Eligibility: age, gender and weight

• There is no upper age limit to donate blood.
• First time donors age 67 and older are not eligible to donate platelets and/or plasma on their first donation. There is no upper age limit for repeat donors. 
• At a dedicated plasma donor centre, first time donors must be under age 71. There is no upper age limit for repeat donors.

Although there are no upper weight limits for eligibility to donate, our donation beds do have weight restrictions as per their manufacturers to ensure no harm or discomfort to the donor.

The donation beds in mobile donation settings can safely accommodate maximum weights of 350 lbs. or 500 lbs., depending on the location. Beds in our permanent donor centres can safely accommodate up to a maximum weight of 300 lbs. or 400 lbs., depending on the location. At select facilities we do have donation beds that can accommodate a maximum weight of 600 lbs.

We do our best to ensure our donor centres and mobile events are as accessible as possible, but it is always a good idea to phone us at 1 888 2 DONATE (1 888 236-6283) prior to your appointment, so that we can ensure you do not encounter any unexpected barriers to donation.

Canadian Blood Services values all blood donors and understands that selecting either male or female may not align with how some individuals identify. Unfortunately, due to limitations of the binary registration computer software system we use, all donors still need to register as either male or female.

We require this information for donor and recipient safety reasons. For example, hemoglobin levels required, the volume of donations we can safety collect, and inter-donation frequencies differ, depending on whether a donor registers as male or female. We are actively looking at non-gendered ways to do this while ensuring safety for the donor.

We know this isn’t ideal, and we understand there is a distinct difference between biological sex and gender. We are actively working on changes to our processes in consultation with trans and non-binary community members, as well as the registration software owner, to make our registration and screening practices more inclusive.

Trans donors are able to register in their gender.  

Due to limitations of the binary registration computer software system, however, non-binary donors will still need to register in a binary (male/female) gender. We know that this is not ideal for non-binary and other donors whose gender is not male or female. We are working in consultation with trans community members as well as the registration software owner to include genders outside the male/female binary and improve the screening process.