Grifols plasma collection sites should stay closed and private for-profit plasma collection should be prohibited in Canada
Private, for-profit plasma collector Grifols has reportedly announced a phased reopening of their 17 paid plasma collection centres in Canada, beginning in Edmonton and Winnipeg.
In August, Grifols, one of the biggest and most profitable plasma merchants in the world, closed all paid plasma collection across Canada after months of public scrutiny following the deaths of two people who sold their plasma at a Grifols site in Winnipeg, Health Canada findings of non-compliance, and other donor incidents. Health Canada then suspended Grifols’ license for its Taylor Avenue location in Winnipeg.
The Taylor Avenue site is where 22-year-old international student Rodiyat Alabede died of cardiac arrest during a plasma extraction procedure on Oct. 25, 2025.
“Reopening these Grifols sites is a bad idea. We need to return to a fully voluntary, public model for blood and plasma collection in Canada,” says Canadian Health Coalition Chair Jason MacLean.
“The Krever Commission into the tainted blood scandal was clear: voluntary non-profit collection puts public safety first. We should never have allowed private for-profit plasma corporations to buy and sell Canadian plasma,” said MacLean.
“No Grifols sites should be reopening, especially in Winnipeg, where two deaths have been connected to their for-profit plasma collection centres in the city. The reopening of the site on Innovation Drive puts the public at risk. All Grifols sites should be taken over by Canadian Blood Services and run on a fully voluntary, public basis,” said Noah Schulz, provincial director of the Manitoba Health Coalition.
“Serious ongoing safety concerns have been raised over Grifols’ paid plasma collection sites across the country, including at the Calgary Grifols collection site, which was found to be non-compliant with federal safety regulations,” says Chris Gallaway, executive director of Friends of Medicare in Alberta.
“In the many long months since two people died after selling their plasma to Grifols, we have not seen the urgency we should have to ensure public safety. We should not be allowing these sites to simply reopen after a short pause.”
Little is known about the secretive 15-year agreement signed between the Canadian Blood Services (CBS) and Grifols in 2022. The partnership between the public CBS and the private for-profit Grifols permits the for-profit company to operate as an agent of CBS.
The Canadian Health Coalition wants the federal Minister of Health to protect public health and safety by banning paid plasma and bringing the plasma collection services back under the umbrella of our public Canadian Blood Services.
