Canadian Dental Care Plan

What does the CDCP cover?

The Canadian Dental Care Plan (CDCP) covers a list of services, including exams, x-rays, cleanings, fillings, root canals, tooth removal and dentures, within its limits and criteria, and some, such as crowns, only when the plan approves them before treatment. Depending on your adjusted family net income it pays 100%, 60% or 40% of its own fee, and you may still owe a co-payment or other charges.

What types of care does the CDCP cover?

This page reflects the CDCP Dental Benefits Guide in effect since April 1, 2026, the Government of Canada's coverage page as updated on August 27, 2026, and the plan's 2026 benefit grids, which apply to services from April 1, 2026. The plan decides coverage case by case, taking your oral health and medical conditions into account.

Many covered services have a limit on how often the plan pays for them, such as once in any 12 months, counted from the date of your last such service rather than by calendar year. Some services also need preauthorization, which is approval from the plan before treatment starts. This page calls it pre-approval.

Covered care falls into these groups:

Exams and x-rays: complete, routine, specific and emergency exams, and x-rays. No pre-approval is needed within the plan's limits. Emergency exams have no frequency limit, but one done at the same visit as a check-up counts as the check-up exam.
Cleanings and prevention: scaling (cleaning), polishing and fluoride, and, for patients 17 and under, sealants on some back and front teeth. No pre-approval is needed within the limits; scaling beyond the limit needs it.
Fillings: permanent and temporary fillings. No pre-approval is needed within the plan's limits.
Root canals: root canal treatment, pulpectomy (the first step of a root canal) and procedures to reduce infection and relieve pain. A standard root canal on a front tooth, a premolar (one of the teeth just in front of the molars), or a first or second molar needs no pre-approval but must still meet the plan's criteria. A re-treatment needs pre-approval, and so does a root canal on a wisdom tooth, which the plan considers only when the first and second molars are missing and the wisdom tooth bites against a natural or false back tooth.
Crowns: single crowns for patients 18 and older, only with pre-approval and only when the tooth meets the plan's criteria.
Dentures: complete and partial dentures, and denture repairs and refitting (relines and rebases), within the plan's limits and criteria. A standard complete denture, repairs and refitting need no pre-approval; a first partial denture, and some types of complete denture, need it.
Gum care: cleaning under the gumline, treating abscesses and non-surgical gum disease care. Bonding loose teeth and post-surgical evaluations need pre-approval, and so does cleaning beyond the plan's limit.
Tooth removal and oral surgery: removing teeth and roots, surgery to remove tumours and cysts, surgical incisions, including drainage, and treatment of broken jaw bones. Some surgical procedures need pre-approval; the plan's benefit grids list which ones.
Urgent care: services such as emergency exams, pain control, draining an infected tooth and pulpectomy. These listed services need no pre-approval. Urgent treatment that normally needs pre-approval still does; in an emergency the plan may review it afterwards, but may still decline to cover it.
Sedation: nitrous oxide or oral sedation, given with a covered treatment when the plan's conditions are met, up to 4 sessions in any 12 months without pre-approval. IV sedation, deep sedation and general anesthesia from a general dentist need pre-approval.

What does the CDCP not cover?

Orthodontic treatment, such as braces, is not available under the plan at this time, and no start date has been set. The plan does not cover dental care received outside Canada, even in an emergency, or treatment related to a service it does not cover or declined at pre-approval.

You can still choose a service the plan does not cover and pay the dental office for it yourself.

The Dental Benefits Guide also lists exclusions: services the plan never covers, and which cannot be reconsidered if a request is denied. They are:

implants and everything related to them, including crowns on implants and implant-supported dentures
bridges
veneers and three-quarter crowns
inlays and onlays
teeth whitening and other cosmetic treatment
fillings to rebuild worn biting edges
night guards and other gum (periodontal) appliances, and mouth guards
crown lengthening, bone grafts and ridge augmentation
therapy and appliances for the jaw joint (TMJ)
extensive rehabilitation
partial dentures with precision attachments
exams using a fluorescent diagnostic light

Who qualifies for the CDCP?

The current rules have no age requirement, and dental coverage through a government program, such as Healthy Smiles Ontario or the Ontario Disability Support Program, does not rule you out. You confirm that you still qualify each year when you renew.

To be eligible, you must meet all four of these requirements:

No access to private dental insurance or coverage. That includes coverage through your job or pension, a family member's job or pension, a professional or student organization, insurance you or a family member bought, and a health spending account that pays dental costs. Access counts even if you never use it, chose not to enrol or would pay a premium for it. The one exception: a retiree who left their pension plan's dental coverage before December 11, 2023 and is unable to rejoin it may be eligible.
A tax return filed in Canada for the previous year, by you and by your spouse or common-law partner if you have one.
Adjusted family net income under $90,000. It is based on the net income on your tax return (line 23600) and on your spouse's or common-law partner's, with some adjustments.
Residence in Canada for tax purposes, for you and for your spouse or common-law partner if you have one.

How do you apply for the CDCP and renew it?

