Quebec Finance Minister Eric Girard reads his budget speech, on March 21, at the legislature in Quebec City. On Wednesday, Girard told reporters that the extra federal money for dental care announced in the 2023 budget would have been better spent by increasing federal health transfers generally.Jacques Boissinot/The Canadian Press
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he’s open to conversations with Quebec about allowing the province to opt out of national dental care as the Liberal government acknowledged the program’s cost now exceeds earlier projections. The province hopes to receive compensation.
Tuesday’s federal budget revealed that the cost for the new national dental-care program has jumped to $13-billion over five years, up from the $6-billion that was previously budgeted.
Quebec Premier François Legault’s government said Wednesday that it should receive $3-billion to opt out of the program.
Quebec Finance Minister Eric Girard told reporters that the extra federal money for dental care would have been better spent by increasing federal health transfers generally.
“Before creating new programs, we should adequately fund what already exists,” Mr. Girard told reporters in French, adding that Quebec already has a provincially funded dental-care program.
When asked about Quebec’s position Wednesday, Mr. Trudeau did not immediately dismiss it .
“I’m open to having conversations with Mr. Legault, but I know that Quebeckers, like all Canadians, want to be able to send their kids to the dentist,” Mr. Trudeau told reporters. “If the provinces want to work with us to deliver this, we’ll have those conversations.”
At a later news conference, he noted that Quebec’s dental-care plan largely covers children under 10 (along with certain recipients of a financial assistance program), while the new federal plan aims to cover more people over time. By the end of 2023, the government’s goal is to offer subsidized care to low-income Canadians who are under 18, seniors or persons living with disabilities. It would be extended to all low-income Canadians who do not have private dental coverage by 2025, under the terms of last year’s supply and confidence agreement between the minority Liberal government and the NDP. The program started in 2022, covering children under 12.
Federal Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos acknowledged Wednesday that the national dental-care program will cost more than originally expected, saying it is because of higher-than-expected demand.
“We’ve been working with experts and leaders in the field, many of them knowing really well what’s happening on the ground. And we’ve also learned recently that the take-up for the dental benefit has been very high,” he told reporters after a meeting of the Liberal caucus on Parliament Hill. “So that’s why those estimates are different now than they were in 2021.”
The plan aims to cover the cost of dental care for people without insurance and with a family income of under $90,000 a year. Those earning less than $70,000 won’t have to top up any part of the dental bill from their own pocket.
Lynn Tomkins, the president of the Canadian Dental Association, welcomed the dental-care program, saying it marked “a big day for teeth in Canada.”
She predicted it could prompt an influx of people going to get their teeth fixed, including some who may not have visited the dentist for some time. Dr. Tomkins said “the particulars of the plan” were not yet clear but she wanted to ensure that it covers prevention – including professional teeth cleaning – to reduce the need for treatment over all.
Although there is not an overall shortage of dentists in Canada, she said some areas, including Northern communities and Atlantic Canada, have “a few capacity issues” and may have a problem meeting a big influx in demand for dental care. She said there is a critical shortage of dental assistants who play crucial roles, including helping with extractions and sterilizing equipment.
There have been several cost estimates for a national dental-care program in recent years. The NDP campaigned on the idea in the 2021 election, while the Liberals did not. The NDP platform said it would cost nearly $11-billion over five years, which was in line with a 2020 report by the Parliamentary Budget Officer. A June, 2022, report by the PBO revised its estimate to $9-billion over five years. That report cautioned that the costs could be higher if demand exceeds expectations or if costs increase because of inflation or rate increases.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh praised the inclusion of dental care in this week’s budget and said it can be delivered entirely as a federal program.
“The program that will be in place by the end of this year is a program where we pay the bills. We’re not interfering in provincial jurisdiction,” he said in French. “We think people in Quebec should be able to afford dental care.”
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre declined to say Wednesday whether a future Conservative government would keep the dental-care plan in place.
“It doesn’t exist,” he said, when asked if he would keep the program. “It’s another Liberal promise. They’ve been making promises for years, without results.”
Tuesday’s budget projects that the deficit for the fiscal year that begins April 1 will be $40.1-billion, compared with a $30.6-billion forecast in the fall update. The government expects the deficit to shrink to $14-billion by 2027-28. It had previously forecast a small surplus for that year.
Later in Question Period, Mr. Poilievre criticized the budget for abandoning an earlier timeline to balance the budget within five years.
“Now they admit that the budget will never balance itself,” Mr. Poilievre said. “How can Canadians believe anything this minister or Prime Minister say about money?”
Neither Mr. Trudeau nor Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland attended Question Period on Wednesday, which was the first Question Period after the Tuesday afternoon release of the budget.
Mr. Poilievre’s questions were instead answered by Randy Boissonnault, the associate minister of finance, who said the government won’t take lessons from an opposition leader who has praised the use of cryptocurrency as a response to inflation.