Kidney Disease | Treatment | The Wait List | BC Organ Donor Registry
Kidney Foundation | Be a Kidney Can Hero | Learning More | site policies
One in ten Canadians — 4 million — are affected by kidney disease. In recent years, the rate of people living with end-stage kidney disease has increased significantly, rising 35% in the past decade.
— Kidney Foundation
Register yourself and your family as organ donors
It only takes 2 minutes online.
Register • Tell Your Family • Be Inspired
The links and information on this page are intended as a resource and starting point for self-help research and not intended to take the place of medical advice, treatment, evaluation or diagnosis by a qualified professional who is fully informed about the potential risks and adverse effects of such treatments.
Use the information you find there as a discussion point with your health team. They can explain the pros and cons of any particular course of treatment.
Statistics and numbers on this page are culled from external sources and subject to change.
Most people don't think of their kidneys when they consider life-threatening disease. However, that needs to change because your kidneys perform important functions in your body.
An average of 15 people every day learn that their kidneys have failed.
You can have up to 80% loss of kidney function before you notice any symptoms.
To find out if you are at risk, answer these 10 questions.
Initially, your renal team (doctor, nurse, dietitian, social worker) will make some changes to your lifestyle including changes to your diet to reduce the workload on your kidneys and to prolong the period before dialyses becomes necessary.
At this time you'll be informed about your treatment options and be able to choose between the options that are best for you.
The initial treatment is most likely to be renal dialysis. There are two main types:
You will need to continue dialysis for the rest of your life or until you have a kidney transplant.
Average life expectancy on dialysis is 5–10 years but each person's experience is different.
A kidney transplant is currently the best form of treatment for most people. It is the treatment that allows the closest to normal lifestyle.
Not everyone is a candidate. You must meet the criteria to get onto the transplant waiting list and while on the waiting list your body has to endure the rigors of dialysis.
There are a number of factors that are considered when determining if a person is suitable for transplant and who receives the organs that become available.
There are two main categories of transplant:
An animated illustration of the transplantation procedure.
If you decide to let the disease run its natural course, non-dialysis supportive care provides comfort care, both physical and emotional.
Many people are waiting for Organ Transplants and some will die waiting (nearly a third of the people who died while waiting for organs were waiting for a kidney).
Eva Markvoort (1984–2010) — pictured in the BC Transplant graphic below — was a remarkable woman who lost her battle with cystic fibrosis. She is featured in 65_RedRoses, a film that looks at the human side of waiting for a transplant.
It only takes 2 minutes online
While a kidney transplant is not a cure, it makes a massive difference in people's quality of life.
Transplantation provides the best quality of life for a renal patient (and often the only treatment option for other diseases).
Register to donate and you could:
- save as many as 8 lives
- improve the quality of life for up to 75 people
- benefit countless families and loved ones of those in need
- — Health Canada
A kidney transplant is a treatment just like dialysis, but offers greater freedom (albeit with issues related to drug interactions with side effects like reduced bone density and higher risks for certain cancers).
An organ transplant brings improvements in quality of life to the recipient. It ends the uncertainty of not knowing when the call from the transplant list will come and lets you get on with living your life.
Families of donors: know that the selfless giving nature of your loved one continues to live on in the improved well-being of the organ recipients. It truly is a gift of life.
Transplants are cost-effective and the success rate is excellent.
Dialysis is the most common treatment for kidney failure and costs the health care system between $56,000 and $107,000 per patient per year. The cost of a kidney transplant, including donor costs, is approximately $100,000 initially, decreasing to $20,000 in care costs for year two and decreasing annually each year thereafter.
— Kidney Foundation of Canada
Chronic kidney disease costs the health care system approximately $40 billion every year.
The success rate for a kidney transplant from a living donor is 90–95% after one year and the transplanted kidney lasts 15 to 20 years on average. For transplants from a deceased donor, the success rate is also high: 85–90% of these kidneys are working well after one year and will last on average from 10 to 15 years.
— Kidney Foundation of Canada
These cost savings don't take into account the tremendous improvement in quality of life for the recipient.
