The Canadian Dental Hygienists Association (CDHA) is challenging the narrative that Canada faces a widespread dental hygienist shortage, arguing instead that poor workplace conditions — not insufficient graduates — are driving the staffing crisis. As of May 2026, this debate has major implications for how dental practices across Ontario and the GTA recruit, retain, and manage their clinical teams.
Walk into any dental staffing discussion in Canada and you will hear one version of reality: there are not enough hygienists. Statistics Canada data shows 50% of dental offices reported difficulty recruiting hygienists in 2023. The Canadian Dental Association (CDA) has lobbied for expanded training programs and accelerated foreign credential recognition. Provincial governments have responded with scope-of-practice expansions and new educational investments.
But the CDHA — the national professional association representing over 30,000 registered dental hygienists — is telling a different story. And if they are right, the implications for practice owners are significant.
The CDHA Position: It Is a Retention Problem, Not a Supply Problem
CDHA CEO Ondina Love has been direct in her assessment. Dental hygienists are not leaving the profession — they are leaving unhealthy workplaces. The association points to burnout, inadequate compensation and benefits, workplace injuries, and lack of professional respect as the real drivers behind the staffing difficulties that practices report.
The data supporting this position is harder to dismiss than many practice owners might expect. The CDHA's 2023 Healthy and Respectful Workplace survey found that nearly 40% of dental hygienists had considered leaving their current positions. Fourteen percent had already left. The reasons cited were not salary alone — they included lack of autonomy, unsafe patient loads, insufficient time for proper patient care, and workplace cultures that treated hygienists as production units rather than clinical professionals.
The CDHA also points out that new graduate numbers actually exceed projected attrition. If the supply pipeline is healthy, and if 25% of working hygienists plan to leave the profession within five years, the problem is not a shortage of trained professionals entering the workforce — it is a failure to keep them once they arrive.
The CDA and Practice Owner Perspective
The Canadian Dental Association and many practice owners in Ontario see it differently. From their vantage point, the shortage is real and measurable. Between 33% and 40% of dental practice owners have been actively trying to recruit dental assistants and dental hygienists, with almost all reporting significant challenges in filling vacancies.
Practice owners in the Greater Toronto Area — where competition for clinical staff is fierce — report hygienist positions sitting open for months. In cities like Brampton, Mississauga, Markham, and Vaughan, the bidding war for experienced hygienists has pushed hourly rates well above historical norms, squeezing practice margins without fully solving the staffing gap.
The CDA has pointed to demand-side pressures that the CDHA's analysis does not fully account for. The Canadian Dental Care Plan (CDCP), which has now enrolled over 6.3 million Canadians, has increased patient volume at participating practices. More patients needing hygiene appointments means more hygienist hours needed — and the existing workforce was not sized for this surge.
Pro Tip: If your practice participates in CDCP, track the percentage of your hygiene appointments going to CDCP patients versus private-pay patients each month. Understanding this ratio helps you forecast staffing needs accurately rather than reacting to shortages after they occur.
The Data Gap Problem
One point both sides agree on: Canada lacks robust oral health workforce data. The CDHA, the CDA, the Canadian Dental Assistants Association (CDAA), and the Denturists Association of Canada have jointly applied for a Health Canada grant to build what they describe as a "very robust workforce planning model."
Without reliable national data on how many hygienists are actively practising, how many hours they work, where they are located, and why they leave, the shortage debate relies on anecdotal reports and survey data that each side interprets to support its position.
For Ontario specifically, the Royal College of Dental Surgeons of Ontario (RCDSO) and the College of Dental Hygienists of Ontario (CDHO) maintain registration data, but registration numbers do not capture part-time status, geographic distribution within the province, or intent to remain in clinical practice. A hygienist registered in Ontario but working only two days per week represents very different workforce capacity than one working full-time.
