A petition to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario
Your decision should be final.
1,776 Ontarians are waiting for an organ transplant. We’re calling on Ontario to adopt opt-out organ and tissue donation for everyone 16 and older, with no family veto.
Each mark is 1,000 signatures. Ontario accepts paper petitions only, so online pledges are not counted as signatures.
Campaign illustration. Not an official document.
The Issue
Ontarians say yes. The system doesn’t always listen.
Today, families are asked to reaffirm a registered donor’s decision at one of the hardest moments of their lives. Our proposal takes that weight off them.
families of registered donors said no to donation, according to 2015 data. CBC News (2016)
Our Ask
Opt-out donation for Ontarians 16 and older, with no family veto.
Ontario would treat every eligible adult and teen 16 and older as a donor unless they opt out, and their decision would stand.
- Deemed consent
Opt-out for everyone 16 and older
Every eligible Ontarian aged 16 and older is considered a donor unless they choose to opt out.
- Final decision
No family veto
A registered or deemed decision to donate cannot be overridden by family members.
- Your choice
Opt out any time
Change your decision whenever you want, online or in person at ServiceOntario.
- Safeguards
Clear exemptions
People under 16, people without the capacity to decide, and people who have lived in Ontario for less than 12 months are not deemed donors.
- Before it starts
An 18-month education period
The law takes effect after 18 months of public education, so every Ontarian knows how to register or opt out.
- Capacity
Funding for the donation system
Hospitals and donation teams get the funding they need to support more donations.
Nobody is required to donate. Saying no stays as simple as saying yes, and you can change your decision at any time.
Dramatization. Characters are fictional.
Stories
A Decision Made at 16
Sam registered as an organ donor at 16, the day he got his driver’s licence. Eleven years later, his family was asked to make his decision again. Across the city, someone on dialysis was waiting for a phone call.
Read the transcript
- Sam’s sisterMy brother Sam got his first driver’s licence at 16. That same day, he registered as an organ donor.
- Sam’s sisterHe told all of us. He was proud of it.
- Sam’s sisterEleven years later, after a sudden brain injury, we sat in a hospital waiting room.
- Sam’s sisterHe had already decided. But we were asked to decide again. We argued for hours.
- Transplant recipientAcross the city, I was on dialysis. Three times a week, four hours at a time.
- Transplant recipientThen, one night, my phone rang.
- Transplant recipientI’ll never know my donor’s name. So I wrote a letter to say thank you.
- Sam’s sisterRight now, 1,776 Ontarians are waiting for a transplant. One dies every three days.
- Transplant recipientNine in 10 of us support donation. Only 34 per cent are registered.
- Sam’s sisterIn Ontario, a registered yes still isn’t final. His decision should have been. Yours should be too.
- Transplant recipientSign the petition.
Petition
Paper signatures are the ones that count.
The Legislative Assembly of Ontario accepts paper petitions with original, handwritten signatures. Our goal is 10,000.
Print the petition
It’s one letter-size page with 12 signature lines. The petition text sits at the top of every page, as the Assembly requires. Download the petition (PDF)
Collect original signatures
Each signer prints their name and address and signs by hand. Signers must live in Ontario and can be under 18. Photocopies and online signatures don’t count.
Return your pages
Bring completed pages to a signing table. A sponsoring MPP presents them at Queen’s Park.
WHEREAS 1,776 Ontarians were waiting for an organ transplant as of Oct. 18, 2026, and one Ontarian dies every three days while waiting;
WHEREAS nine in 10 Ontarians support organ donation, but only 34 per cent are registered donors;
WHEREAS families in Ontario are asked to reaffirm a registered donor’s decision, and a registered decision to donate can still go unfulfilled when a family says no;
WHEREAS Ontarians can register their decision to donate from the age of 16;
We, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to pass legislation establishing an opt-out system of organ and tissue donation for Ontarians aged 16 and older, under which a person’s registered or deemed decision to donate cannot be overridden by family members.
Printed copies are also available at every signing table. Petitions become public documents, including each signer’s name and address.
Pledge your support
A pledge shows you’re with us. It is not a petition signature.
Thank you. Your pledge is saved on this device. To be counted at Queen’s Park, add your signature to a paper petition.
Find a signing location
Signing tables open across the Greater Toronto Area after the launch. Dates and times will be posted here, with a map.
- Peel RegionPriority areaBrampton · Mississauga
Brampton’s donor registration rate is 14 per cent.
- TorontoTimes coming soonDowntown · North York · Scarborough
- York RegionTimes coming soonMarkham · Richmond Hill · Vaughan
- Host a tableOpen to allSchools · Workplaces · Places of worship · Community groups
Ask our team for a host kit with printed petitions and a sign-in sheet.
Newsroom
For reporters and editors
Media kit
- News releaseThe campaign launch and the petition
- Fact sheetWaitlist, registration and family-refusal figures, with sources
- InfographicThe numbers behind the campaign on one page
- Spokesperson biosBackground on each speaker
- Photos and B-rollStills and clips from A Decision Made at 16
Available at the media table and on request.
Spokespeople
- JulianaExecutive Director
- YuvanPhysician and bioethicist
- Trang PhanTransplant recipient
- WazhmaDonor family member
- LucasMedia Relations Lead and MC
Team 4 members speak in assigned roles at the news conference.
Media contact
LucasMedia Relations Lead. For interviews and the media kit, find Lucas at the media table after the news conference.