Question Period Note: Canadian Dental Care Plan

Public Services and Procurement Canada is working with Health Canada to support the design of the new Canadian Dental Care Plan.

Note:

All questions regarding the collaboration with provincial and territorial partners and the design of the program should be directed to Health Canada

• Public Services and Procurement Canada worked with Health Canada and its partners to undertake an open, fair, transparent and competitive procurement process. Following extensive industry engagement, Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada (Sun Life) has been selected as the claims processor for the new Canadian Dental Care Plan.
  • Recently a contract was awarded to Sun Life, valued at approximately $750 million for five years – from December 2023 to November 2028, to manage the payment of claims made under the Plan.

If pressed on the fairness of the procurement approach:

• Public Services and Procurement Canada used an agile and collaborative procurement approach for the Canadian Dental Care Plan to ensure fairness, transparency, and compliance with procurement rules and regulations, while delivering value for money and timely access to dental care services for Canadians
• Canada awarded an Early Work Agreement to Sun Life for preliminary tasks like staffing, information technology setup, space acquisition, and work plan development. This interim measure enabled Sun Life to undertake necessary pre-contractual work to ensure the timely launch and successful operation of the Canadian Dental Care Plan
• Canada recently finalized the contractual details and has awarded a Contract to Sun Life to continue the work required for the Canadian Dental Care Plan.

In Budget 2022, the Government of Canada committed $5.3 billion over five years to Health Canada to provide dental care for the estimated 7 to 9 million Canadians who are unable to access proper dental care because of the cost. This started with under 12-year-olds in 2022, expanding to under 18-year-olds, seniors, and persons living with a disability in 2023. Full implementation is expected by 2025. The program would be restricted to families with an income of less than $90,000 annually, with no co-pays for those under $70,000 annually in income.

Public Services and Procurement Canada was responsible for managing the procurement to select a private partner for the delivery of dental claims processing. This involved engaging with industry, developing procurement documentation, conducting the procurement process and managing the resulting contract(s) associated with the program.

Public Services and Procurement Canada issued a Request for Information on July 25, 2022. The Request for Information closed on August 22, 2022, and 26 responses were received from various organizations within the dental care community. The feedback received helped guide the development of a long-term dental care program. A subsequent Invitation to Qualify was issued on October 28, 2022, and closed on December 5, 2022. Once the evaluation was completed, three pre-qualified suppliers (Express Scripts Canada, Medavie Inc., and Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada) were announced in January 2023.

A collaborative process ensued from February to May 2023, refining requirements with suppliers’ input. A subsequent Request for Proposals was sent to the three pre-qualified suppliers on June 20, 2023, and closed on July 20, 2023, yielding one proposal.

An Early Work Agreement was awarded to Sun Life on August 22, 2023, for necessary pre-contractual work while Canada finalized its due diligence. [Redacted]

Since Treasury Board approval was obtained, Canada has finalized the details of the Contract and awarded it to Sun Life on December 1, 2023, in order for Sun Life to continue the work required for the Canadian Dental Care Plan.

• A comprehensive multi-stage procurement process was initiated in July 2022 through a Request for Information
  • In January 2023, Public Services and Procurement Canada identified a shortlist of qualified providers - Express Scripts Canada, Medavie Inc., and Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada (Sun Life) - who participated in a collaborative refinement of requirements from February to May 2023
  • A Request for Proposals process closed on July 20, 2023, with the submission of one compliant bid
  • A contract valued at an estimated $750 million has been awarded to Sun Life.