Eligibility: medical conditions and treatments

Acupuncture performed with single-use, disposable needles does not affect your ability to donate. If you are not sure what type of needles were used during your treatment, you must wait three (3) months before you are eligible to donate.

You must wait six (6) months after receiving a blood or blood product from another person before you can donate.

Blood products include red blood cells, platelets, plasma, and albumin. Other products made from plasma, such as immunoglobulins (e.g. IVIg, SCIg, RhIG), also require a waiting period of six (6) to twelve (12) months depending on the product.

If you have received blood products and are unsure about your eligibility, please call to speak with one of our trained health professionals at 1 888 2 DONATE (1 888 236-6283).

Your eligibility to donate depends on the type of cancer you had and when it was treated.

For cancer other than skin and blood cancers, you are eligible to donate one (1) year after your treatment (excluding radioactive seeds) is complete and if you are cancer-free. If your cancer was treated with radioactive seeds, you are eligible to donate three (3) years after the implantation of the seeds, if your treatment was successful.

Skin cancer: 

• Squamous cell: You are eligible to donate if your treatments were successful.
• Basal cell: You are eligible to donate if your treatments were successful, however, some medications used to treat basal cell cancer may require a waiting period.  If medication was used to treat your basal cell cancer, please call to speak with one of our trained health professionals at 1 888 2 DONATE (1 888 236-6283) to discuss your eligibility.
• Melanoma: You are eligible to donate one (1) year after your treatment is complete and you are cancer-free.

Blood cancer:

• Individuals with blood cancers, such as leukemia and lymphoma, are not eligible to donate.

If you have had cancer and are unsure about your eligibility, please call to speak with one of our trained health professionals at 1 888 2 DONATE (1 888 236-6283).

You are eligible to donate with a cold if you are feeling well and are not on antibiotics for a secondary infection.

If you have influenza (flu), wait until you are fully recovered before coming in to donate.

If you are unsure about your eligibility, please call to speak with one of our trained health professionals at 1 888 2 DONATE (1 888 236-6283).

A person who has had a COVID-19 infection must wait 10 days from when symptoms started or 10 days after a positive test result if asymptomatic.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, blood transfusions have been closely monitored and there has been no evidence of COVID-19 being transmissible through blood and blood products. This includes plasma protein products, which are pharmaceutical therapies made from plasma — a component of blood.  Canadian Blood Services has strict measures in place to ensure the continued safety of our products and services related to blood, plasma, stem cells, and organs and tissues.

For more information about eligibility, please call to speak with one of our trained health professionals at 1 888 2 DONATE (1 888 236-6283).

The waiting period for donating blood, plasma or platelets depends on the type of dental work you received. 

• For dental cleaning, filling, brace adjustment, crowns or restorations (such as bonding or veneers), you must wait until the day after your dental procedure to donate. If you are donating at one of our plasma donor centres, there is no wait to donate.  If you are unsure about your eligibility, call 1 888 2 DONATE (1 888 236-6283). 
• For dental extraction, root canal or dental surgery, you must wait 72 hours after your treatment to donate or until you have fully recovered. For plasma donation after a root canal, you may be eligible to donate right away if you are donating at one of our plasma donor centres. If you are unsure about your eligibility, call 1 888 2 DONATE (1 888 236-6283). 
• If you received a bone/gum graft originating from an animal or human source, you must wait twelve (12) months after your treatment to donate. If the bone or tissue comes from your own body, there is no wait to donate. 

If you have diabetes that is controlled by diet and/or medications other than insulin, you can donate.

For those who are managing their diabetes (type 1 or 2) with insulin, you are eligible to donate if:

• You did not need assistance from another person to treat symptoms such as very low blood sugar or a hospital visit for high blood sugar, in the last three (3) months.
• You do not have foot ulcers currently requiring medical treatment.
• You do not experience regular episodes of dizziness when standing up, caused by nerve damage related to diabetes.

For those with Type 1 diabetes, you must eat within two (2) hours before donating.

If you have diabetes and are unsure about your eligibility, please call to speak with one of our trained health professionals at 1 888 2 DONATE (1 888 236-6283).

If you are a person with epilepsy, you may be eligible to donate if you have not had a seizure in the six (6) months before donating.

If you are taking medication to manage your condition, please call to speak with one of our trained health professionals at 1 888 2 DONATE (1 888 236-6283) to discuss your eligibility.

Individuals with gout are eligible to donate if they are symptom free at the time of donation.

Eligibility requirements after graft or tissue transplant/graft vary.

• If you received a graft made from synthetic or manmade material, you are eligible to donate once recovered from the procedure.
• If you received a tissue graft from one area of your own body to another, you are eligible to donate once recovered from the procedure.
• You must wait twelve (12) months after receiving any type of tissue from another person or animal, including dental grafts, before being eligible to donate.
• If you have ever received a dura mater (brain covering) transplant from a human source, such as Lyodura, you are not eligible to donate.

