Governance
Our foundations and structure
Established in 1998, Canadian Blood Services is a charitable organization that was created through a memorandum of understanding among Canada’s federal, provincial and territorial governments (excluding Quebec). While we operate independently from government, we are regulated by Health Canada through the federal Food and Drugs Act. Most of our financial support is provided by provincial and territorial governments, but we do receive federal financial support primarily for our research and development activities, as well as for our role in organ and tissue donation and transplantation.
Current health ministers of the provinces and territories (except Quebec) serve as corporate members of Canadian Blood Services and appoint our board of directors under bylaws as governed by the Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act. Accountability relationships between Canadian Blood Services and the corporate members are set out in the National Accountability Agreement, which was finalized in 2019–2020. A lead province is designated every two years. (Effective April 1, 2025, Nova Scotia assumed this role, replacing British Columbia, which had been lead province since April 1, 2023.) The provincial and territorial health ministers collectively approve our annual budgets and three-year corporate plans.
Board of directors
Our board consists of 13 directors appointed by the corporate members to oversee the management and direction of Canadian Blood Services. The board is accountable to the corporate members and must ensure that appropriate mechanisms are in place to provide assurances on risk management, governance, internal operations and reporting on performance.
Executive management team
Our executive management team (EMT) is responsible for operating Canadian Blood Services within the board’s approved policy and strategy framework. The chief executive officer, who reports to the board, leads the vice-presidents of the EMT and all other management and employee teams, as well as our volunteers.
