As outlined in its 2023 budget, the federal government has introduced the Canadian Dental Care Plan (CDCP).

Who qualifies for the plan?

The Canadian Dental Care Plan is a program to provide dental coverage for Canadian families who meet the following criteria:

• Have an adjusted household net annual income of less than $90,000. Those with an adjusted household net annual income of less than $70,000 will not have copayments.
• Have filed the prior year’s income tax return.
• Do not have access to dental coverage through their employer or a privately purchased benefits plan.

The Canadian Dental Care Plan is expected to be released in 3 phases.

• The first phase is limited to eligible children under the age of 12 and serves as an interim solution only. Administered by the Canada Revenue Agency, this interim benefit became effective December 1, 2022, and has an end date of June 30, 2024.
• The second phase is expected to expand to those under the age of 18, seniors and persons living with disabilities. The second phase was originally expected to launch in 2023, but the effective date has not yet been announced.
• The third phase applies to all other Canadians that meet the eligibility criteria and is expected to be in effect by 2025.

How does this impact you?

Effective the 2023 calendar year, employers will be required to indicate on their employees’ T4 or T4A whether each employee or any of their family members were eligible, on December 31 of each year, to access any dental care insurance or coverage of dental services of any kind that you offered.

Box 45 (Employer Offered Dental Benefits) will be added to T4 statements effective the 2023 taxation year. The federal government requires employers to report whether an employee (current or former) or spouse of a deceased employee had access to dental insurance or dental coverage of any kind, including a health spending account, on December 31 of the reporting tax year. The employer will be required to indicate one of the following codes:

1. No access to any dental care insurance/coverage of any kind
2. Access to any dental care insurance/coverage for employee only
3. Access to any dental care insurance/coverage for employee, spouse, and dependents
4. Access to any dental care insurance/coverage for employee and spouse only
5. Access to any dental care insurance/coverage for employee and dependents only

The reporting is based on whether dental access was available—whether the employee chose to take the coverage or to waive their access to the coverage is not relevant.

For further information about completing tax slips, please refer to information available on the Canada Revenue Agency’s website.