World Sickle Cell Day and Sickle Cell Awareness Month in Canada: how to take part

Two dates anchor the sickle cell calendar in Canada: June 19 and the month of September. Both give warriors, caregivers and sickle supporters a moment to speak up, and both shape NotJustYou’s year.

June 19: World Sickle Cell Day

On December 22, 2008, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution recognizing sickle cell as a public health problem and urging countries to raise awareness on June 19 each year. The date is now marked around the world as World Sickle Cell Day.

Canada recognized the date in law with the National Sickle Cell Awareness Day Act, which received Royal Assent on December 12, 2017. The Act says June 19 is to be known as National Sickle Cell Awareness Day, and its preamble points to the need for uniform newborn screening and better diagnosis and treatment. It is not a legal holiday.

September: Sickle Cell Awareness Month

September is widely observed as Sickle Cell Awareness Month. For our community, it is a month to gather, give blood and learn together.

How NotJustYou has marked the calendar

• World Sickle Cell Day Brunch: every June in Edmonton from 2023 to 2026. The fourth annual brunch, on June 13, 2026, at the CKUA Radio Network building, featured a buffet, a psychologist-led warrior panel and portraits by Be My Guest. It was the last World Sickle Cell Day Brunch for a while, as the series comes to a close.
• The Kickback: each September since 2023, our rooftop BBQ in Edmonton has opened Sickle Cell Awareness Month. The 2025 edition launched The 100.
• Group blood donations: we have given together with Canadian Blood Services in 2024, during Sickle Cell Awareness Month 2025 and during Black History Month 2026. Registrations for our group donations doubled from 2024 to 2025.
• Cells: on September 28, our virtual peer support group closes this year’s awareness month with a meeting on treatments and sickle cell disease.

Ways to take part, any month of the year

• Know your status. A hemoglobin electrophoresis, a simple blood test, shows whether you carry sickle cell trait. Get screened.
• Give blood or join the stem cell registry. Closely matched blood helps warriors who rely on transfusions, and Canadian Blood Services’ stem cell registry looks for donors aged 17 to 35 (Héma-Québec runs the registry in Quebec). See how to donate.
• Share your story. Warriors, caregivers and families can add their voices to Sickle Stories. Share your story.
• Write to your MP. Bill S-201 would require a national framework on sickle cell disease that addresses universal newborn screening, training for health professionals, and a national research network and patient registry. It was referred to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Health on June 16, 2026. Send a letter.
• Give. The 100 invites 100 people to give $100 each, raising $10,000 for families affected by sickle cell. Join The 100.

Questions people ask