Canada needs 450 new donors every day this winter

person with a bandage pointing to the bandage
Canada needs people to roll up their sleeves and donate for the first time this winter.

Because of champions and Partners for Life teams like yours, patients across Canada have started 2025 with renewed hope and the blood products they need.

As some of the most dedicated supporters to Canada’s Lifeline, you know all too well that the effort your team puts into donating regularly makes a difference. But we need more donors to follow your lead.

Right now, the demand for blood and plasma is rising. There has been an increase in surgeries and treatments that require blood products because the population is aging and growing.

To meet the needs of patients, we need 450 new donors to join Canada’s Lifeline every day this winter – double the number of new donors giving every day right now.

We’ve been reaching this target almost every day but your continued support as a Partners for Life champion will keep the momentum of the 450 challenge going.

Last year, Partners for Life teams helped to recruit more than 17,000 new donors. If you’ve found a method that works for you, keep going! If you’re looking for ideas on how to get new donors involved and grow your team, here are some thought starters:

  • Encourage new donors on your team to share their experience with us – it might just motivate someone else to become a first-time donor themselves.
  • Consider leading a challenge on your team to see who can bring in the most first-time donors. The challenge could be between members of your existing team, or you could invite other departments across your workplace to participate in this friendly competition – the challenge could even expand across your industry and beyond!
  • Share posters available at blood.mediavalet.com/portals/PFL in a visible place in your workplace or community hub to raise awareness for your Partners for Life team.
  • Share stories from blood.ca/stories about grateful recipients on social media or your intranet to show the impact of your team’s donations and who new donors will help.
  • Educate people on the facts of donation to bust common myths and eliminate fear about trying this new lifesaving habit. A lunch and learn with your local Canadian Blood Services representative is the perfect opportunity for people to learn about your Partners for Life team and ask questions about becoming a new donor.

The continued support of Partners for Life champions in helping us reach the 450 new donors we need every day this winter make a profound difference to patients. Patients like Wai Yin and many others who receive regular blood transfusions.

Wai Yin, wearing a light blue button up shirt, looking at the camera smiling

“Every time I see a bag of blood, I see a person behind it... I have other people’s healthy blood that makes me healthy, and I’m enjoying life, so I just want to share that joy of living with others.”

– Wai Yin, blood recipient and financial donor

We can’t wait to see the impact you and the new donors with your Partners for Life team will have in 2025.