Canada Dental Benefit Receives Royal Assent, Now Law
On November 17, Federal Bill C-31 received Royal Assent, becoming law, and enacting the Canada Dental Benefit (CDB).
Eligibility
The CDB provides eligible parents or guardians with direct, up-front tax-free payments to cover preventative and restorative dental expenses for their children under 12 years who do not have access to private dental insurance. Children on existing Provincial, Territorial or Federal dental plans (such as BC Healthy Kids, Ministry of Social Development and Poverty Reduction dental program, First Nations Health Authority dental plan etc. remain eligible to apply, if their income criteria as stated below is met and they have out-of-pocket expenses for dental treatment that are not fully covered by these dental plans.
Benefit Amounts
- $650 for each eligible child if the family’s adjusted net income is under $70,000.
- $390 for each eligible child if the family’s adjusted net income is between $70,000 and $79,999.
- $260 for each eligible child if the family’s adjusted net income is between $80,000 and $89,999.
Benefit Time Periods
- October 1, 2022-June 30, 2023
(children must be under 12 as of December 1, 2022) - July 1, 2023-June 30, 2024
(children must be under 12 as of July 1, 2023)
If an eligible child’s expense in one benefit period is more than the allotted amount for that period, the child may be eligible to access additional payment towards those costs in the period starting July 2023. However, the total amount received over the two years will not be more than the sum of the two benefit payments, per child in any scenario.
