Canadian Dental Care Plan has started in December 2023

The Canadian Dental Care Plan (CDCP) will help ease financial barriers to accessing oral health care for eligible Canadian residents with an annual adjusted family net income of less than $90,000 who do not have access to dental insurance.

How to apply?

Applications will open in phases starting with seniors.

Starting in mid-December 2023, letters will be mailed to seniors aged 87 and above who may qualify, followed by those aged 77 to 86 in January 2024, then those aged 72 to 76 in February 2024 and those aged 70 to 71 in March 2024. These letters will include a personalized application code and instructions on how to apply.

Invitation letters will be sent out in phases beginning in December 2023. All letters are expected to be delivered by the end of March 2024.

These letters will be sent to the address you used in your 2022 tax return and only if you have an adjusted family net income of less than $90,000. If you have not filed your 2022 taxes, you may not receive a letter in the mail. If your address is out of date, you should contact the Canada Revenue Agency to update your file.

If you receive a letter:

• Follow the instructions in the letter to apply by phone.
• Wait to receive a confirmation from Service Canada that lets you know whether your application was successful and you qualify for the CDCP.
• If you do qualify, wait to receive your welcome package from Sun Life before scheduling any dental appointments. It will explain further when you can start to get care paid for and how.

People who are eligible to apply starting in May 2024 will be able to do so online. More information on how to apply online will be added at a later date.

Who is eligible?

To qualify, you must:

• not have access to dental insurance: 1) no dental insurance through your employer or a family member’s employer benefits; 2) no dental insurance through your pension (previous employer) or a family member’s pension benefits; 3) no dental insurance purchased by yourself or by a family member or through a group plan from an insurance or benefits company.
• have an adjusted family net income of less than $90,000
• be a Canadian resident for tax purposes
• have filed your tax return in the previous year

What services are covered?

The dental services that could be covered under the plan include the following:

• preventive services, including scaling (cleaning), polishing, sealants, and fluoride
• diagnostic services, including examinations and x-rays
• restorative services, including fillings
• endodontic services, including root canal treatments
• prosthodontic services, including complete and partial removable dentures
• periodontal services, including deep scaling
• oral surgery services, including extractions

The CDCP will only pay for oral health care services covered within the plan at the established CDCP fees.

How much will be covered?

People covered under the CDCP will not have to pay the full cost out of their own pocket. Oral health providers enrolled in the CDCP will be required to submit the claims directly to Sun Life for payment rather than having patients seek reimbursement from Sun Life for services covered under the plan.

The CDCP will reimburse a percentage of any eligible expenses, but some people covered under the plan may have a co-payment. A co-payment is the percentage of CDCP fees that is not covered by the CDCP, and that people covered under the CDCP will have to pay directly to the oral health provider. Your co-payment is based on your adjusted family net income:

• Lower than $70,000: 100% of eligible oral health care service costs will be covered at the CDCP established fees. You have to pay $0.
• Between $70,000 and $80,000: 60% of eligible oral health care service costs will be covered at the CDCP established fees. You have to pay 40%.
• Between $80,000 and $90,000: 40% of eligible oral health care service costs will be covered at the CDCP established fees. You have to pay 60%.

Oral health providers are encouraged to follow the CDCP fees, which are not the same as the provincial and territorial fee guides, so their patients do not face additional charges at point of care.

Before receiving care from your dentist, you should always confirm what costs will not be covered by the plan and how much you have to pay.

Source: https://www.canada.ca/en/services/benefits/dental/dental-care-plan