December 5, 2025 | Sudbury, Ontario | Government of Canada
Today, Viviane Lapointe, Member of Parliament for Sudbury highlighted the $2.6 million in funding for Cambrian College to develop Northeastern Ontario’s first Level II dental assisting program. This project is part of the broader investment of more than $35 million over three years for 30 projects under the Oral Health Access Fund (OHAF).
Projects like these will improve training for oral health students by allowing them to obtain the hands-on experience they need to provide care to Canadians across the country while strengthening efforts to improve access to care.
Close to six million Canadians are now covered under the Canadian Dental Care Plan (CDCP). In Ontario, over 2.3 million people are now covered under the Plan, and more than 1.4 million people have already received care from participating providers. The CDCP is making life more affordable by saving eligible Canadians an average of $800 per year on their oral health care services.
Currently, more than 27,000 oral health providers are participating in the CDCP by offering a wide range of services such as cleanings, fillings and dentures, representing close to 100% of active providers in Canada.
For some CDCP members, it is their first time seeing an oral health provider in decades. Without access to dental care, many people visit the emergency rooms for dental issues, which could be treated in a dental office. By providing better access to care, the CDCP is helping to ease pressure on Canada’s health care system.