EDMONTON — Yesterday, Premier Danielle Smith announced that her government still intends to attempt to opt Alberta out of the Canadian Dental Care Plan. This in spite of the fact that the plan is completely federally-funded and administered, and that Albertans just voted against a referendum question which sought support for the Alberta government to opt out of these kinds of federal social programs.
“The fact the Premier is still attempting to rip dental care coverage away from Albertans is absolutely absurd. Dental care is health care. Yet far too many Albertans have been left living in pain or forced to forego necessary dental procedures due to cost-related barriers to access and entrenched economic inequality,” said Chris Gallaway, executive director of Friends of Medicare. “The Canadian Dental Care Plan has helped change that, and has meant tens of thousands of Alberta children got to see a dentist for the very first time, tens of thousands of seniors got their teeth fixed or were able to get dentures, and many more low-income Albertans and those living with disabilities have been able to access regular dental care.”
For decades, Friends of Medicare has been calling for dental care to be included as a fully publicly insured and publicly delivered service. In 2023, we celebrated a step forward when the federal government announced a major expansion of dental care coverage for Canadians. Since then, we have consistently opposed Premier Smith’s call for an opt out, and continue to call on Alberta to follow the Canada Health Act, and for it to be enforced by the federal government.
“Attempting to pull dental care coverage away is the opposite of what Albertans need right now. Especially while affordability and health care access are Alberans’ top concerns, and while our health care systems and emergency services continue to be overwhelmed,” said Gallaway. “Our governments should be doing everything in their power to ensure that everyone is able to get equitable, timely access to quality care. It’s not just a win for Albertans’ health and our wallets, but for the sustainability of our public health care system.”
Per the Government of Canada there were 465,738 approved applicants in Alberta for the 2025-26 benefit period. At 80% of the target population enrolled, Alberta has one of the highest uptakes in the country, following only British Columbia.
“We are calling on the Prime Minister and the federal health minister to publicly say absolutely not to any sort of opt out for Alberta from the Canadian Dental Care Plan,” said Gallaway. “To the Premier, we say listen to the results of your own referendum. Enough with picking endless fights with Ottawa when you should be doing your job protecting and strengthening public health care for Albertans.”
Friends of Medicare continues to call on Albertans to speak up in support of our access to the Canadian Dental Care Plan by sending an email to provincial representatives.
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