Consistent with recommendations from provincial ministries of health that all non-essential health care services be delayed until after the COVID-19 pandemic, we are not offering Helicobater pylori breath tests at this time.

Service in B.C.:

LifeLabs is pleased to share that we will resume distributing and collecting FIT kits in coordination with the BC Cancer Colon Cancer Screening Program, starting on June 8. FIT collection kits are available in labs across British Columbia.

If you have a requisition, you can visit a LifeLabs PSC to pick one up. If you picked up a FIT collection kit before testing was suspended due to COVID-19, you can now complete the test and return it to a LifeLabs PSC.

Before collecting your sample, please check the expiry date located on the label of the kit. If the kit is expired, please return it to the lab and ask for a new one, and ensure you bring your requisition with you. If you’ve already picked up a FIT and completed it, now is the time to return the used FIT collection kit to the lab for safe disposal. Let the lab know your specimen was collected before the suspension and you will be provided a new FIT collection kit to repeat the test.

Please ensure you bring your requisition with you to obtain your replacement kit. We are pleased to restart this important testing for patients from across BC. Please visit BC Cancer Screening for more information.

 Ontario service:

Consistent with recommendations from provincial ministries of health that all non-essential health care services be delayed until after the COVID-19 pandemic, in Ontario LifeLabs has paused mailing new fecal immunochemical testing (FIT) collection kits used for colorectal cancer screening.

If you received a FIT collection kit before we paused mailing the kits due to COVID-19, you can complete the test and return it to a LifeLabs patient service centre, or return via Canada Post.

Yes we are offering Glucose Tolerance Testing, and have additional protocols to ensure social distancing and limiting the time spent at our PSCs.

We are only accepting contactless payments (i.e. chip, swipe, or tap your debit/credit card). We are not accepting cash as part of our measures to reduce contact between patients and employees and prevent further spread of COVID-19.

The most up-to-date information on location operating hours can be found at locations.lifelabs.com.

We will actively assess this as the situation continues to evolve, but we will do our best to ensure the continuity of service to our customers.

We are currently accepting walk-in patients, but encourage you to use our Appointment Booking or virtual check-in app – Save My Spot – to limit time spent at our locations, in keeping with the global effort to practice social distancing. We are actively monitoring this practice and make changes in future to promote social distancing.

Please note some of our locations operate as appointment centres, which require appointments for service. At these locations, we have also increased our appointment capacity to allow for more appointment slots.  To identify if a location near you is an appointment centre, visit our location finder. 

If a location is not designated as an appointment centre, walk-ins and Save My Spot users are serviced normally. 

Locations that are designated as appointment centres will convert any walk-ins to appointments for a later time. If a walk-in cannot be accommodated within the same day, they can book an appointment online or via phone; or, they will be provided the option of an alternate location nearby that can accommodate walks-ins for that day. 

Elderly, immunocompromised, and other vulnerable customers with urgent tests will be accommodated as soon as possible. Please let a staff member know if you require further support such as seating when you arrive. 

Any customers that have a health condition or mobility issue are welcome to wait in our waiting rooms until their appointment. Please let a staff member know if you require further support such as seating when you arrive. 

You can either book an appointment or walk in to drop off a sample. A greeter or staff member at the front desk will ask you our proactive screening questions before accepting the sample.

We appreciate your patience and understanding as we adapt to these new changes in our operations. While we are working hard to ensure customers are being seen at their designated times, there may be some delays due to volume and our new preventative measures to ensure the health, safety, and well-being of all our customers and employees.

We are asking all customers to wait in line for a member of our staff to register you, check you in, and screen you for COVID-19. All customers will be screened for COVID-19 before being seen for testing. If you have booked an appointment, you will not lose your time or spot in line.

You can call our customer service line and one of the representatives would be happy to arrange an appointment for you.

If a location is not designated as a LifeLabs Appointment Centre, you can either walk in or use Save My Spot. 