These are averages. My kidney transplant was in 1996 and it is still working. My wife's first transplant was in 1979, her second in 2019 (after another two years on dialysis). Read our story…
The wait for a transplant can be very long and a very small portion of those registered end up as donors.
Hemodialysis demand in Victoria has been increasing at a rate of 17% per year.
Transplantation helps to ease the demand for these facilities and greatly improve the quality of life for the patients that receive a transplant.
Register • Tell Your Family • Be Inspired
Learn more about the Kidney Foundation…
In 1997 British Columbia became the first province in Canada to establish an Organ Donor Registry (ODR), replacing all previous forms of consent.
If you become eligible as a donor (much less likely than requiring a transplant) it will be an incredibly emotional time for your family. You can help them by sharing your wishes. Organ donation FAQs will answer many of your questions (and theirs).
Anyone who is healthy can be a living donor. The age of consent to be a living donor varies from 16–19 depending on the province in which you live. They must be in good general health with no evidence of significant high blood pressure, diabetes, cancer, kidney disease, heart disease or hepatitis.
— Kidney Foundation of Canada
Every year, dozens of patients die waiting for organ transplants in BC. And while 90% of people in our province agree with organ donation, only about 28% register their decision. Raising awareness and sharing information about the need for organs is one way we can help ensure people get the life-saving transplants they need.
— BC Transplant Society
Many British Columbians are alive today because of an organ transplant. See BC Transplant Society's 2023 Fact Sheet (PDF).
- Your registration in BC Transplant's Organ Donor Registry (register.transplant.bc.ca) is an official record of your decision on organ donation. If you aren't registered, your family will decide for you.
- You are more likely to need a transplant than you are to be an organ donor.
- Only about 1–2% of deaths in hospital occur in a way that allows for organs to be donated.
- To become an organ donor, a person must be in a hospital Intensive Care Unit and be on a ventilator.
- Donation is considered only after all life-saving efforts are made and it's certain a person will not survive.
- Two doctors, not involved in transplant, must declare death before organ donation can proceed.
- You may still be able to donate if you have a medical condition. Register your decision and the specialists will determine if you can.
- There is no age limit to register for organ donation. The oldest organ donor in Canada was 92 years old.
- You only need to register once.
- Once you've registered your decision, take the time to talk to your loved ones about your wishes.
- Not sure if you're registered? Verify online at register.transplant.bc.ca/verification with your Personal Health Number.
Organ donor and transplant statistics (as of March 4, 2024):
Note: The pandemic impacted clinical capacity and surgery dates, which contributed to fewer living kidney donor transplants in 2020, 2021 and 2022.
4,043 Canadians are on the waiting list for an organ transplant. 76% are waiting for a kidney (which includes only 10% of the people on dialysis). About a third will die while on the waiting list.
When you consider that only 1–2% of all deaths in BC will result in organ donation, there is a critical need to improve registration. If everyone in BC was registered there would be a significant reduction in the waiting list.
You can register or verify your decision online. For more information contact the British Columbia Transplant Society.
The Kidney Foundation of Canada focuses on three areas:
Donate your car, truck or SUV to Kidney Car. You'll get a fast, FREE and friendly tow and a valuable tax receipt. Learn more about the Kidney Car program.
When you make your car a Kidney Car, it will improve the lives of individuals living with kidney disease through funding community education, peer support groups and even medical research. We take vehicles of any age or condition!
Share the poster with others.
Those on the transplant list, transplant recipients and living donors would like to encourage the conversation about the massive need to improve the rate of donor registration.
For more information on organ donation and transplantation visit:
Watch Kidney BCY-TV. This YouTube channel is all about kidney disease and those affected by the disease. The Kidney Foundation BC & Yukon branch created and produce these videos as awareness and educational pieces.
I recommend Episode #24, Get the Scoop…On Organ Donation, to learn more about organ donation and transplantation, including interviews with the support staff in these programs.
Want to know more about organ donation in Canada?
The staff and volunteers at the BC Transplant Society and the Kidney Foundation of Canada can provide more information or connect you with someone willing to talk about transplantation.
Consumer Medical Resources has more information about kidney disease and organ donation & transplantation.
Return to top
russharvey.bc.ca/russ/renal.html
Updated: September 3, 2024