Ottawa to Invest Nearly $1 Billion in Dental Care for Children

Minister of Tourism and Associate Minister of Finance Randy Boissonnault (L), Minister of National Revenue, Diane Lebouthillier, and Housing and Diversity and Inclusion Minister Ahmed Hussen (R), look on as Minister of Health Jean-Yves Duclos responds to questions from the media during a news conference on Parliament Hill on Sept. 20, 2022 in Ottawa. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press)

The federal government is investing nearly $1 billion in a dental care program for children under the age of 12 from uninsured families.

Federal ministers announced the interim dental program in a press conference on Sept. 20. The program is part of Bill C-31, a bill that introduces a series of cost-of-living relief measures.

The Canada Dental Benefit targets low- and middle-income families making less than $90,000 annually. The program provides eligible households with “direct, up-front tax-free payments” to cover dental expenses for children under 12 years old. Eligible families that have submitted their income and tax statuses and applying for the benefits on the Canada Revenue Agency website would have access to direct payments totalling up to $1,300 per child over the next two years, the cabinet said.

Households with an annual net income under $70,000 would be provided $650 per eligible child, while families that make between $70,000 and $79,999 would receive $390 per child. Households with income between $80,000 and $89,999 would be provided $260 per child.

An estimated 500,000 Canadian children would benefit from this program, said Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos, with the investment totalling up to $938 million.

Duclos noted that the dental care benefit “is not a national program,” which is one of three aspects to be modified in the future as the government pushes for a longer-term dental care program. Another issue would be to extend eligibility to all children under 18, people with disabilities, and seniors by the end of 2023. Duclos said the government will also improve collaboration with provinces and territories.

“This interim Canada dental benefit is just a start. While this temporary benefit is in place, our government will be taking the necessary steps to build a comprehensive, longer-term dental care program,” he said.

If the legislation is passed, the Canada Dental Benefit is targeted for implementation on Dec. 1, 2022, and would be retroactive to cover expenses to Oct. 1, 2022, according to a program background from the Finance Department.

The program was part of the minority Liberal government’s deal to form an alliance with the NDP under a supply and confidence agreement. NDP leader Jagmeet Singh said in an interview earlier this week that his party was amenable to an interim measure in the first phase considering the program’s ambitious timeline, but expects a “full, federally administered program by 2023.”

‘Not an Inflationary Move’

The dental care program was one of two pieces of legislation on relief measures introduced on Sept. 20. Cabinet members also announced a one-time payment of $500 to 1.8 million Canadian renters who are struggling with the cost of housing.

Minister of Tourism Randy Boissonnault retorted to remarks from Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, who said earlier in the day that the measures introduced on Sept. 20 were inflationary spending.

Boissonnault further defended the proposed benefit programs when asked how they are not inflationary when the programs aim at “giving people more money.”

“We’ve been very prudent as a government to make sure that we’re targeting the supports to people who need it the most. And as leading economists have pointed out, these supports are going to go to those people for whom, looking and having to deal with rising costs and inflation, they don’t have savings to go into. And so that’s how we know that this is not an inflationary move,” Boissonnault said.

“We’re talking about $3.2 billion in new spending against a whole economy that’s about [$]2.6 to 2.7 trillion,” he said. “This is like throwing a stone in the lake, the lake doesn’t flood.”