To determine if a location is an Appointment Centre, please check through our Location Finder. 

If you call our customer service line, one of our reps can help walk you through the process of setting up an account and booking an appointment.

If you are booking an appointment for yourself:

1. Visit lifelabs.com, and click ‘Book Appointment’ in the top menu.
2. Select your province, then click ‘Book Appointment’. Search for the location nearest you and click book appointment on your chosen location.
3. Click ‘Next’ after reading appointment instructions.
4. Then select the available date and time convenient for you, click ‘Next’.
5. You’re then booked!

Yes. If you are booking an appointment on behalf of a family member:

1. Visit lifelabs.com, click ‘Location Finder’, OR, visit myresults.lifelabs.com and click ‘Location Finder’
2. Find your location, then click ‘Book Appointment’. Then click ‘Next’ after reading appointment instructions.
3. Select the available data and time they want to book, click ‘Next’ again.
4. You can either log into your existing account, or create a new one on behalf of them. Once all the information is confirmed, you can enter their name for the appointment. Then simply confirm the appointment!

The location you’re looking for may have temporarily transitioned to operate as a LifeLabs Appointment Centre.

Save My Spot customers are treated as virtual walk-ins, and because these locations are only accepting appointments, we cannot use the Save My Spot application, as this would affect the wait times for customers.

If the location (in any province) is not designated as a LifeLabs Appointment Centre, but still does not have Save My Spot available, this could be due to the facility reaching it maximum capacity for walk-ins on that given day.

You will not miss your appointment if you are in line. When you arrive at a LifeLabs location, a member of our staff will regularly check the lines to confirm who has booked appointments to ensure they’re properly entered into the wait queue.

You will not miss your appointment if a staff member has not confirmed your info at your exact appointment time.

For the safety of our customers and employees, we have a number of COVID-19 protocols in place that must be followed. One of those processes is the COVID-19 screening questions. All customers must lineup to check-in with a member of our staff and be screened prior to their appointment.

Some of our locations serve unique demographics, and are located in a densely-populated area, near a retirement home or seniors’ community, or are in a rural community and cover a larger span of the area’s population.

At some of these locations, our appointment slots are quickly being booked up to our maximum capacity. However, we are working on hiring additional staff as well as increasing appointment slots in the near future to offer our customers more options for accessible appointments.

We appreciate your patience as we continue to adapt and work through this.

Please contact our Genetics Helpline at 1-844-GENEHELP (1-844-262-4357) for further support in booking an appointment.

Depending on patient volumes, we may experience delays in receiving emailed requisitions. Our greeters are there to regularly check for processed requisitions, and will help you book another appointment should you have to return at a later date. We appreciate your patience and cooperation.

It’s very easy! Once you have downloaded the app from Google Play or the Apple store, open the app from your smart phone menu, enter in your location and the app will provide various location options for you. Each location has a green box indicating the approximate wait time. Simply select the location with the wait time that works for you, enter your name and phone number, click ‘check in’, and you’ve officially saved your spot!

We will provide you with an estimated return time. Please return at that time, but keep in mind that it is an estimate.

The advantage of using Save My Spot is that it will help you wait from afar, while still maintaining your place in line. Because of new COVID measures, you will have to wait to be screened, and may have to wait a few additional minutes   We are continuously updating our estimated wait times to reflect all additional screening and precautionary duties required by our staff as part of our new normal due to COVID-19. Thank you for your patience while we try to improve this experience with accurate wait times

We will have a 5-minute leeway for customers to return at their scheduled time.

We encourage you to use online appointment booking or Save My Spot, as it helps manage volume in our locations, and you spend less time waiting in the building.

Plus, if you use Save My Spot to check in online, you can wait from your car and come to the front when your time is up.

Please note that wait times are estimate and can vary depending on the volume we are experiencing.

While we strive to maintain accurate wait times in our queue, wait times are estimate and can vary depending on the volume of patients.

