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                       SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
                             WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549
                                    FORM S-8

             REGISTRATION STATEMENT UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933

                             WORLD HEART CORPORATION
             (Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)


        Ontario, Canada                                         N/A
 (State or other jurisdiction of                           (I.R.S. Employer
  incorporation or organization)                          Identification No.)

                             World Heart Corporation
                                 1 Laser Street
                                 Ottawa, Ontario
                                 CANADA, K2E 7V1
                    (Address of Principal Executive Offices)

               WORLD HEART CORPORATION EMPLOYEE STOCK OPTION PLAN
                            (Full title of the plan)
                                 --------------





                                World Heart Inc.
                                7799 Pardee Lane
                            Oakland, California 94621
                                 (510) 563-5000
            (Name, address and telephone number of agent for service)

                         Calculation of Registration Fee
<TABLE>

<CAPTION>
============================= ================== ======================== ========================== =======================
                                                   Proposed maximum
 Title of securities to be      Amount to be       aggregate offering          Proposed maximum             Amount of
         registered              registered         price per share        aggregate offering price  registration fees
----------------------------- ------------------ ------------------------ -------------------------- -----------------------
<S>                               <C>                  <C>                     <C>                          <C>
Common Shares                     2,320,000            $6.67 (1)               $15,474,400(1)              $3,868.60
no par value

============================= ================== ======================== ========================== =======================
</TABLE>

(1)  Estimated solely for the purpose of calculating the registration  fee. Such
     estimate has been  calculated  pursuant to Rule 457(h) under the Securities
     Act of 1933,  as  amended,  based on the  average of the high and low sales
     price of the Common  Shares as  reported on the Nasdaq  National  Market on
     June 20, 2001.

================================================================================


<PAGE>



                                     PART I
              INFORMATION REQUIRED IN THE SECTION 10(a) PROSPECTUS

Item 1.  Plan Information.*

Item 2.  Registrant Information and Employee Plan Annual Information.*

* Information required by Part I to be contained in the Section 10(a) prospectus
is omitted from the Registration Statement in accordance with Rule 428 under the
Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities  Act"), and the Note to Part
I of Form S-8.


<PAGE>


                                     PART II
                           INFORMATION REQUIRED IN THE
                             REGISTRATION STATEMENT

Item 3.   Incorporation of Documents by Reference.

          The following information  heretofore filed by World Heart Corporation
("WorldHeart" or the "Registrant")  with the Securities and Exchange  Commission
("Commission")  pursuant to the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the
"Exchange Act"), is incorporated  herein by reference:  (a) WorldHeart's  Annual
Report on Form  20-F for the  fiscal  year  ended  December  31,  2000;  and (b)
WorldHeart's  Form 6-K filed on May 8, 2001.  All documents  filed by WorldHeart
pursuant to Sections  13(a),  13(c),  14 and 15(d) of the Exchange Act after the
date of this Registration  Statement and prior to the filing of a post-effective
amendment indicating that all of the securities offered hereby have been sold or
deregistering  all such securities  then remaining  unsold shall be deemed to be
incorporated by reference in this Registration Statement and to be a part hereof
from the date of filing of those documents. Any statement contained herein or in
a  document  all  or a  portion  of  which  is  incorporated  or  deemed  to  be
incorporated  by reference  herein shall be deemed to be modified or  superseded
for  purposes  of this  Registration  Statement  to the extent  that a statement
contained herein or in any other subsequently filed document which also is or is
deemed to be  incorporated  by  reference  herein  modifies or  supersedes  such
statement.  Any such  statement so modified or  superseded  shall not be deemed,
except as so modified or superseded  to  constitute a part of this  Registration
Statement.

Item 4.   Description of Securities.

          Not applicable.

Item 5.   Interests of Named Experts and Counsel.

          Not applicable.

Item 6.   Indemnification of Directors and Officers.

          Pursuant to the  Business  Corporations  Act  (Ontario),  R.S.O.  1990
Chap.B.16,  Section 136(1), a corporation may indemnify a director or officer of
the corporation, a former director or officer of the corporation or a person who
acts or acted at the  corporation's  request as a director  or officer of a body
corporate of which the corporation is or was a shareholder or creditor,  and his
or her heirs and legal representatives  against all costs, charges and expenses,
including  an amount paid to settle an action or satisfy a judgment,  reasonably
incurred  by him or her in  respect  of any civil,  criminal  or  administrative
action  or  proceeding  to which he or she is made a party by reason of being or
having been a director or officer of such corporation or body corporate, if,

          (a)  he or she acted  honestly  and in good  faith  with a view to the
               best interests of the corporation; and

          (b)  in the case of a criminal or administrative  action or proceeding
               that is enforced by a monetary penalty,  he or she had reasonable
               grounds for believing that his or her conduct was lawful.