You can apply online through My Service Canada Account or the Canada.ca application, or, if you cannot apply online, by phone with Service Canada at 1-833-537-4342. Applying and renewing carry no fee. You give information for yourself and any dependants, and a spouse or common-law partner must send their own application.

The Government of Canada tells you by letter or email whether you are enrolled. Your enrolment letter gives your member ID, coverage start date and co-payment level, and care received before the start date is not covered.

Coverage must be renewed every year, and each benefit year ends on June 30. Renewal for the 2027 to 2028 benefit year opens in spring 2027. If you miss the renewal window, you can send a new application, but care received during the gap in coverage is not covered.

If you would like help with the application, Ur Dental's team can walk you through it; the link is in the box below.

How does pre-approval work?

Your dental office asks for pre-approval on your behalf, and Sun Life, which administers the plan, decides using rules set by Health Canada, taking your oral health history and medical conditions into account. Not every request is approved, and an approval is not a promise of payment: the claim is still checked against your eligibility, your co-payment level and the plan's rules on the day you are treated. Most approvals last up to 12 months, as long as you are still covered on the day of treatment.

If a request is denied, you can ask for one reconsideration, which your dental office submits for you within 60 days of the denial, with new clinical information; the decision is final. This does not apply to services on the exclusions list.

What will you pay?

The CDCP pays your dental office directly, based on its own set fee for each covered service (the CDCP fee). How much of that fee the plan pays depends on your adjusted family net income, and the share it does not pay is your co-payment, which you pay to the office. The table at the end of this section shows the three levels.

Your co-payment level is in your enrolment letter from the Government of Canada. It can change when you renew or during the benefit year, and the plan pays at the level in effect on the day you are treated, which may differ from an earlier estimate or pre-approval.

Care you receive before your coverage start date, or during a gap in coverage, is not covered. Being declared ineligible means removal from the plan, and you may have to repay the Government of Canada for care the plan paid for while you were not eligible.

Even with no co-payment, you may still have to pay part of the cost, so ask the office before treatment what the plan will not cover and what you will owe. Besides any co-payment, you may have to pay the office directly for:

the difference when the office's fee for a service is higher than the CDCP fee, since offices may charge up to their usual fees
any service the plan does not cover that you agree to have

CDCP co-payment by adjusted family net income
Adjusted family net income	The plan pays	You pay
Under $70,000	100% of the CDCP fee	No co-payment; other charges may still apply
$70,000 to $79,999	60% of the CDCP fee	A 40% co-payment; other charges may still apply
$80,000 to $89,999	40% of the CDCP fee	A 60% co-payment; other charges may still apply

Percentages are of the CDCP's own fee for each covered service, which can differ from what an office charges. Source: Government of Canada, What services are covered in the Canadian Dental Care Plan, updated August 27, 2026. To qualify for the plan at all, adjusted family net income must be under $90,000 (Government of Canada, Do you qualify, updated September 22, 2026).

Using your CDCP coverage at Ur Dental

Ur Dental accepts the Canadian Dental Care Plan at 6239 Bathurst Street, at Bathurst and Steeles in North York. We bill CDCP directly where the plan covers the service; you pay any co-payment.

Ur Dental is a private dental clinic, not affiliated with or endorsed by the Government of Canada or the Canadian Dental Care Plan. The plan, not the clinic, decides each claim.

To ask about your coverage or to book a visit, call us at (416) 222-0606 or book online.

Common questions

No. The CDCP covers a set list of services, within limits on how often each is paid, and some only with pre-approval. It never covers its listed exclusions, such as implants, bridges, veneers, teeth whitening and night guards, and orthodontic treatment is not available at this time.

You may. If your adjusted family net income is $70,000 to $79,999 you pay a 40% co-payment, and from $80,000 to $89,999 a 60% co-payment, both worked out on the CDCP fee. At any income, including under $70,000, you may also pay the difference when the office's fee is higher than the CDCP fee, and the cost of any service the plan does not cover that you choose to have.

No, not if dental coverage is available to you through your job or pension, or through a family member's, even if you never use it. The one exception is a retiree who left their pension plan's dental coverage before December 11, 2023 and cannot rejoin it, who may be eligible.

No. The current eligibility rules have four requirements, and none of them is about age. Some services have their own age rules, though: crowns are considered only for patients 18 and older, and sealants are covered only for patients 17 and under.

Not at this time. The CDCP does not offer orthodontic services at present, and no start date has been set.

Yes. You renew every year to confirm you still qualify, and each benefit year ends on June 30. Care you receive during a gap in coverage, such as after a missed renewal, is not covered.

Bring your CDCP member ID and one piece of photo identification. You do not need the physical member card, and each person in your family has their own member ID. Once your coverage has started, you do not have to wait for the Sun Life welcome package to get care, as long as you give the office your member ID, identification, coverage start date and co-payment level.

No. The CDCP pays only dental offices and does not reimburse patients, so do not pay the full cost up front. You pay the office only the part the plan does not cover, such as any co-payment.

Ur Dental is a general dental practice. Our dentists are registered with the Royal College of Dental Surgeons of Ontario as general practitioners, not specialists.

Coverage rules are set by the Government of Canada and administered by Sun Life. They change, and the plan decides each claim. Last reviewed October 9, 2026.