Our employees are trained to wear Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) when there is an escalated risk of transmission for any illness, including the common cold and flu. With the recent confirmation of community transmission of COVID-19, we are asking our employees to apply universal precautions and wear PPE for all patients.

Following the guidelines from health authorities, an employee is permitted to remove their mask when working behind a plexiglass barrier.

The plexiglass barrier is an engineering control and an alternative to wearing PPE to protect from droplets produced by coughing and/or sneezing. 

If an employee leaves from behind the plexiglass barrier, they are required to put a mask back on. 

We are actively screening all customers at our Patient Service Centres. You may notice a line-up or delay before entering as employees ask customers whether they’re experiencing any respiratory symptoms and other screening questions as directed by the Public Health Agency of Canada.

If the screening process determines that a customer may have been exposed to the virus, employees will begin a special infection-control protocol including:

• Immediately providing the customer with a mask
• Isolating them from other patients
• Serving the patient as quickly as possible; and
• Decontaminating the space after the patient has left.

We are also piloting a new process to limit the number of customers we serve at any one time by registering customers at the entrance and asking customers to wait outside if we are not able to provide immediate service to further protect customers and staff.

To help ensure that Canadians are still able to access medical care throughout the pandemic, many health care providers are offering virtual consultations through video and phone. As a trusted health care partner, LifeLabs offers a variety of solutions that support required medical testing stemming from virtual consultations. Please speak with your health care provider about options.

Patients who are immunocompromised, or considered vulnerable population, are strongly encouraged to utilize our Appointment Booking and Save My Spot app when planning a visit so they can limit the time spent at our locations.

In our screening process, patients are asked to indicate if they are immunocompromised or are otherwise in a vulnerable population. We will take several proactive actions to ensure patient safety and well-being by providing a mask, isolating patients from other individuals at our location, and expediting service.

The Public Health Agency of Canada defines vulnerable patients related to COVID-19 as anyone who is:

• An older adult
• At risk due to underlying medical conditions (e.g. heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, chronic respiratory diseases, cancer)
• Pregnant
• At risk due to a compromised immune system from a medical condition or treatment (e.g. chemotherapy)

More information is available on the Public Health Agency of Canada website.

Any precautions we have implemented at our facilities are also applied to our mobile units.

We understand that restrictions are lifting in many provinces, however, masks are still required for health care settings to ensure the safety of all patients and health care employees. 

More information can be found through Public Health Agency of Canada’s website. 

Yes, as much as possible. At this time, masking alone does not replace the need for physical distancing. Masking is another method meant to compliment other controls such as hand hygiene and physical distancing. Please continue to maintain physical distancing at all times while at our sites.

Children under two or individuals with health conditions such as respiratory issues do not have to wear a mask

At this time, all customers are required to wear face masks within our locations to support the health and safety of all customers and employees. These requirements are within alignment of Public Health measures. 

If you screen negative for COVID-19 and cannot wear a mask (see exemption qualifications), you will still receive service.

If you screen positive for COVID-19 and will not wear a mask, we will be unable to provide service. 

Face masks are mandatory at all of our locations to ensure the health and safety of everyone in our facilities. This supports our other measures to ensure health and safety in situations where physical distancing may not be possible.

We will still provide service to customers who are unable to wear a mask for medical reasons (or to children under two), and if they screen negative during our Active COVID-19 Screening process before they enter the facility. 

We understand your concern. Since face masks are mandatory at all of our locations, the risk for exposure to COVID-19 is low if we are serving a customer who is exempt from wearing a mask for medical reasons (see exemption qualification FAQ above).

We also have additional safety measures in place such: as physical distancing, thorough and regular disinfection processes, and employees wearing all required PPE.

