With the recent establishment of for-profit plasma banks—in Alberta, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Saskatchewan and Manitoba—as well as calls to rescind federal prohibitions on the sale of sperm and eggs, new concerns about the expanding market in human tissues have emerged.

Across Canada, legislation on the sale of tissues varies widely. In some provinces (Quebec, Ontario and British Columbia) there is legislation that puts restrictions on the sale of plasma. In other provinces, there is legislation that exempts blood and blood products—as well as reproductive tissues—from provisions on sale.  

In some provinces and territories, there is no legislation (Saskatchewan, Alberta, Manitoba, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Northwest Territories, Yukon, Nunavut and Newfoundland and Labrador) to prevent payment for blood or blood products, and specific exemptions in human tissue legislation specifically exclude blood and other tissues from prohibitions on payment. The nature of these exemptions varies between jurisdictions, with some defining “tissue” that is prohibited from payment in ways that exclude “skin, bone, blood constituent or other tissue that is replaceable by natural processes of repair” and others including variations that address spermatozoa, ova, embryos, fetuses, and/or placenta but not necessarily bone or skin.  

Existing scholarship on payment for blood donation has focused either on the ethical implications of payment for what has historically been an altruistically provided resource, or alternatively, concerns about safety tied to the findings of the Krever Commission. Scholarship on the commercialization of renewable and reproductive tissues has, however, not substantively addressed variation in provincial tissue exemptions.  

This project investigates the origins of tissue exemptions in Canada, identifying the discussions and arguments that led to their passage in provincial and territorial legislatures. Through a study of relevant legislation, legislative debates, minutes of relevant Uniform Law Conferences, media reports, and existing scholarship, it provides a comparative analysis of the impetus for the varied tissues exemptions in each province. In doing so, it reveals the historic intent of these exemptions and their contemporary status.