Securing Canada’s plasma supply
Collecting more plasma
In recent years we have been seeing a steady increase worldwide in the need for plasma to make specific kinds of plasma protein products called immunoglobulins — primarily due to the growing number of conditions that are treated with these medications.
Currently, there is a global shortage of plasma to manufacture immunoglobulins, making it essential that blood systems around the world increase their plasma collections substantially.
In 2019, Canadian Blood Services announced plans to increase plasma collection in Canada. We are enhancing our plasma collection programs at our existing blood donor centres as well as opening new dedicated plasma donor centres. We now operate dedicated plasma donor centres in Kelowna, B.C.; Lethbridge, Alta.; and Sudbury, Ont., with two more new plasma donor centres opening in Brampton and Ottawa, Ont. in Spring 2022.