What This Means for Ontario Practice Owners
Whether the underlying cause is a true supply shortage or a retention crisis, the practical challenge for practice owners is the same: finding and keeping qualified hygienists is difficult and expensive. But the two diagnoses lead to very different solutions.
If it is a supply shortage, the answer involves training more hygienists, recognizing international credentials faster, and expanding scope of practice for other team members. Ontario has already moved in this direction — the province proposed scope-of-practice expansion for dental hygienists and denturists in 2025, and the Association of Canadian Faculties of Dentistry (ACFD) has launched pilot programs to fast-track licensure for internationally trained dental professionals.
If it is a retention crisis, the answer requires practice owners to examine their own workplaces. That is a harder conversation, but the CDHA's data suggests it is necessary.
Several retention-focused strategies are gaining traction among GTA practices that report lower turnover:
- Realistic patient scheduling: Booking hygiene appointments at 45- to 60-minute intervals rather than 30-minute blocks reduces the production pressure that leads to burnout and compromised care quality.
- Benefits and retirement contributions: Dental hygienists in private practice often lack the benefits packages available in hospital or public health settings. Offering health benefits, RRSP matching, and paid continuing education allowances closes that gap.
- Clinical autonomy: Allowing hygienists to make clinical decisions within their scope of practice — rather than requiring dentist approval for every recommendation — signals professional respect and reduces workflow bottlenecks.
- Career progression: Creating pathways for hygienists to take on mentorship, training, or leadership roles within the practice gives experienced professionals a reason to stay beyond the hourly wage.
Pro Tip: Conduct an anonymous workplace satisfaction survey with your hygiene team once per year. Ask specifically about patient load, scheduling pressure, and whether they feel their clinical judgment is respected. The answers will tell you whether you have a recruitment problem or a retention problem — and the solutions are very different.
The CDCP Complication
The Canadian Dental Care Plan adds a significant variable to this debate. With over 4 million Canadians having already seen an oral health provider through the program, patient demand for hygiene services has increased materially. In New Brunswick, the provincial dental society reported that staff shortages are directly limiting the impact of CDCP in the province.
For Ontario practices, the CDCP effect is compounded by the program's fee structure. CDCP reimbursement rates are lower than many private fee guides, meaning practices need higher patient volume to maintain revenue — which in turn requires more hygienist hours. If those hours are not available because hygienists are choosing to work fewer hours or at fewer practices, the bottleneck tightens.
The Ontario Dental Association (ODA) has been monitoring this dynamic closely. At the ODA Annual Spring Meeting 2026, held May 7 to 9 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, workforce planning was a prominent discussion topic — reflecting the profession's recognition that staffing is now a strategic concern, not just an operational inconvenience.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Is there actually a dental hygienist shortage in Canada in 2026?
The answer depends on who you ask. The Canadian Dental Association reports that 50% of dental offices have difficulty recruiting hygienists, while the CDHA argues that new graduate supply exceeds attrition and the real issue is poor workplace retention. Both sides agree that better national workforce data is needed to settle the question definitively.
Q: How is the CDCP affecting dental hygienist demand in Ontario?
The Canadian Dental Care Plan has enrolled over 6.3 million Canadians, significantly increasing demand for preventive dental services including hygiene appointments. Ontario practices participating in CDCP report higher patient volumes but face challenges finding sufficient hygienist hours to meet that demand, particularly given the program's lower reimbursement rates compared to private fee guides.
Q: What can dental practice owners do to retain hygienists in a competitive market?
Evidence-based retention strategies include offering realistic patient scheduling intervals of 45 to 60 minutes, providing health benefits and RRSP matching, supporting clinical autonomy within scope of practice, funding continuing education, and creating career progression opportunities beyond hourly clinical work. Anonymous workplace surveys can help identify specific retention risks before they lead to turnover.
EBIKO Dental will continue monitoring Canada's dental workforce dynamics and reporting on developments that affect practice operations across Ontario and the GTA.