Efforts to improve Canada’s organ donation and transplantation system have increased over the last 20 years. However, despite a significant increase in the number of organ transplants conducted in Canada between 2014 and 2024, the supply of organs does not meet demand, and thousands of individuals are on a waiting list for transplants. Moreover, many Canadians on the waiting list die before appropriate organs become available.
Deceased organ donors can provide up to eight organs for transplant, although the average number of organs used for transplantation in Canada is three to four organs per donor. Living donors provide a single organ – most commonly a kidney or part of a liver. There were 894 deceased organ donors in Canada in 2024, and the deceased organ donor rate increased by 20% between 2015 and 2024. In 2024, there were 590 living donors, and the living donor rate declined by 9% over the same decade. Since 2015, the deceased donor rate has outpaced the living organ donor rate.
Within Canada, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia have the highest deceased organ donor rates, while Ontario has the highest living donor rate. International comparisons reveal that Canada falls within the top 20 countries for both deceased and living donor rates; however, Canada’s rates are significantly below the rates of the top‑performing countries, including those of the United States.
The pool of potential deceased organ donors is limited by several factors, including cause and location of death, age and the previous health status of potential donors. Efforts have been made in recent years to increase the pool of potential donors by including, for example, cardiac death patients in addition to brain death patients. As well, some individuals who choose to end life support efforts or choose medically assisted death may wish to become organ donors, and Canadian guidelines for these situations were updated in 2025.
Read the full text of the HillStudy: Organ Donation and Transplantation in Canada: Statistics, Trends and International Comparisons
By Antoine Dedewanou, Library of Parliament
This publication is based on a previous Library of Parliament publication by Sonya Norris.