Board Communique: March 21, 2024

Information about the Canadian Dental Care Plan

In December 2023, the Government of Canada announced the launch of the new Canadian Dental Care Plan (CDCP). Over the last few months, the Teachers’ Pension Board of Trustees has received information regarding eligibility for enrollment, and how the new CDCP may affect retirees.

The Government of Canada, through Health Canada and the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), has confirmed that pensioners who have access to a dental plan, like the one offered through the Teachers’ Pension Plan and insured by GreenShield Canada, will not be eligible to enroll in the CDCP, regardless of annual household income. However, you may be eligible for the CDCP if you opted out of the dental plan offered by the Teachers’ Pension Plan before December 11, 2023.

Due to an administrative exemption provided by Health Canada, BC Pension Corporation has noted that the dental access code declaration will not appear on the 2023 T4As that it issues. You will see the new dental access code declaration reported on your 2024 T4A. While your 2023 T4A does not report eligibility to access dental, recent information released by the Government of Canada indicates that most retired members are not eligible to participate in the CDCP unless they opted out of the dental plan offered by the Teachers’ Pension Plan before December 11, 2023. Limited members do not have access to dental care through the plan and may therefore be eligible for CDCP. Non-spouses receiving a beneficiary pension may not have access to dental care through the plans. In these situations, we recommend contacting Service Canada to enquire about eligibility in the CDCP.

In late December the board wrote to the federal government asking it to reconsider the eligibility criteria for CDCP from “no access” to insured plans to “no coverage” under an insured plan. We are aware that the eligibility rules could negatively affect some members’ access to dental coverage, and we continue to review potential implications as the Government of Canada releases more information about the CDCP. Please continue to visit the CDCP website for more information as it arises.

Before you make any decisions about your current and future dental coverage, we recommend you review the CDCP eligibility rules at Canadian Dental Care Plan – Canada.ca.

Revised April 25, 2024