What is the Canadian Dental Care Plan?
The Canadian Dental Care Plan (CDCP) is a federal benefit that helps eligible Canadian residents pay for dental care. It was introduced because dental care, unlike most physician and hospital services, is generally not covered by Canada's public health system for adults. People without a workplace plan or private insurance have usually paid the full cost themselves or gone without care. The CDCP is designed to ease that financial barrier for households with adjusted family net income under $90,000.
Who runs it
Health Canada is responsible for the plan. Sun Life, a private insurer, was contracted to administer enrolment and claims: it issues the welcome package and member card, and it is the company your provider bills. Service Canada handles applications, including the online application service and the phone line. That split matters when you need help: questions about whether you qualify go to Service Canada, while questions about a claim or your member card usually go to Sun Life.
How payment works
The CDCP does not send you money. Your participating oral health provider — a dentist, denturist, dental hygienist, or dental specialist, depending on the service — agrees to bill Sun Life directly for covered services. Sun Life pays the plan's share at the CDCP's established fees, and you pay your co-payment (if any) plus any difference between the provider's fee and the CDCP fee. Before your appointment, confirm two things: that the provider participates in the CDCP, and that they have agreed to bill Sun Life directly for your treatment. Do not assume a clinic participates just because it has treated CDCP patients before; participation is the provider's choice, and it can change.
What "established fees" means
For each covered procedure, the CDCP sets its own fee, published in provincial and territorial Dental Benefit Grids. These fees are not the same as the fee guides published by provincial dental associations, and they are often lower than what a clinic normally charges. That is why two patients with the same treatment can owe different amounts: the co-payment percentage is only part of the story, and the gap between the CDCP fee and the clinic's fee is the rest. A clinic that charges exactly the CDCP fee leaves a patient in the lowest income tier with nothing to pay for a covered service; a clinic that charges more leaves the same patient with a balance to pay. See Income tiers and co-payments for worked examples.
How the CDCP differs from medicare and private insurance
| Feature | CDCP | Provincial medicare | Private dental insurance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who provides it | Federal government | Province or territory | Employer, association, or insurer |
| Routine dental care | Covered, within plan rules | Generally not covered for adults | Covered, within policy rules |
| Income test | Yes, under $90,000 | No | No |
| Monthly premium | None | None in most provinces | Usually yes |
| Your share of cost | Co-payment by income tier, plus any fee gap | Not applicable | Deductible, co-insurance, annual maximum |
A short history
Applications opened in stages. Seniors aged 65 and over were invited first, from December 2023. Children under 18 and adults with a valid Disability Tax Credit certificate followed in June 2024. All remaining eligible adults became able to apply during 2025. Those staged dates are history now, not current eligibility rules: today, any Canadian resident who meets the four tests can apply, whatever their age. If you read an older article that says only seniors or only children can apply, it is out of date.
Photo credits: de04.jpg — Dental chair (public domain); de05.jpg — Toothbrush and toothpaste (CC0); de06.jpg — Rideau Canal, Ottawa (CC0) All photos via Wikimedia Commons under the licences noted.