Evolving eligibility criteria for gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men
Canadian Blood Services intends to make a submission recommending removal of waiting period for men who have sex with men by the end of 2021.
Canadian Blood Services’ goal is to remove the current waiting period for men who have sex with men and use sexual behaviour-based screening for all donors instead. To this end, we intend to make a submission recommending this change to Health Canada, our regulator, by the end of 2021.
Currently, men are eligible to give blood if it has been more than three months since their last sexual contact with a man.
As an incremental step, in 2019 we started the process of making a change in our source plasma eligibility criteria. In May 2021 we submitted the request for changes to Health Canada. If approved, some gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men will be able to donate plasma at select centres beginning this fall.