As of the end of February, every British Columbian visiting an ICBC driver licensing location will be asked to register their decision about organ donation.
The move comes as ICBC and BC Transplant are working together in the hope to increase the number of people making the decision to become a donor.
“Fifty per cent of British Columbians believe they have registered a decision on organ donation but, in fact, only 21 per cent have,” ICBC said in a press release.
Last year ICBC ran a pilot in four locations — North Vancouver, Abbotsford, Kelowna and Vancouver Royal — where staff provided information about organ donation to customers and encouraged them to register their decision.
As a result of the pilot, more than 15,000 customers registered their decision on organ donation.
“More than 600 people are desperately waiting for organ donation in B.C.,” said Greg Kyllo, MLA for Shuswap on behalf of Terry Lake, Minister of Health and Todd Stone, Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure.
“We saw tremendous success through ICBC and BC Transplant’s initial partnership. The government of British Columbia is thrilled to see the program expanding. We believe it can make a real difference.”
Last year 1.1 million customer transactions were completed at ICBC driver licensing offices.
Customers attend driver licensing locations for transactions related to their driver’s licence, BC identification, BC Services Card, as well as to pay various tickets and penalties.
A customer needs to register once in a lifetime, but a decal on your driver’s licence is no longer enough to ensure you’re registered as an organ donor. Register your decision at register.transplant.bc.ca or call 1-800-663-6189.