Health Minister Says 75 Percent of Dentists Have Signed Onto Dental Care Plan

Minister of Health Mark Holland speaks at the National Press Theatre in Ottawa, on July 17, 2024. (The Canadian Press/Justin Tang)

Seventy-five percent of dentists and dental specialists are now participating in Canada’s new federal dental-care program, Health Minister Mark Holland says.

A total of 16,612 dentists and dental specialists, 1,746 denturists, and 857 dental hygienists have joined the Liberal government’s Canadian Dental Care Plan (CDCP), representing roughly three-quarters of all dentists and dental specialists in Canada, Holland said during an Aug. 7 press conference.

Holland said the “explosion” in the number of dental care providers participating “exceeds anything I could have hoped for in the first three months” of the program’s operation.

“We’re not stopping until we get to 100 percent,” he added.

While 2.3 million Canadians have been approved to receive coverage under the program, there are an additional nine million Canadians who do not currently have access to dental insurance, he said.

“We have 9 million Canadians to get to. We have 25 percent more oral health professionals to get to,” Holland said. “But today is an important day in our progress to make oral health a permanent part of Canada’s health-care system.”

As part of the program’s phased rollout, the Liberal government began accepting claims for dental coverage for seniors in May, and expanded eligibility to children under 18 years old and Canadians with a valid Disability Tax Credit certificate in June. So far, nearly 450,000 eligible Canadians have enrolled.

All other eligible Canadians are scheduled to be given access to the program in 2025.

Holland announced in July that providers would be able to directly bill Sun Life, who the government tapped to operate the program, for services provided on a claim-by-claim basis, without formally signing up for the CDCP. The action was taken to make it easier for oral health providers to submit CDCP claims and increase uptake.

Holland acknowledged that some Canadians who have signed up for the program have found it was “not always free,” and said there are some instances where the fee guide provided by the government and those the professionals charge is different.

“That difference exists, it’s called equal billing, and it’s important that people understand that,” he said.

The CDCP is expected to cost the federal government $13 billion over its first five years, according to government figures. Ottawa had originally said the program would cost around $6 billion.

Conservatives Criticize Plan

The Conservatives described the government dental plan in an emailed Aug. 7 press release as being “riddled with chaos, backlogs, red tape, and higher costs.”

The party cited a survey conducted by the Canadian Dental Association that found 48 percent of seniors believed government communication about the CDCP has been “a little or not clear at all,” and 59 percent of seniors have not heard about additional charges and costs related to coverage rates.

The party also said that the President of the Canadian Dental Association had declined to sign up to provide the CDCP in his own clinic, as he said it initially “looked really promising,” but the signup process became “complicated and onerous.”

Holland said there were some in the Conservative Party who were “desperate for [the program] to not work” and are trying to “set fire to things that are working because they’re afraid that politically, it’s going to be bad news for them.”

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has also criticized Ottawa’s dental care program, saying interferes with the province’s jurisdiction. She has said Alberta intends to opt out of the plan by 2026.

“If a new health program was to be developed by the federal government it should be done in full collaboration with provinces and territories and discussions should have occurred before these intentions [were] announced,” Smith wrote in a June letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.