In March 2025, Statistics Canada released results from the Survey of Oral Health Care Providers, which was Canada’s first national survey of this group, specifically owners or operators of oral health care practices. The survey asked questions about the previous fiscal year between April 1, 2023, and March 31, 2024, and business intentions for the 24 months following the survey. The survey will be conducted every two years. Human Resource Challenges, Wait Times and Plans for the Future Among Oral Health Care Providers Eighty percent of oral health care practices reported having at least one staffing or human resources challenge. Dentist offices were most likely to report having at least one staffing or human resources challenge (82%), followed by independent dental hygienist (71%) and denturist (53%) offices. Difficulty recruiting skilled employees was the most cited human resources challenge with 64% of dentist, 50% of independent dental hygienist and 37% of denturist offices. Three in four oral health care practices (75%) reported facing at least one operational challenge. Administrative, Statistics Canada Data financial, and operational-related reasons (42%) were the most reported operational challenge felt by oral health care providers, particularly among dentist offices (43%). Despite this, almost all (96%) oral health care practices were accepting new patients. Over half (52%) of oral health care practices were able to provide nonemergency dental care appointments for their existing patients from one week to less than one month from the time of booking, while one-quarter (25%) were able to do so in less than one week. Wait times for new patients was very similar. 15 Issue 3 | 2025 |
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