Who can donate blood?
To give blood, you need to meet several criteria. Take a look and see if you're eligible!
Understanding blood donation
Reality : There’s zero risk of getting a disease from giving blood. We draw your blood using brand-new, sterilized, single-use equipment in sealed packaging for all donations.
Reality : Giving blood only affects your body temporarily. Your body compensates for the blood loss in just a few hours.
Reality : The blood donation process has zero health risks. Plus, Héma-Québec staff and volunteers are well aware of the potential side effects of donating blood; your comfort is our priority. Read our recommendations to learn more about how to best prepare to give blood.
Reality : In Québec, it is illegal to pay blood product donors. Our province’s blood system relies solely on the generosity of our donors!
Reality : Donor information, including lab work and test results, are kept confidential. Only you can view your file and make any necessary corrections. View our Privacy Policy to learn more.
Recent changes to our eligibility criteria
Héma-Québec regularly reviews its blood, plasma and platelet donation eligibility criteria based on the latest scientific research. That means that people who were ineligible in the past may now be eligible to donate.
Lifting criteria for “mad cow disease”
Potential donors who had previously been excluded from blood product donation for geographic risk factors related to variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) are now eligible to donate.
Relaxing criteria for diabetes
This change means that more people living with diabetes are now eligible to donate blood products. The criteria are easier to apply at blood drives and are better at identifying the risks for blood product donors and recipients.
Removing criteria for men who have sex with men (MSM) and implementing a gender-neutral questionnaire for blood product donation
All potential donors now respond to the same questions—no matter their sex, gender or sexual orientation—and must indicate if they’ve had sex with one or more new partners in the past three months.
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