Taxpayers have been billed almost $500 million just to run the Trudeau government’s Canada Dental Care Plan, with most of the money going to administration instead of patients.Cabinet admitted in a Commons filing that as of March 31, 2025, the program’s overhead costs totaled $472.9 million, including payments to third-party administrators. Blacklock's Reporter said the disclosure came only after Conservative MP Dan Mazier (Riding Mountain, Man.) pressed for answers on what the program has actually cost since its inception.The Department of Finance previously tried to keep the numbers hidden, asking the Parliamentary Budget Office in 2023 not to release the data. At the time, budget officers estimated overhead would be about 5% of claims, but actual costs have proven far higher..Conservative MP Kelly McCauley (Edmonton West), who chairs the Commons government operations committee, had warned years earlier that the program’s administration was bloated. “I’ve heard rumours floating around that it’s quite excessive,” McCauley said in 2022.The plan provides subsidized dentistry for Canadians without workplace coverage and with household incomes under $90,000. So far, 1,681,089 people have been approved, including 1.2 million working-age adults, 266,208 retirees and 195,292 children. Grants averaged $900 per patient last year, with 5.7 million claims processed by May 31..A Health Department briefing note in 2022 admitted the program would miss some of the poorest Canadians since only tax filers are eligible.Roughly 10 to 12% of Canadians don’t file annually, with the rate reaching 20% among the lowest wage earners.Officials said newcomers, renters and those with only a high school education were less likely to file, meaning the program risks shutting out the very people it was meant to help.