If you received a graft or tissue transplant and are unsure about your eligibility, please call to speak with one of our trained health professionals at 1 888 2 DONATE (1 888 236-6283).

For routine tests and procedures, you may be eligible to donate even if you have not received your results. Examples of routine tests include blood pressure checks, blood tests such as cholesterol or thyroid hormone levels, colonoscopy for colon cancer screening mammogram for breast cancer screening.

For any other medical tests or diagnostic procedures, you should know your results before donating. Your eligibility may depend on the reason for the test or procedure and/or the result. 

If you have questions about your eligibility or ability to donate, please call to speak with one of our trained health professionals at 1 888 2 DONATE (1 888 236-6283).

With some heart conditions such as coronary heart disease, irregular heartbeat or if you have had a heart attack, you may be eligible to donate. Please call us at 1 888 2 DONATE (1 888 236-6283) to discuss your condition.

Hepatitis is an inflammation of the liver caused by an infection or a non-infectious condition such as a side effect of medication.  

Donors with a history of viral hepatitis may be eligible to donate six (6) months after full recovery unless the cause is known to be from hepatitis B or C virus. 

If you have ever tested positive for hepatitis B or hepatitis C, you are not eligible to donate, even if you have never had symptoms. 

If you had hepatitis in the past and don’t know the cause, you may be eligible to donate if you have been fully recovered for more than six (6) months.  

If you live with or have had sexual contact with a person who has or had hepatitis, call us to speak with one of our trained professionals at 1 888 2 DONATE (1 888 236-6283) to discuss your eligibility. 

If you have been diagnosed with cutaneous or discoid lupus (limited to skin) you are eligible to donate.

If you have been diagnosed with systemic lupus erythematosus you are not eligible to donate.

If you have had malaria in the past, you may be able to donate source plasma if it has been six months or more since your recovery.  

If you have recently travelled to a region where preventative medications are recommended for malaria and the chances of exposure are high, you may need to wait before donating, depending on your length of stay in certain regions. This is because the chance of having a new or previously unrecognized malaria infection diminishes over time  

Review the travel section of this page for more information about waiting periods to donate. 

People with a history of malaria are not eligible to donate whole blood or platelets, or plasma for transfusions. This is because the parasites that cause malaria can lie dormant for decades. No matter how much time has passed since someone has recovered from malaria, there remains a small chance they could still carry malaria parasites in their blood. 

The criteria for source plasma donation are different, because the process used to manufacture medications from plasma removes the parasite that causes malaria.  

Canadian Blood Services is actively working to implement a test for malaria in our blood donation process that would allow more people who have travelled to or lived in malaria-endemic regions to donate. You can learn more by visiting our Malaria: information for blood and plasma donors page.

To learn more about waiting periods associated with travel to malaria-endemic regions, review the travel section of this page or call us at 1 888 2 DONATE (1 888 236-6283).

You are eligible to donate if you are feeling well at the time of your appointment and meet all other criteria.

If you have been diagnosed with mpox or have had contact with someone who has been diagnosed with mpox, you should wait 42 days from the start of symptoms or the day of last contact before your donation appointment, whichever is longer.  

If you have questions about your eligibility, please call to speak with one of our trained health professionals at 1 888 2 DONATE (1 888 236-6283). 

Waiting periods for donors with a sexually transmitted infection vary.  

• For chlamydia, you are eligible once treatment is completed. 
• For gonorrhea, you must wait 12 months after completing treatment before returning for blood donation. 
• For genital herpes, you are eligible to donate once lesions have healed.  
• For venereal warts (HPV/human papilloma virus) you are eligible to donate.  
• For syphilis, please call to speak with one of our trained health professionals at 1 888 2 DONATE (1 888 236-6283) to discuss your eligibility.   

If you have questions about sexually transmitted infections and donor eligibility, call us at 1 888 2 DONATE (1 888 236-6283) to speak with one of our trained health professionals. 

See the Hepatitis and HIV sections for more information on those conditions. 

For those who have had a stroke (also called cerebrovascular accident, CVA) or a mini-stroke (also called transient ischemic attack, TIA), you must wait six (6) months before donating to ensure there is time for recovery.    

We also ask that donors do not have any limitations in performing daily activities. 

If you have had a stroke and would like to discuss your eligibility further, please call us at 1 888 2 DONATE (1 888 236-6283) to speak with one of our trained health professionals. 

Eligibility after surgery varies based on the reason for the surgery, type of surgery and recovery time.   

If you received any blood products, you must wait six (6) months before donating. 

If you have recently had surgery, please call us at 1 888 2 DONATE (1 888 236-6283) to speak with one of our trained health professionals to discuss your eligibility. 

If you took antibiotics to prevent Lyme disease, you can donate once your treatment is finished. Otherwise, you must wait 6 months from the date of the tick bite to donate.

Ulcerative colitis is a condition where inflammation in the colon can cause bacteria to enter a person’s bloodstream, even if they are feeling completely well. 

Donors are eligible to donate once they are symptom free and off medication for five (5) years.