Learn more about the Canadian Dental Care Plan
Council Highlights

Council Highlights: March 28, 2024

The 441st meeting of the RCDSO Council was held in person in Toronto and via Zoom on Thursday, March 28th, 2024. The meeting was also livestreamed; a video recording of the Council session is available on the College’s YouTube channel.

RCDSO President Harinder Sandhu provided opening remarks. He began by acknowledging the re-appointment of two public members, Nizar Ladak and Brian Smith. After a year as President, Dr. Sandhu reflected on his observations of the progress Council had made in achieving more meaningful strategic discussion. He highlighted that governance improvements were increasing Council’s positive evaluation of meetings. Consistently, Council is noting that they have the right level of content and are focused on strategy, risk and most importantly, the public interest. Council evaluations are public and part of the Council package. 

Dr. Sandhu underlined the progress made on key priorities for the College:

  • The divestment of the Professional Liability Program (PLP) which is moving forward methodically and incorporating advice from Council. Dentists should continue to reach out to PLP as they always have.
  • The Access to Care strategic project has seen numerous new assets on the RCDSO website—including volunteer opportunities for dentists and a low-cost clinic map for patients.

Dr. Sandhu underlined the RCDSO’s support for the Canadian Dental Care Plan (CDCP), as it willincrease access to oral health care for a significant number of Ontarians. Many Ontarians face barriers in accessing oral health care services, particularly affordability. The CDCP will help ease financial barriers to accessing oral health care for Canadian residents who have an annual adjusted family net income of less than $90,000 and do not currently have access to dental insurance.

Professional Liability Program (PLP) procurement

At the December 7th meeting, Council directed staff to proceed with exploring the transfer of the Professional Liability Program (including current liabilities and staff) to a third party, with the goal of allowing the program to continue to operate, under separate ownership.

Council asked staff to begin the procurement process under the guidance of a procurement review group, as established by the Executive Committee. The Procurement Review Group, which provides governance oversight to the process, includes Council members: Dr. Mark Eckler, Marc Trudell, James Colliver, and Dr. Harinder Sandhu (ex officio). At the March meeting, Council delegated authority to the Executive Committee to finalize the advisors for the divestment project. Council will be involved in major decisions throughout the process.

Council deliberations are viewable here. (RCDSO YouTube)

As for how PLP operates today: Dentists should carry on as per usual. Stability for both patients and dentists will be maintained during the transition process. Please keep calling PLP and our staff will continue to assist you. New and existing PLP cases will be processed as they always have been.

Election to Executive

The Executive Committee is composed of three dentist members of Council and two public members of Council. The committee  meets on important matters and functions as Council in between Council meetings. The Executive Committee members are elected biennially, and the current Executive Committee’s term continues until the first Council meeting in 2025.

Mr. David Bishop has resigned his position as one of the two required public members on the Executive Committee, creating a vacancy.

Council held an election for a public member to the Executive Committee at the meeting and Brian Smith was the successful candidate. Brian Smith is the consumer member for Electrical Contractors Registration Authority Advisory Council, Electrical Safety Authority, and a former director of emergency and long-term care services for the County of Lennox and Addington. He will serve out the remainder of the term on the Executive Committee in addition to his work serving on the Inquiries, Complaints and Reports Committee, the Discipline Committee and the Patient Relations Committee.

Registrar & CEO Update

Registrar & CEO Dan Faulkner updated Council on several topics:

  • Updates concerning the regulatory landscape included:
    • The Office of the Fairness Commissioner (OFC) has provided the RCDSO with a “moderately low” risk rating. The process is designed to assist in the OFC’s oversight of regulators by assigning a risk rating to each regulator and being transparent with all ratings. The OFC has stated that the RCDSO’s risk rating is due primarily to concerns it has with processes of a key third party, the National Dental Examining Board.
    • The Provincial government has appointed directors to the Health and Supportive Care Providers Oversight Authority (for Personal Support Workers). It will enable a visual mark of registration, though it will not be mandatory to register with the Authority. The Ministry of Health and employers will be able to require PSWs to be registered. The Health Profession Regulators of Ontario (HPRO) will continue to monitor the implementation.
    • The College of Dental Hygienists of Ontario (CDHO) completed an external review of its governance processes, conducted by Harry Cayton and Deanna Williams. CDHO Council has received the report and is considering an action plan.
  • The College Performance Measurement Framework (CPMF) for 2023 was submitted to the Ministry on March 28th. The report, which demonstrates how the College achieves provincial standards and meets regulatory responsibilities, will be posted on the RCDSO’s website, along with an Executive Summary of highlights from the 2023 report, and key accomplishments the RCDSO has made since the inception of the CPMF.
  • Cyberattacks on health care organizations have been in the news and have a lasting impact on the function of organizations. Ongoing cybersecurity training is provided routinely to staff and will be provided to Council and Committee members. Encrypted laptops and secure email addresses have been provided to Council and Committee members to help mitigate risk.
  • The Registrar, Deputy Registrar and Director of Communications have been participating in quarterly meetings with Assistant Deputy Minister of Health, Karima Velji and Fairness Commissioner, Irwin Glasberg, to keep the OFC and MOH informed about registration practices and to discuss health human resources planning.
  • The College hosted RCDSO Connect on February 28, 2024, with information about our complaint process and the PLP program. Over 250 dentists participated, and future sessions will have more available spaces.
  • The RCDSO will host a booth at the Ontario Dental Association Annual Spring meeting, April 18th to 20th.

