'By next year, nine million uninsured Canadians will have their dental care covered'
The federal government is giving working parents one less thing to worry about by expanding the Canadian Dental Care Plan (CDCP) to youngsters and persons with disabilities.
Effective June 27, the plan will expand to include children under 18 and persons with a valid disability tax credit certificate.
Eligible Canadians will be able to apply online through Service Canada.
Sun Life will send applicants the coverage start date, details of coverage and member cards in a welcome package.
“Too many Canadians are going without the dental care they need. That is why we launched the Canadian Dental Care Plan – a transformative expansion of Canada's social safety net – to ensure every Canadian can get the dental care they need,” Chrystia Freeland, deputy prime minister and minister of finance. “By next year, nine million uninsured Canadians will have their dental care covered. That's what fairness is about.”
Ottawa revealed details of the CDCP rollout in late 2023. Budget 2023 announced an investment of $13 billion over five years, starting in 2023-24, and $4.4 billion ongoing, to implement the CDCP.
In 2025, online applications will open for uninsured Canadians between the ages of 18 and 64. Once fully implemented, the CDCP will help ease financial barriers to accessing oral health care for up to nine million uninsured Canadian residents with an annual family income of less than $90,000
Children under the age of 12 are already receiving dental care with the interim Canada Dental Benefit, which has supported over 450,000 children. To date, over two million applications have been approved for eligible seniors, many of whom are now able to visit an oral health provider.
The plan is administered by Health Canada in collaboration with Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC), through Service Canada and Sun Life.
Starting this year, employers have been required to specify details around dental care spending for employees when filing taxes.
The past tax season, employers were required to report on a T4 or T4A slip whether – on Dec. 31 of the taxation year to which the information return relates – a payee or any of their family members were eligible to access dental insurance, or dental coverage of any kind – including health spending and wellness accounts – due to their current or former employment.
