Health Canada imposes new conditions on plasma donation company Grifols, still reviewing 2 Winnipeg deaths

Health Canada has imposed new terms and conditions on all of the company’s paid plasma centers after several failed inspections, where the regulator found “recurring, systemic deficiencies.”

This comes after two people in Winnipeg died less than four months after receiving plasma at various Grifols locations in the city.

It also comes after the company’s Canadian head office in Oakville, Ontario failed a January inspection. The head office does not collect plasma, but the federal health regulator said it oversees all 16 Canadian collection sites.

On Wednesday, a Health Canada spokesperson said they conducted a virtual inspection of the head office. Test Found that Grifols was not accurately assessing donor suitability, did not thoroughly investigate errors and accidents, and did not have adequately trained staff members.

The inspection also found that operating procedures were not always followed and that Grifols was allowing people to donate plasma even when information showed “the safety of the blood may be compromised.”

Grifols, a Spanish-based company that specializes in making plasma medicines, has more than a dozen plasma collection centers in Canada.

These new conditions apply to all 16 collection centers across Canada:

• Reducing the number of appointments so that employees can follow procedures completely.
• To re-evaluate the number of fully trained personnel required for the posts.
• Ensuring that Quality Assurance department reviews are completed and donor suitability records are documented.
• Reviewing donor files prior to updating donor eligibility.
• Implementing additional supervision for new employees.
• Conduct internal annual audits of all regulated activities, ensuring that any deficiencies identified are documented and investigated, and submitting the audit to Health Canada.

Grifols did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

A Health Canada spokesperson said the conditions would remain in place until Grifols shows “continued compliance” with blood regulations at all licensed sites.

The spokesperson said it “identified quality management issues” during a head office inspection that began on January 28.

“Health Canada prioritized the inspection of the Grifols head office to review its quality management system at the national level because the department identified quality management system observations at several Grifols sites during routine inspections,” the spokesperson said in an emailed statement Wednesday.

The two deaths in Winnipeg are still being reviewed by Health Canada, which confirmed it received two reports of fatal adverse reactions in plasma donors – one in October 2025 and the other on January 30, 2026.

One of those men was 22-year-old Rodiat Alabede. The international student from Nigeria died on October 25 after friends said she had given plasma at the Grifols location on Taylor Avenue.

Little is known about the second person, whose death was reported as a fatal reaction after donating at the Grifols location on Innovation Drive.

Health Canada says no link has been found between the deaths and plasma collection.

two other recent grifols Inspections resulted in non-compliant ratings in Calgary and Regina.

A Health Canada spokesperson said Thursday that it requires “corrective action” from Grifols and “will continue to closely monitor the progress” of their implementation.

The spokesperson wrote that the issues identified were “not considered serious.”