Canadian Dental Care Plan

Council heard from Deputy Registrar, Andréa Foti, about the significant developments in the Canadian Dental Care Plan (CDCP). The CDCP represents a meaningful step forward in expanding access to oral health care for all Canadians. The program is designed to ease the financial burdens of individuals who do not have dental insurance. The first group who have started to sign up are Canadian seniors, with over 1.3 million people (at publication time) approved to participate. 

First announced with the Canadian Dental Benefit for children in late 2022, the full plan is being rolled out over several months. Seniors were invited to apply, starting with those over 87. By May, all seniors (over 65) who are eligible by income will have been invited to apply. In June, applications will be accepted from those with a valid Disability Tax Credit. Children under the age of 18 can also apply in June. All remaining Canadians will be able to apply in 2025.

Dentists are now able to sign up as a participating provider with Sun Life and will be able to begin seeing registered patients in May. The CDCP abbreviated fee guide for 2024 has been posted and fees appear to be largely comparable to provincial association fee guides. Patients are not required to change dentists (if they have one) if their dentist is part of the program.

The RCDSO support of the CDCP expansion of access relates to the RCDSO’s Strategic Plan under the Access to Care project. The College will continue to provide accurate and timely details about the CDCP as they are announced.

Governance Committee Updates

Governance Committee Chair Anne Coghlan presented to Council on three governance items:

  • the appointment of two non-Council members to the Professional Liability Program (PLP) Committee
  • an overview of preliminary information about the Governance Committee’s research into four governance modernization concepts
  • by-law amendment to add registrants’ electoral district to the public register.

The PLP Committee considers and reviews expenditures for claims, provides authority for matters to proceed to trial; and considers requests for deductible forgiveness. It also provides policy and practice recommendations regarding PLP. Ms. Coghlan reported that two PLP Committee members’ terms will expire at this Council meeting. In November, the College issued a call for expressions of interest for two general dentists outside the Greater Toronto Area (for geographic diversity). Eight candidates met the eligibility requirements set out in the by-law. The Governance Committee reviewed the applications, CVs and regulatory experience. The Committee based its recommendations on the selection criteria set out in the by-laws.

Council passed a motion reappointing Dr. Gehan Ibrahim and appointing Dr. Vincent Carere to the PLP Committee.

The second report focused on Committee considerations of four governance modernization initiatives including:

  • Revisions to electoral districts to strengthen competency-based selection of candidates. The current Dentistry Act requires from 10 – 12 elected dentists, The current electoral framework presents several challenges, and the Governance Committee is exploring the possibility of having the minimum number of elected dentists (10) and a single-district province-wide election.
  • Staggered terms: currently all 12 dentist members of Council are elected every two years running the risk of a very high turnover.
  • Separation of Council and Committees was proposed by the Ministry. Staff were asked to do further research on the rationale and implementation considerations.

Any proposed changes to these areas of governance modernization would not be implemented for the upcoming election cycle in Fall 2024. Any implementation could only take place for the 2026 election year. The Committee will continue to keep Council informed of its work and Council’s approval will be required for any changes.

Finally, Council approved the by-law amendment to add registrants’ electoral district to the public register, which will help dentists find their own districts for voting and candidate eligibility during the election. This proposed change to the by-law was posted for consultation in December, received final approval at the March 2024 meeting and comes into force on July 15, 2024.

Next Meeting

The next meeting of Council will be held via Zoom and is scheduled for Thursday, May 9th, 2024. The meeting will also be livestreamed.