Dr. Bruce Ward president@cda-adc.ca Advocacy in Action In early November, I was in Ottawa alongside CDA staff to meet with the new Minister of Health, the Honourable Marjorie Michel. The meeting was intended to establish a constructive working relationship and to ensure that the Minister had a clear understanding of who we are, our responsibilities to the profession and public, and the knowledge and expertise we can provide to support her department’s work. We discussed oral health workforce challenges and their impact on providing oral heath care. We explained that more than 50% of dental practices in Canada have a staff vacancy. We also talked about the experience of oral health providers and patients with the Canadian Dental Care Plan (CDCP). This allowed us to explain the CDCP’s unintended effects on dental schools, including funding pressures, shifts in patient flow within teaching clinics and shifting dynamics in local communities as more patients gain coverage. We left encouraged by the discussion and confident that we had established a strong foundation for ongoing dialogue. When I returned to Ottawa for CDA’s Days on the Hill event a few weeks later (pg. 8), one of the Minister’s senior staff members met with the Canadian dental school deans who were part of our delegation. The staffer sought detailed information directly from the deans, drawing on their first-hand knowledge. This kind of engagement reflects effective advocacy: an ongoing conversation that keeps doors open and information flowing in both directions. Advocacy is the largest long-term investment our association makes in the dental profession. It is developed in the same way that trust is built within our dental practices: through relationships, consistency, credibility and preparation. The objective is not simply to secure a short-term outcome, but rather to be recognized as a trusted partner so that when the time comes to provide expertise, raise concerns or contribute to solutions, the profession has a credible voice at the table. This approach has guided CDA’s advocacy efforts with successive Ministers of Health and their departments, and it is one reason Health Canada regularly turns to CDA for information and advice. CDA’s Days on the Hill is the most visible part of our advocacy efforts, and it provides an important opportunity to bring dentistry directly into the national conversation through in-person meetings with parliamentarians. But most of our advocacy takes place throughout the year through ongoing collaboration and the cultivation of relationships. I have seen first-hand how CDA’s government relations team has remained closely engaged in discussions related to the CDCP from the outset, working with federal officials to ensure that dentistry is represented in a positive and constructive manner. CDA’s advocacy has been grounded in a clear principle: efforts to improve access to care, including the CDCP, can only succeed if supported by a sustainable oral health workforce. By anchoring discussions in the real-world capacity of dental professionals and educators, CDA continues to emphasize that effective oral health policy must support the profession’s long-term sustainability as well as the needs of the patients it serves. Recently, CDA has worked closely with the Association of Canadian Faculties of Dentistry, supporting the faculty deans in strengthening their engagement with the federal government. As government becomes more attuned to the unintended impacts of the CDCP on dental education, continued dialogue—including the follow-up meeting requested by ministerial staff with the deans—demonstrates that progress is most achievable when we work together. When meaningful outcomes are achieved, they are the product of deliberate strategy and long-term relationships. The recent expansion of federal student loan program forgiveness for dentists and dental hygienists is one such example (pg. 15). As CDA president, I witness how well CDA represents the profession with clarity and authority as federal decisions are increasingly shaping the future of oral health care across the country. From the President 7 Issue 1 | 2026 | CDA at Work
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