          The  Registrant   indemnifies  its  directors  and  officers   against
liability  to the full extent of the Business  Corporations  Act  (Ontario),  as
explained  above.   WorldHeart  maintains  directors'  and  officers'  liability
insurance with an aggregate annual limit of liability of US $15 million.

Item 7.   Exemption from Registration Claimed.

          Not applicable.

Item 8.   Exhibits.

          See Index to Exhibits.
<PAGE>
Item 9.   Undertakings.

          (a) The undersigned Registrant hereby undertakes:

               (1) To file, during any period in which offers or sales are being
          made, a post-effective amendment to this registration statement:

                    (i) To include any prospectus  required by Section  10(a)(3)
               of the Securities Act of 1933;

                    (ii) To  reflect  in the  prospectus  any  facts  or  events
               arising after the effective date of this  registration  statement
               (or the most  recent  post-effective  amendment  thereof)  which,
               individually or in the aggregate,  represent a fundamental change
               in the  information  set  forth  in the  registration  statement.
               Notwithstanding the foregoing, any increase or decrease in volume
               of  securities  offered (if the total dollar value of  securities
               offered  would not  exceed  that  which was  registered)  and any
               deviation  from  the low or  high  and of the  estimated  maximum
               offering  range may be reflected in the form of prospectus  filed
               with the Commission pursuant to Rule 424(b) if, in the aggregate,
               the changes in volume and price represent no more than 20 percent
               change in the maximum  aggregate  offering price set forth in the
               "Calculation  of   Registration   Fee"  table  in  the  effective
               registration statement;

                    (iii) To include any  material  information  with respect to
               the  plan  of  distribution  not  previously   disclosed  in  the
               registration statement or any material change to such information
               in the registration statement;

          provided,  however,  that  paragraphs  (a)(1)(i) and (a)(1)(ii) do not
          apply if the information  required to be included in a  post-effective
          amendment by those  paragraphs is contained in periodic  reports filed
          by the  Registrant  pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the  Securities
          Exchange  Act of  1934  that  are  incorporated  by  reference  in the
          registration statement.

               (2) That, for the purpose of determining  any liability under the
          Securities Act of 1933,  each such  post-effective  amendment shall be
          deemed to be a new registration  statement  relating to the securities
          offered  therein,  and the  offering of such  securities  at that time
          shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof.

               (3) To  remove  from  registration  by means of a  post-effective
          amendment any of the securities  being  registered which remain unsold
          at the termination of the offering.

          (b) The undersigned Registrant hereby undertakes that, for purposes of
determining  any liability  under the Securities Act of 1933, each filing of the
Registrant's  annual report pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934 (and, where applicable,  each filing of an employee benefit
plan's annual report pursuant to Section 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of
1934) that is incorporated by reference in the  registration  statement shall be
deemed to be a new  registration  statement  relating to the securities  offered
therein,  and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be
the initial bona fide offering thereof.

          (c)  Insofar as  indemnification  for  liabilities  arising  under the
Securities Act of 1933 may be permitted to directors,  officers and  controlling
persons of the  Registrant  pursuant to the  provisions  described in Item 6, or
otherwise, the Registrant has been advised that in the opinion of the Securities
and  Exchange  Commission  such  indemnification  is  against  public  policy as
expressed in the Act and is, therefore, unenforceable. In the event that a claim
for  indemnification  against  such  liabilities  (other than the payment by the
Registrant of expenses  incurred or paid by a director,  officer or  controlling
person of the  Registrant  in the  successful  defense  of any  action,  suit or
proceeding)  is  asserted by such  director,  officer or  controlling  person in
connection with the securities being registered,  the Registrant will, unless in
the opinion of its counsel the matter has been settled by controlling precedent,
submit  to a  court  of  appropriate  jurisdiction  the  question  whether  such
indemnification  by it is against public policy as expressed in the Act and will
be governed by the final adjudication of such issue.

