The Canadian Dental Hygienists Association is calling recent reports of a labour shortage in their profession "misinformation."
The association’s chief executive officer Ondina Love said Tuesday that the workforce is stable, but that many dental hygienists are driven out by poor working conditions, inadequate pay and burnout.
The industry group told a morning press conference in Ottawa that retention is the issue that urgently needs to be addressed as Canada's federal dental plan expands and increases demand.
“We must correct the narrative. Claims of widespread dental hygienist shortages are often exaggerated and unsupported. Let me be clear, such assertions are unverifiable and false,” said Love.
Back in March, the Canadian Dental Association, which represents 21,000 dentists, prepared a policy platform ahead of the federal election that said many of its members faced an ongoing shortage of dental hygienists.
After the hygienists' press conference Tuesday, the association said in an emailed statement that it's important for hygienists to work in supportive environments, and said that it collaborated with the hygienists' association in 2022 to improve mental-health and human-resource support.
But the dentists' group also repeated its concern about staffing levels, saying it is "among the most pressing issues impacting dental office’s ability to provide care."
Love said her association's data shows 25 per cent of dental hygienists will likely leave the profession within five years, but that the number of new graduates exceeds that. She said the issue is about retention and not a shortage.
She pointed to a survey of more than 2,900 association members in 2023 that found 40 per cent considered leaving their jobs, and six in 10 reported experiencing or witnessing bullying, abuse and violence at work.
Love said complaints of a shortage mostly come from organizations representing dentists, who are often hygienists' employers. She said that includes a petition signed by more than 670 dentists in Ontario calling on the province to allow internationally trained dentists to clean and polish teeth.
In a federal election policy platform released in March, the Canadian Dental Association said an “ongoing shortage” was already limiting care and estimated that the country will need more than 1,500 additional dental hygienists to meet an expected influx of patients newly covered by the Canadian Dental Care Plan.
The federal government says more than four million people have been approved for coverage since the plan began in May 2024, and that a total of nine million Canadians are expected to be eligible. Applications for people aged 18 to 64 opened in May and coverage for those who are eligible began earlier this month.
On Tuesday, the dentists' group pointed to Statistics Canada data that found 50 per cent of dental offices reported difficulty recruiting hygienists in 2023.
"A growing population and increased demand for dental services have created significant operational challenges for dental practices," the Canadian Dental Association said.
Donna Wells, the hygienist association’s manager of professional practice, said dental hygiene programs have increased their cohort sizes and the current number of graduates offsets the number of people leaving the profession.
"We want to ensure that dental hygienists who are already in the profession stay in the profession. And I think that needs to be addressed," Wells said.
She said the number of dental hygienists vary by region, with far less in some rural and remote areas, but pushes back on those who say there is an overall shortage.
The Canadian Dental Hygienists Association is calling on the Canadian Dental Association to collaborate on an oral health workforce strategy to improve working conditions and equitable distribution of oral health professionals across the country.
Many dental hygienists work at dentist-owned clinics but a growing number work at independent dental hygienist offices that operate without the presence of a dentist.
To practise in Canada, they must be registered or licensed by a provincial or territorial regulatory authority.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 17, 2025.
Canadian Press health coverage receives support through a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. CP is solely responsible for this content.
Hannah Alberga, The Canadian Press
