Canadian Dental Care Plan Debt Remission

Summary#

The Remission Order in respect of Canadian Dental Care Plan Eligibility Issues cancels certain repayment demands tied to errors in who was judged eligible under the Canadian Dental Care Plan. People affected will not have to repay amounts equal to what the Plan paid to dental care providers; the government estimates a cost of up to $29 million. The order was published in the Canada Gazette on October 22, 2025.

What it does#

• Uses powers under the Financial Administration Act to stop collection of certain debts linked to the dental plan.
• Remits (cancels) amounts equal to payments the Plan made to dental care professionals for services received by affected people.
• Applies to people who:
  • applied for coverage before September 5, 2025 and were found eligible for coverage periods that include May 1, 2024 to June 30, 2025 or June 1, 2025 to June 30, 2026, but whose eligibility or co-payment was wrong because their adjusted family net income was calculated incorrectly; and
  • applied before May 1, 2024, were later found ineligible because they actually had dental insurance, yet received Plan-covered services.
• Does not apply to anyone who incorrectly said they did not have access to dental insurance on or after May 1, 2024.
• Covers in-progress dental services only when the service began while the person still had coverage and the provider was approved to finish the work after coverage ended.

Who's affected#

• People who enrolled in the Canadian Dental Care Plan and received services during the listed coverage periods but were later judged ineligible because of a system error that miscalculated adjusted family net income (the Plan’s income test uses $90,000 as a threshold).
• People who applied before May 1, 2024 (including some seniors aged 70 and over who applied by phone) and later were found ineligible because they had access to dental insurance.
• Dental care providers are indirectly affected because the remitted amounts equal payments made to them; the order cancels the Crown’s recovery of those sums.
• The decision was worked on by Health Canada, the Canada Revenue Agency, and Employment and Social Development Canada / Service Canada.

Why it matters#

• It prevents people from being forced to repay money when the government’s systems or communications caused the problem. That reduces immediate financial hardship for affected individuals.
• It stabilizes payment outcomes for dental providers who were paid by the Plan for those services.
• It has a public cost estimate of up to $29 million, so it affects federal spending.
• The order also signals the government will use remission in cases of internal error, while saying standard recovery processes will still apply in future cases where people are clearly ineligible.