Organ donation and transplantation data and reporting

Notes

NDD: Neurologic determination of death; DCD: Donation after circulatory death.

Deceased donor data for Quebec was not available for the interactive tool at the time of release.

All transplant surgeries includes islets as well as solid organs. Multi-organ transplants (e.g., heart–lung) count once toward each kind of organ transplanted and once toward the All transplant surgeries category. Bilateral transplants are counted as 1 surgery.

Deceased donors may donate more than one organ.

Patients waiting for multi-organ transplants (e.g., heart–lung) count once toward each kind of organ transplanted and once toward the All patients category. Active and on hold status is as recorded on December 31 of each year. Deaths and withdrawals is summed over the calendar year.

Sources

Canadian Organ Replacement Register and Hospital Morbidity Database, Canadian Institute for Health Information.

The 13 ODT system performance indicators that have been identified as priority information needs by stakeholders provide comparable and actionable information at a pan-Canadian and provincial/territorial level. These indicators are included in CIHI’s Indicator library.

Explore these visualizations on selected ODT topics:

• Where organ transplants happen in Canada
• Demand for organ donation in Canada continues to exceed availability
• 2023 donation rates for Canada and selected countries

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• Canadians often need to travel or relocate, even across provinces/territories, when waiting to receive an organ transplant.
• Depending on the organ, a patient may need to be at the hospital within hours when a matched organ becomes available. 
• Transplant centres are mostly concentrated in large urban areas and require specialized teams and resources for different organs. Lung, intestine, multi-organ, pediatric and other complex transplants are done only at a few hospitals in Canada.

For a list of transplant centres, consult the CORR directory (XLSX).

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• As of December 31, 2023, 3,427 Canadians were either active or on hold on the wait-list for a vital organ, while 3,406 transplants were performed in 2023. 
• Depending on the organ, patients can stay on the wait-list for years before a matched organ becomes available.  
• In 2023, 467 patients were withdrawn from the wait-list and 214 patients died. These numbers have remained fairly steady over the last decade.

Learn more about organ donation, transplants and the wait-list using ODT at a glance and CIHI’s Indicator library.

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Canada has work to do if we are to keep up with world leaders in organ donation.

• Organ donation rates are affected by many factors, such as 
  • Organ donation and transplantation practices and legislation
  • Health system resourcing and prioritization of donation and transplantation activity
  • Health care professional training in donation and transplantation
  • Public trust in the donation and transplantation system
• Compared with other similarly resourced countries such as Australia, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States, Canada ranks in the middle of the pack for donation and transplantation rates. 
• Canada’s deceased donor rate is a little more than half of the rate for Spain, the world leader in deceased donation.
• Canada’s living donation rate is nearly 25% lower than the U.S. rate.
• With continued investment in donation activities such as mandatory referrals and donation physicians, Canada has steadily improved donation rates but must continue these efforts to become a world leader in this important field. 

Learn more about international comparators at the Global Observatory on Donation and Transplantation website.

• Pan-Canadian ODT Data and Performance Reporting System Project
• Canadian Organ Replacement Register (CORR)
• Organ donation, transplantation and dialysis topic page
• Pan-Canadian Governance for Organ Donation and Transplantation (Health Canada)
• Canada Health Infoway 
• Canadian Critical Care Society
• Canadian Society of Transplantation
• Organ and tissue donation (Canadian Blood Services)

If you have any questions or would like to learn more, please email

odt@cihi.ca