How to Apply for and Renew the Canadian Dental Care Plan (CDCP)

The Canadian Dental Care Plan (CDCP) helps eligible Canadian residents with the cost of dental care (canada.ca/dental), and applications are open for the 2026-2027 benefit period. You can apply online through My Service Canada Account (MSCA), through the application on Canada.ca, or by phone. Applying is free. A spouse or common-law partner who wants coverage applies separately. Once you’re a member, you renew every year.

On this page: Apply · Renew · What you need · After you apply · Member card · Where to sign in · Missed renewal · Scams

How do you apply for the Canadian Dental Care Plan?

Before applying, you have to meet all 4 eligibility requirements. In short: The federal Canadian Dental Care Plan covers Canadian residents for tax purposes who have no access to private dental insurance, have filed their tax return (as has any spouse or partner) and have adjusted family net income under $90,000. The eligibility page explains each requirement.

Apply online

Canada.ca’s apply page starts with My Service Canada Account:

1. Sign in to MSCA, or create a profile.
2. Open the “Canadian Dental Care Plan” section of your MSCA dashboard.
3. Select “Apply for Canadian Dental Care Plan coverage” and follow the steps.

If you can’t use MSCA, the same page links to an application on Canada.ca instead. If you pick “digital” as your way of hearing from the plan, you get email notices, and your CDCP letters also show up in MSCA. The steps are on canada.ca’s apply page.

Apply by phone

If neither MSCA nor the Canada.ca application works for you, call Service Canada at 1-833-537-4342 to apply with an agent. The TTY number is 1-833-677-6262. The main line answers 8:30 am to 4:30 pm local time, Monday to Friday. Help with applying is given on that number, not through the call-back request form.

Is there a paper application form?

Canada.ca’s apply page offers three ways to apply: MSCA, the Canada.ca application and the phone. It lists no printable form. Ontario’s form 014-5125-20, which also comes up for that search, is the application for the Ontario Seniors Dental Care Program, not the CDCP. Paper does come into it for a delegate’s legal documents (see below).

How do you apply for a child?

A child goes on your application as a dependant: you give their details along with your own. For a child, you give a Social Insurance Number if they have one, plus their date of birth and full name. To check the status of a child who has no SIN, you use the online status checker, with their full name and date of birth, or speak to an agent: the automated phone line can’t look them up. The eligibility page has a section on children and seniors.

Can someone help you apply?

A friend, relative, caregiver, translator or interpreter can help you apply, as long as you can clearly consent to their help. A delegate goes further: someone with legal authority to act and decide for you, named in a document such as a power of attorney, a mandate or a trusteeship. The delegate first sends the originals or certified copies to Service Canada by mail, or takes them to a Service Canada office, and can apply for you once those are processed. The mailing addresses by region are on canada.ca’s apply page.

What do you need to apply?

For each applicant (you and any dependants), and for your spouse or common-law partner if you have one, have ready:

• Social Insurance Number (for a child, if they have one)
• date of birth and full name
• home and mailing addresses
• dental coverage you get through a government social program, if you have it

Your partner’s details don’t apply for them: they confirm your marital status so your family income can be worked out, and check that you can’t get private dental coverage through your partner. Before you say you have no dental coverage, check box 45 of your T4 slips if you work and box 015 of your T4A slips if you get a pension (yours and your partner’s): the dental insurance section explains the codes. You and your partner also need to have filed your tax returns in Canada for the previous year (see filing to get benefits).

What happens after you apply?

You can follow your application, and your dependants’, through the online status checker or by phone. For each person you need the application code or member ID (the number you got when you applied) and their SIN.

If you’re enrolled, a letter by mail or email, whichever you chose, tells you so. It gives your CDCP plan number, member ID, coverage start date and co-payment level, and you can also read it in MSCA. What you pay at each co-payment level is on the coverage page. Your start date depends on when your application arrives and when your enrolment is completed. Care is covered only from that date, so canada.ca says not to book an appointment before it.

Answers on an application are checked later against T4 and T4A slips, and a mismatch can lead to an eligibility review; the eligibility page explains what follows.

When do you get your member card?

Once you’re found eligible, you’re mailed a welcome package with a physical member card and plan information. You don’t have to wait for it: at a first appointment, your member ID, a piece of identification, your start date and your co-payment level are enough. Your start date is in the government letter, and can also be in the welcome letter. Canada.ca says to confirm that your provider accepts CDCP clients and will bill the plan directly; only providers are reimbursed, so if you pay the full cost yourself, it isn’t paid back. To find one, see finding a provider.

Where do you sign in to the CDCP?

There are two accounts, for different things:

• My Service Canada Account: apply, renew when renewals are open, read your letters, see your current and next year’s eligibility, and update your contact details, communication preferences and access to other dental benefits.
• My Sun Life account: plan details, your claims history and a printable member card. Its CDCP Contact Centre is at 1-888-888-8110.

You don’t need to sign in to MSCA to check an application’s status with the status checker.

How do you renew your CDCP coverage?

A benefit period runs from July 1 to June 30. Members renew every year to keep their coverage:

• Anyone already covered by the plan renews every year; a spouse or common-law partner renews on their own.
• Coverage runs over a single benefit period that ends each year on June 30, and members renew during a renewal period.
• Renewal is done through My Service Canada Account, in the Canadian Dental Care Plan section of the dashboard.
• There is no fee to renew.
• You must still meet all 4 eligibility requirements, including having no access to private dental insurance.
• You confirm or update each applicant's Social Insurance Number (if a child has one), date of birth, name, addresses and any dental coverage through government social programs.
• You and your spouse or common-law partner must have filed last year's tax return in Canada and received your notices of assessment.
• If you miss the renewal period, you submit a new application and have a gap in coverage until it is approved; care in the gap is not covered or reimbursed afterwards.
• Your co-payment level can change when you renew.

What if you missed the renewal period?

You can apply again with a new application, for the period that is open. Your coverage stops until that application is approved, and dental care you get in that gap isn’t covered or paid back later. Once you’re approved, check the start date on your new letter before booking.

How do you spot a CDCP scam?

There is no fee to apply for or renew the CDCP. The government warns about scams by mail, phone, text or email that ask for personal, banking or credit card details, and about ads and pop-ups that aren’t on official Government of Canada websites. If a CDCP message looks doubtful, you can check it by calling 1-833-537-4342 (TTY 1-833-677-6262). Canada.ca’s scam and fraud page suggests looking for websites that begin with canada.ca or end with .gc.ca.

Where to go next

• Who qualifies for the CDCP
• What the CDCP covers and what you pay
• Benefits and your tax return
• Government benefits in Canada