<PAGE>

                                   SIGNATURES

          Pursuant  to the  requirements  of the  Securities  Act of  1933,  the
Registrant certifies that it has reasonable grounds to believe that it meets all
of the requirements for filing on Form S-8 and has duly caused this Registration
Statement  to be  signed  on its  behalf  by  the  undersigned,  thereunto  duly
authorized, in the Province of Ontario, Canada, on this 21st day of June, 2001.

                            WORLD HEART CORPORATION
                            (Registrant)


                            By: /s/  Ian W. Malone
                               ---------------------------------------------
                               Name:  Ian W. Malone
                               Title: Chief Financial Officer, Vice President
                                       Finance and Secretary, Director



                                POWER OF ATTORNEY

          KNOW ALL MEN BY THESE  PRESENTS,  that  each  person  whose  signature
appears below constitutes and appoints Roderick M. Bryden and Ian W. Malone, and
each of them severally,  his true and lawful  attorneys-in-fact and agents, with
full power of substitution  and revocation,  for him and in his name,  place and
stead,  in any and all  capacities,  to sign any and all  amendments  (including
post-effective amendments) to this registration statement, and to file the same,
with all exhibits thereto, and other documents in connection therewith, with the
Securities and Exchange  Commission,  granting unto said  attorneys-in-fact  and
agents,  and each of them,  full power and  authority to do and perform each and
every act and thing requisite or necessary to be done in and about the premises,
as fully to all intents and  purposes as he might or could do in person,  hereby
ratifying and confirming all that said attorneys-in-fact and agents or either of
them, or their or his substitute or substitutes,  may lawfully do or cause to be
done by virtue hereof.


<PAGE>


          Pursuant  to the  requirements  of the  Securities  Act of 1933,  this
registration  statement  has  been  signed  by  the  following  persons  in  the
capacities indicated and on the dates indicated.
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>

Signature                            Capacity With Registrant                  Date
<S>                                  <C>                                       <C>


/s/  Tofy Mussivand                  Chairman of the Board of Directors,       June 21, 2001
--------------------------
Dr. Tofy Mussivand                   Chief Scientific Officer, Director

/s/  Roderick M. Bryden              President and Chief Executive Officer,    June 21, 2001
--------------------------
Roderick M. Bryden                   Director

/s/  Ian W. Malone                   Chief Financial Officer, Vice President   June 21, 2001
--------------------------
Ian W. Malone                        Finance and Secretary, Director

/s/  Donald S. Beanlands             Director                                  June 21, 2001
--------------------------
Dr. Donald S. Beanlands

/s/  Richard L. Lesher               Director                                  June 21, 2001
--------------------------
Dr. Richard L. Lesher

/s/  Michael Mussallem               Director                                  June 21, 2001
--------------------------
Michael Mussallem

/s/ C. Ian Ross                      Director                                  June 21, 2001
--------------------------
C. Ian Ross

</TABLE>

<PAGE>


Pursuant to the  requirements of Section 6(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, the
undersigned has signed this  Registration  Statement,  solely in the capacity of
the duly  authorized  representative  of World Heart  Corporation  in the United
States on this 21st day of June, 2001.

WORLD HEART INC.




By: /s/  Ian W. Malone
    --------------------------
    Name:  Ian W. Malone
    Title: Vice President, Treasurer
             and Secretary


<PAGE>

                                  EXHIBIT INDEX

  Exhibit
    No.
  -------

   4.1    Articles of Incorporation  and By-Laws of the Registrant  incorporated
          by  reference  to  exhibits   3.1  and  3.3,   respectively,   of  the
          Registration  Statement on Form F-1, file number  333-05754,  as filed
          with the Securities  and Exchange  Commission on October 8, 1996 under
          the Securities Act of 1933.

   4.2    Articles of Amendment to Articles of  Incorporation  of the Registrant
          dated June 12, 2000.

    5     Opinion of  McCarthy  Tetrault,  Canadian  counsel to the  Registrant,
          dated June 21, 2001, with respect to the legality of the Common Shares
          being registered.

   23.1   Consent of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP dated June 21, 2001.

   23.2   Consent of McCarthy Tetrault(1)

   24     Powers of Attorney (included in pages II-5 and II-6).

-------------------

(1)  Included in Exhibit 5.