Marjorie Michel
Minister of Health of Canada
Canada’s blood system relies on collaboration across governments, blood operators, healthcare partners and researchers. Federal investments in system resilience, rare disease access, research and innovation are helping strengthen the system and support better outcomes for Canadians living with blood disorders.
Health Canada is responsible for administering the Blood Regulations for blood system safety and the Food and Drug Regulations for oversight of plasma-derived products, both under the Food and Drugs Act. Under this regulatory framework, it is the responsibility of blood establishments to establish processes for protecting the safety of blood for transfusion, and to have these processes authorized by the Health Canada’s regulatory authority for blood.
A strong blood system depends on close collaboration across governments and partners. Canadian Blood Services (CBS) and Héma-Québec operate the blood system at arm’s length from federal, provincial, and territorial governments. However, as the blood operators, CBS and Héma-Québec work closely with the provinces and territories to manage the blood supply on behalf of Canadians.
Provincial and territorial governments provide operational funding to the blood operators and are responsible for safe and effective blood utilization (i.e., appropriate prescribing and transfusion practices) within their own jurisdiction.
The federal government also has an important role to play in supporting research and innovation that strengthens Canada’s blood system. Health Canada also provides $5 million annually in funding to CBS for research and development. These activities are prioritized and determined by CBS with the available funding. Ultimately, the blood system, as part of healthcare systems, is within the jurisdiction of the provinces and territories.
The Government is also working across the health system to strengthen preparedness and resilience. The Civil-Military Committee on Health System Preparedness and Resilience brings together the Canadian Armed Forces, the federal health Portfolio (Health Canada, Public Health Agency of Canada), Public Safety Canada, Health Emergency Readiness Canada, PT leads, and other relevant stakeholders to advance joint civilian-military planning and strengthen health systems preparedness and resilience. This committee has been engaged in current federally funded initiatives in the blood and tissues space.
Federal action on rare diseases generally could hold benefit for rare blood and neurological disorders:
- In 2023, the Government of Canada announced the first-ever National Strategy for Drugs for Rare Diseases, with an investment of up to $1.5 billion over three years.
- $1.4 billion of these funds are supporting bilateral agreements with all 13 provinces and territories. Funding runs until March 31, 2027, and enable improved access to drugs, while also making improvements in early screening and diagnostics.
- The Government of Canada will be entering into a new round of bilateral agreements with provinces and territories to take effect on April 1, 2027, that will build on the progress made together in the first round of agreements.
- Funding has also gone to support eligible First Nations and Inuit patients living with rare diseases through Indigenous Services Canada’s Non-Insured Health Benefits Program.
- The National Strategy also supports system partners, including Canada’s Drug Agency (CDA-AMC), the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI), and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) to focus on collection and use of evidence to support decision making and to advance rare disease research.
- For example, CDA-AMC funded 18 patient registries in 2024-25,10 patient registries in 2025-26, and expects to fund an additional 13 patient registries in 2026-27 (announcement forthcoming) to enable quality improvements that could support greater use of real-world evidence in decision-making. This includes funding registries specific to rare blood and neurological disorders (e.g., Canadian Bleeding Disorders Registry, Canadian Neurological Disease Registry, Canadian Pediatric Neuroinflammatory Disorders Registry, World Federation of Hemophilia Gene Therapy Registry).
- CIHR is providing $32 million over five years to advance a Rare Disease Research Initiative under the Strategy, including $20 million over 5 years to the Maternal Infant Child and Youth Research Network (MICYRN) to build a National Pediatric Rare Disease Clinical Trials and Treatment Network.