Canadian economy and the impact of inflation Although the current economic situation worries most Canadians (80%), only 2 in 10 Canadians say they are living “beyond their means.” But some report living “paycheque to paycheque” (51%) rather than comfortably. “Two-thirds of eligible families say they’re more likely to go to the dentist because of this CDB benefit,” and 70% say they plan to apply for the benefit, says David Coletto, CEO of Abacus Data in a CDA Oasis interview. “There’s already widespread awareness among that core audience that this benefit is starting to have a clear impact. The challenge is that half of those who are delaying dental appointments are doing so because they’re waiting for the implementation of the CDB plan,” says Coletto. • 36% of families eligible for the CDB have delayed going to a dental appointment because they were waiting for the implementation of the federal dental plan. And of these families waiting, almost 50% would be delaying care until they actually get funds deposited in their account. • Among those who have not been to the dentist for some time, the top reason remains the high cost—up 5 points from the August survey. And those who are currently delaying a dental appointment for their child because of cost has increased by 7 points since August (22% are currently delaying). • Almost one-third (35%) wouldn’t be able to afford regular dental care each year if they lost dental coverage (down 6 points since August). • A similar percentage (35%) say they will be delaying further dental appointments due to the current economic situation—up 8 points from August. For most families, their children’s dental care needs are more accessible, but not affordable: • About half of parents of CDB-eligible families currently visit the dentist with their children on a regular basis • For a quarter of people (24%), long wait times for an appointment/availability is the main reason for having difficulty accessing dental care, up 7% points since August. “We’ve seen an increase in our tracking around the number of parents citing long wait times for being able to get appointments with dentists. So cost is a primary driver but not being able to access care is also something we’ve seen,” says Coletto. “Two out of three Canadians agreed that children’s access to activities, hobbies, nutritious food, even sports and exercise has been negatively affected by the pandemic. And one in three of respondents say they will be delaying further dental appointments due to the current economic situation. So, if you look at this sort of broad impact, it’s affecting people’s ability to access or afford dental care,” he concludes. The survey was conducted with 3,500 Canadians from September 29th to October 15th, 2022. This wave, n=1250 Canadians who are parents of children under 12 with household incomes under $90,000 were oversampled. A random sample of panellists were invited to complete the survey from a set of partner panels based on the Lucid exchange platform. These partners are typically double opt-in survey panels, blended to manage out potential skews in the data from a single source. The margin of error for a comparable probability-based random sample of the same size is +/-1.63%, 19 times out of 20. The data were weighted according to census data to ensure that the sample matched Canada’s population according to age, gender, educational attainment, and region. Totals may not add up to 100 due to rounding. Watch an interview with David Coletto, CEO of Abacus Data, on CDA Oasis: bit.ly/3UWbHYv 15 Issue 1 | 2023 | News and Events
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