Health Canada has published its first annual report on the Canadian Dental Care Plan (CDCP), covering the first benefit period from May 1, 2024 to June 30, 2025. Ontario stands out: 79% of the province's estimated target population enrolled, 64% of Ontario members used their coverage (the highest share in the country), and the plan paid $1,200 per Ontario member who received care, against $1,020 nationally.
Ontario practices have been treating Canadian Dental Care Plan members since services began in May 2024, and many have adapted to new claim and preauthorization workflows along the way. As of October 2026, Health Canada's Canadian Dental Care Plan Annual Report 2024-2025 is available on Canada.ca, and it gives dentists in Toronto, the GTA and the rest of the province the first annual report on that opening period. Health Canada notes that it extracted the data from May to July 2026.
This summary focuses on what the report says, with an emphasis on the Ontario figures and the operational details that matter to practice owners and office managers.
What does the first CDCP annual report cover?
Health Canada describes this as "the first annual report on the CDCP." It covers plan enrolment, plan use, service costs and claims processing, and the level of participation among oral health providers. The benefit period it reports on ran from May 1, 2024 to June 30, 2025, and covered three groups: people age 65 and older, people age 18 to 64 with a valid Disability Tax Credit (DTC) certificate, and people under 18.
One gap is worth flagging up front. Adults age 18 to 64 without a DTC certificate were only able to apply in May 2025, and Health Canada says results for that group will be included in the next annual report. So this report mostly describes seniors, children and adults with a DTC certificate.
The report restates the plan's four main eligibility criteria: being a Canadian resident for tax purposes, having an adjusted family net income below $90,000 CAD, not having access to private dental insurance or coverage, and having filed a tax return in Canada for the previous year.
How many Canadians enrolled, and how did Ontario compare?
Nationally, the report counts 3,557,400 enrolled members in the first benefit period, which Health Canada estimates is approximately 75% of the eligible population that could apply. Ontario had 1,294,200 enrolled members, or 79% of the province's estimated target population. Health Canada lists British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario and Nova Scotia as the provinces where enrolment share was higher than the national average.
Most members did not face a co-payment. According to the report, approximately 87% of members were in co-payment tier 3, where 100% of eligible service costs are covered at the CDCP established fee rate. About 7% of members had 40% co-payments and about 6% had 60% co-payments. Health Canada notes that members may still pay fees when the cost of care is more than what the CDCP reimburses, or when the member and provider agree to services the plan does not cover.
Pro Tip: Because most CDCP members in this period had no co-payment but could still be billed a balance above the CDCP fee, make sure your front desk explains any expected out-of-pocket amount before treatment, in writing, every time.
Did members actually use their coverage?
Enrolment is one number. Use is the one that fills a schedule. The report states that 2,076,200 members, or 58% of those enrolled, received at least one service during the benefit period. Use was higher among people 65 and older (61%) than among children under 18 (45%) and adults with a DTC certificate (50%). Health Canada suggests this may be partly because seniors could apply and access services earlier, and because some children may have recently received care with help from the interim Canada Dental Benefit.
Ontario led the country on use. Health Canada reports that 64% of Ontario members received at least one service, compared with at least 60% in British Columbia, 58% nationally, and 20% in the territories. The report suggests non-financial access barriers or other public coverage may have affected plan use in the territories, New Brunswick, Alberta and Saskatchewan.
How much did the CDCP spend, and on what?
The CDCP paid over $2.1 billion CAD toward oral health services in the first benefit period ($2,126,200,000 in the report's table). Across the 2,076,200 members who received care, that works out to $1,020 per member. Health Canada reports that average savings rose from $800 by fall 2024 to $1,020 toward the end of June, which it attributes to members returning for more appointments and to the November introduction of services requiring preauthorization, which are on average more expensive.
Ontario's share was large. The report lists $991,500,000 in benefit expenditure for the 823,600 Ontario members who received care, or $1,200 per member. Health Canada names Ontario, Saskatchewan and Newfoundland and Labrador as the provinces with the highest spending per member.