In British Columbia, we are distributing COVID testing results collected and/or tested by nearly all organizations (see list below) providing testing in the province through our online results portal – www.myehealth.ca:

• BC Centre for Disease Control
• Vancouver Coastal Health Authority
• Fraser Health Authority
• Providence Health Care
• BC Children’s and Women’s Hospital
• Northern Health Authority
• LifeLabs

In Ontario, test results are provided to Public Health Ontario and to the ordering physician through the Ontario Laboratory Information Systems (OLIS).

We are working with government on streamlining this process to make results available on our online results portals utilized by 3 million Canadians to access their lab test results.

In British Columbia

Due to the rapid increase in public health and private testing this fall, LifeLabs is currently focusing on serving existing customers to ensure adequate service levels.  As a result, we are not able to provide private pay COVID-19 PCR swab testing to you at this time.

Those that require COVID-19 PCR swab testing for travel or other purposes should contact the clinics listed here for testing.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. We are in the process of increasing our testing capacity and hope that we will be able to offer COVID-19 PCR swab testing more broadly in the near future.

In Ontario

Due to the rapid increase in COVID-19 lab testing, LifeLabs is currently focusing on serving existing customers to ensure adequate service levels. As a result, we currently do not offer private pay COVID-19 PCR testing. Customers that require COVID-19 PCR testing for travel or other purposes should visit the Public Health website for more information.

The Ministry of Health is working with health care organizations to monitor and manage the constrained global supply chain for personal protective equipment. The Ministry works with partners from across the supply chain, as well as local manufacturers and distributors, to secure additional supplies and equipment, including PPE.

The Ministry is encouraging all organizations to continue working with their regular suppliers. We’re asking anyone in need of supply to connect with the appropriate Ministry contacts in their region.

If you suspect that you previously had COVID-19, even if you never showed symptoms or signs of illness, your healthcare provider can order an antibody test to assess recent or prior infection. Antibody responses to the virus take some time to develop and vary between individuals.

For most accurate results (results with highest sensitivity) it is recommended the antibody test is ordered 3-4 weeks post-onset of symptoms or post-exposure. However, based on current studies, antibodies to COVID-19 virus can be detected up to 4 months post-exposure.

For more information, please visit our COVID-19 Antibody page. 

To get tested for COVID-19 antibodies, talk to your healthcare provider and have them provide you a signed test requisition form. If you are consulting your physician via phone / virtually, you can request them to email you a PDF of the requisition form. You can then visit a LifeLabs patient service centre (PSC) to get your blood sample collected and pay for the COVID-19 antibody test. Appointments are recommended, although walk-ins are welcome.

You also have the option to pre-pay for this test online. We will email you an electronic requisition that is pre-filled with your information. You must get this e-requisition signed by your healthcare provider, prior to visiting a LifeLabs PSC to get your blood sample collected.

For more information and to learn how to order, please visit our COVID-19 Antibody page. 

You can access the test at any LifeLabs location in BC or Ontario. Please note this test is not available through LifeLabs in areas that do not have a LifeLabs location. For more information about where to access a serology test, please visit Public Health Ontario or BC Centre for Disease Control. 

The LifeLabs COVID-19 antibody blood test is acceptable for the requirements to travel to China*. Customers are responsible for knowing and meeting all other conditions of travel to their destination.

* The current test meets the requirements, however, those requirements may change. The customer accepts the risk of this change. LifeLabs will not be liable to the customer for such a change.

LifeLabs offers two COVID-19 tests.

The molecular test (e.g. polymerase chain reaction (PCR)) detects SARS-CoV-2 genetic material and is used to diagnose an active COVID-19 infection. A sample type used in molecular testing is a nasopharyngeal (NP) swab.

The COVID-19 antibody test is a blood test to detect antibodies to the virus. Results of the test show whether you had a recent or prior COVID-19 infection. The antibody test is not to be used for diagnosis of active COVID-19 infection.

For more information, please visit our COVID-19 Antibody page. 

We do not provide a bundled option of COVID-19 PCR and serology tests at this time.