The Province of Manitoba wants more people to become organ donors. 

It also wants organ donors to have conversations with their family members, so there is no confusion as to whether or not their organs should be donated if something happens. 

Health Minister Kelvin Goertzen announced today that the province's online registration campaign www.signupforlife.ca is five-years-old. To celebrate, the province is again enlisting the help of more than 300 independent insurance brokers to help encourage Manitobans to sign up. 

"We know how important this is for those who are needing an organ and we also know in Manitoba our rate is historically low compared to other provinces," Goertzen said at a news conference at the Insurance Brokers Association of Manitoba today. "We recognize we're not doing a good enough job of getting that message out so that Manitobans can make the choice they want to make." 

"Providing the information and encouraging people to go to signupforlife.ca is important." 

According to signupforlife.ca, 90 per cent of people in Manitoba support a family member's choice to be an organ donor. However, 49 per cent of Manitoba families choose not to donate because they don't know their deceased family member's final wishes. 

Last summer, the province issued 30,000 organ donation information cards to insurance brokers in the province. The cards were so well-received that the province has decided to give out a second wave. 

Barb Kolomi is a transplant recipient who spoke at the news conference. She had a massive heart attack at the age of 47 and doctors had to implant an left ventricular assist device to save her life, which she lived with for five years until she received a heart transplant in the spring of 2016.

She says half the battle of becoming an organ donor is letting your family members know that you want to be one, and she hopes this information will reach people who are on the fence about it. 

"With 20,000 cards going out province-wide, we're hoping that message will be out there in every shop or place that people go into and hopefully that will encourage them to go home and sign up," Kolomi said. "It's going to get more people thinking about it and speaking with their loved ones and that should bring our numbers up." 

"When I received my transplant it was my opportunity to live a longer life and we can do that for other people." 

For more information, visit www.signupforlife.ca.