By category, restorative services had the highest expenditure at $782.9 million, followed by prosthodontic services ($514.5 million), diagnostic services ($303.1 million), preventive services ($220.4 million) and oral surgery services ($161.3 million). Seniors dominated the totals: people 65 and older made up 87.1% of members who received a service and 91.2% of total benefit expenditure.
What does the report say about claims and preauthorization?
This is the section most Ontario office managers will want to read closely. Health Canada reports that Sun Life processed over 6 million claims, representing 14.5 million services, and processed 95% of claims within five days. Ontario residents accounted for 6,710,000 paid services, the highest of any province.
The report also lists two workflow changes from November 2024. Paper claims became accepted, which Health Canada says made it easier for some clinics, including small and rural practices, to participate. And a preauthorization process was introduced for certain higher-cost or complex treatments, with examples given as crowns, initial placement of partial dentures and additional units of scaling.
On preauthorization, the report's numbers are mixed:
- Sun Life processed, on average, 82% of estimates within seven days of submission, including more than 1.1 million preauthorization requests.
- Health Canada acknowledges delays caused by incomplete submissions and by postal disruptions during the Canada Post strike in late 2024.
- Overall, the CDCP approved 51% of complete preauthorization requests.
- Health Canada says it introduced a new preauthorization resources webpage and worked with Sun Life to streamline review processes.
Pro Tip: Health Canada itself names incomplete submissions as a source of delay. Build a short internal checklist for every CDCP preauthorization (radiographs, charting, narrative) and have a second team member confirm it before it goes to Sun Life.
How many providers took part?
According to the report, providers began formally enrolling in March 2024, and from July 2024 they could take part on a claim-by-claim basis instead. As of June 30, 2025, 25,690 oral health providers were participating, and Health Canada says 90% of eligible providers were actively participating, defined as submitting a claim within the last three months of the benefit period.
In Ontario, the report counts 9,840 participating dentists and dental specialists, 570 denturists and 660 independent dental hygienists. Ontario and Quebec together accounted for almost two-thirds (64%) of participating providers. The report also cites Statistics Canada's Survey of Oral Health Care Providers finding that, in 2023, 96% of oral health practices in Canada were accepting new patients.
What should Ontario practices take from the report?
Read as a whole, the report describes a plan that reached most of its first-period target population, and a province that used it heavily. For practices in Toronto, Markham, Brampton, Vaughan and across Ontario, a few points stand out:
- Seniors drove the first period. With 65-and-older members accounting for 91.2% of spending nationally, the first-year numbers describe a largely senior patient mix. Adults 18 to 64 without a DTC certificate will only appear in the next report.
- Preauthorization is the friction point. The CDCP approved 51% of complete requests, and Health Canada links incomplete submissions to delays. Sending complete requests the first time is the part of that process your team controls.
- Balance billing needs clear communication. Most members had no co-payment, but fees above the CDCP rate or for non-covered services could still apply.
- Coordination of benefits varies by province. The report notes that in 2024-2025 there was no coordination of benefits with provincial dental programs in New Brunswick, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Quebec. Practices that treat patients from those provinces should check current rules.
EBIKO Dental will continue monitoring Health Canada's CDCP reporting, including the next annual report, which Health Canada says will add adults 18 to 64 without a DTC certificate. For more Canadian dental news, visit EBIKO Dental.
Sources
- Health Canada. Canadian Dental Care Plan Annual Report 2024-2025. Canada.ca.
- Government of Canada. Canadian Dental Care Plan statistics. Canada.ca.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: How many Ontarians enrolled in the Canadian Dental Care Plan in its first benefit period?
Health Canada's first CDCP annual report counts 1,294,200 enrolled members in Ontario for the benefit period from May 1, 2024 to June 30, 2025. That is 79% of the province's estimated target population, above the national figure of 75%.
Q: What percentage of CDCP preauthorization requests were approved?
According to Health Canada's 2024-2025 annual report, the CDCP approved 51% of complete preauthorization requests. Sun Life processed, on average, 82% of estimates within seven days, and Health Canada cites incomplete submissions and the late-2024 Canada Post strike as causes of delay.
Q: How much did the CDCP pay per patient in Ontario?
The report lists $991.5 million CAD in benefit expenditure for 823,600 Ontario members who received care, or $1,200 per member. The national figure was $1,020 per member who received care.