load may transmit the virus through blood transfusion.   

The risk of transmission is much higher with a unit of blood due to the large volume of a blood transfusion and the much higher total amount of virus present. 

It is true that receptive anal sex has a much higher chance of HIV transmission per sex act than insertive anal sex.  

However, when we did implementation studies on asking donors about receptive anal sex, the term was not well understood and the question was inconsistently answered.   

For the safety of our blood and plasma supplies, it is of vital importance that donor screening criteria are easily understood by all donors.   

We recognize that some people may be in sexual relationships with multiple people where their partners are not new partners.  

At this point, we don't have the evidence to inform criteria about people in exclusive relationships with more than one partner.  

Health Canada is the regulator of Canada’s blood system. Health Canada alone has the authority to approve changes to donor selection criteria that impact human safety or the safety of blood. For Canadian Blood Services to apply to make a change, we must be able to provide evidence that the proposed change will not compromise safety.