The Canadian Dental Care Plan / Canada Dental Benefit

In early 2022, the federal government announced its plans to create a national dental program, the Canadian Dental Care Plan (CDCP). The government committed to:

• providing coverage for children under the age of 12 from uninsured low- and middle-income families by the end of 2022
• including under-18-year-olds, seniors and people with disabilities in 2023, and
• rolling out the program to all eligible Canadians by 2025

The CDCP will be available to families with an annual income of less than $90,000, with no co-pays for those with an annual income under $70,000.

The federal government is working on the details of how to run the CDCP, but announced that it will be administered by Health Canada, with support from a third-party benefits administrator.

In the March 28 federal budget announcement, A Made-In-Canada Plan, the estimated cost of the CDCP has been adjusted to $13 billion over five years, an increase from the original estimate of $5.3 billion when the program was first announced. In addition, an ongoing amount of $4.4 billion is budgeted for Health Canada to cover the plan's implementation costs.

We await more information on this plan.

The interim Canada Dental Benefit is intended to help lower dental costs for eligible families earning less than $90,000 per year. Parents and guardians can apply if the child receiving dental care is under 12 years old and does not have access to a private dental insurance plan.

Depending on your adjusted family net income, a tax-free payment of $260, $390, or $650 is available for each eligible child. This interim dental benefit is only available for 2 periods. You can get a maximum of 2 payments for each eligible child. Benefit payments are administered by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA).

The second benefit period is for children under 12 years old as of July 1, 2023, and receive dental care between July 1, 2023 and June 30, 2024.

Children on existing Provincial, Territorial or Federal dental plans remain eligible to apply, if they meet the eligibility criteria and have out of pocket expenses for dental treatment that are not fully covered by these dental plans.

Learn more about the Canada Dental Benefit here:

• Application process walkthrough video:
• Canada Dental Benefit What you Need to Know (PDF)
• Infographic (PDF)
• Dental Poster (PDF)
• Translated infographic content: Cantonese, Mandarin ,Punjabi (PDF)
• More Affordable Dental Care: The Canada Dental Benefit CDA FAQ.

Ready to apply? Visit the application portal on the federal government website.

Don’t delay treatments or your dental appointments!

We understand some people are thinking of delaying dental care or rethinking their benefit coverage, hoping the costs will be covered by the Plan.

It’s better to continue getting regular dental checkups now to catch problems before they become painful and expensive to treat, and apply for the plan when you are eligible to do so.

For more information on preventing dental problems, visit our Prevention page.

Yes. We know that provincial and territorial programs do not cover dental care needs for children under 12 equally across Canada, and that in some cases, the programs focus only on emergency needs.

Children under 12 who are currently covered by provincial or territorial programs are still eligible for the interim Canada Dental Benefit so long as they have out-of-pocket costs for dental care services—costs which are not reimbursed under another federal, provincial or territorial government program—and if their family meets all of the criteria to qualify for the benefit.

Families should apply to their provincial or territorial program first (if applicable), and then, if there are remaining out-of-pocket costs that were not reimbursed by their province or territory, they can apply to the Canada Dental Benefit.

However, families whose needs are met by their provincial or territorial programs and do not have out-of-pocket costs are not eligible for the benefit and should not apply.

It’s very important to have an open dialogue with your dentist. Your dentist might be able to set up treatment and payment options that work with your financial situation. Talk to them to see what can be done to help.