Oral Health Access Fund projects

November 2025

As part of the Oral Health Access Fund Stream 1, Health Canada is providing more than $35 million over three years to support projects submitted by oral health training institutions that aim to address competency gaps related to the treatment of targeted populations and training adaptations to ensure sufficient hands-on training opportunities.

The projects currently receiving funding are:

Alberta

Lead Organization: University of Alberta
Project Title: Addressing dental faculties' short term financial needs to attract and retain patients in order to maintain high- quality training for students
Funding: $451,000
Description: Funding for this project will help the university recruit and retain patients at their on-campus clinic by covering co-payments for the Canadian Dental Care Plan (CDCP) members, expand the university's existing program to offer oral health services via school visits and to patients referred by community organizations, and pilot an evening clinic.

Lead Organization: University of Alberta
Project Title: Access for All Dentistry
Funding: $2,612,503
Description: Funding for this project will aim to enhance student training by offering week-long hands-on clinical learning opportunities through off-site mobile dental service delivery while addressing critical oral health needs among rural Alberta Metis populations. The project will have further distribution of funding with the Metis Nation of Alberta.

Lead Organization: Southern Alberta Institute of Technology
Project Title: Access to Oral Healthcare for Underserved Populations through Dental Hygiene Education
Funding: $575,840
Description: Funding for this project will create a new two-year dental hygiene diploma program within their existing School of Health and Public Safety.

British Columbia

Lead Organization: University of British Columbia (UBC)
Project Title: Addressing dental faculties' short term financial needs to attract and retain patients in order to maintain high-quality training for students
Funding: $528,000
Description: The project will allow UBC to cover co-payments for CDCP members and provide full coverage for CDCP procedures for targeted groups of patients not enrolled in the plan but who do not have other access to coverage. It will target non-tax filers and CDCP members in the school-based dental training clinics and provide training opportunities for students.

Lead Organization: University of British Columbia (UBC)
Project Title: Train to Retain: Building Students' Capacity in the Population Health of Rural, Remote, and Vulnerable Communities
Funding: $1,079,659
Description: The project will allow UBC to implement a 3-month summer placement program for dental students to train in rural, remote, and urban areas to improve competencies serving vulnerable populations of British Columbia.

Lead Organization: University of British Columbia (UBC)
Project Title: Improving the Oral Health of Senior Canadians through the Education of Dental Professionals
Funding: $1,150,725
Description: The project will allow UBC to expand geriatric dentistry training through new post-graduate fellowships and mini residency programs and adaptation of on campus facilities to enable hands on training.

Lead Organization: College of New Caledonia
Project Title: The College of New Caledonia Mobile Dental Hygiene Initiative: Enhancing Senior Care through On-Site Services
Funding: $268,000
Description: Funding for this project will allow the College to purchase mobile dental hygiene units in order to extend hands-on training for dental hygiene students to patients with complex care needs at long term care facilities.

Lead Organization: Vancouver Community College
Project Title: Oral Health Simulation Lab: Preparing oral health care students to provide culturally responsive, equitable care to children
Funding: $2,526,320
Description: Funding for this project will help establish an Oral Health Simulation Lab equipped with patient scenarios and extended reality simulations to address the gaps in the knowledge and skills of students and support their transition to real-world clinical practice, with a focus on treating children with complex care needs.

Lead Organization: Vancouver College of Dental Hygiene
Project Title: Vancouver College of Dental Hygiene Inc's Proposal for Acquisition of Mobile Dental Units
Funding: $802,842
Description: Funding for this project will allow the college to deploy six mobile dental units to enhance community outreach and provide essential dental care to underserved populations including seniors living in long-term care facilities.

Manitoba

Lead Organization: University of Manitoba
Project Title: Addressing dental faculties' short term financial needs to attract and retain patients in order to maintain high-quality training for students
Funding: $336,000
Description: Funding for this project will help the university cover co-payments for CDCP members for whom cost is an obstacle so they can still participate in university learning clinics. The funding will also help cover procedures for patients not yet enrolled in the CDCP but who do not have other access to care and help hire a sessional patient recruiter to conduct outreach and preliminary oral health assessments in community settings such as newcomer support organizations.

Lead Organization: University of Manitoba
Funding: $3,592,000
Project Title: National educational modules to improve training of oral healthcare learners in Canada
Description: Funding for this project will help develop evidence-based and patient centered online learning modules and make them available nationally to better prepare oral health care professionals across Canada to deliver culturally competent and accessible care for underserved populations.

Lead Organization: University of Manitoba
Funding: $344,740
Project Title: Building Community Ties for Better Oral Health
Description: Funding for this project will help create an Oral Health Community Liaison role at the University's dental and community clinics. The Liaison will foster partnerships with organizations serving individuals who lack access to oral healthcare and facilitate their access to services in the university's campus clinic in Winnipeg.

Lead Organization: University of Manitoba
Funding: $1,887,331
Project Title: Development and implementation of a postgraduate internship in community oral health and dental public health
Description: Funding for this project will help develop a postgraduate clinical internship pilot program in community oral health and dental public health for newly graduated dentists and dental hygienists, focusing on underserved populations.

New Brunswick

Lead Organization: Collège Communautaire du Nouveau-Brunswick
Funding: $306,580
Project Title: Ateliers de sensibilisation et soins buccodentaires pour les populations vulnérables
Description: Funding for this project will help improve training of dental assistant students for treating targeted populations through hands-on training workshops in long-term care facilities, elementary schools, and in First Nations communities.

Lead Organization: Oulton College (B-Motive Assets inc)
Funding: $245,431
Project Title: Dental Hygiene Access Fund
Description: Funding for this project will help expand their existing no-cost oral health service and to purchase additional equipment that would support an additional cohort of 26 new
students.

Nove Scotia

Lead Organization: Dalhousie University
Funding: $424,000
Project Title: Addressing dental faculties' short term financial needs to attract and retain patients in order to maintain high quality training for student
Description: Funding will help ensure sufficient training opportunities for students, help attract and retain patients by identifying current patients deferring treatment due to cost, and support the Community Engagement and Outreach staff. The project will target African Nova Scotians, Ukrainian newcomers, Nova Scotians in the 18-64 age group, CDCP members, and non-tax filers in Nova Scotia.

Lead Organization: Dalhousie University
Funding: $1,980,151
Project Title: Developing an inclusive patient-centered oral healthcare model for Canadians through evaluation, education and hand-on training.
Description: Funding will help enhance training for dental hygiene and dentistry students and practising oral health professionals to better serve Canada's diverse population through inclusive, patient-centered oral healthcare. The initiative will address gaps in equity, diversity, inclusion, and accessibility, with a focus on special care dentistry and underserved communities, including those that live in long-term care facilities.

Ontario

Lead Organization: University of Toronto
Funding: $733,627
Project Title: Addressing dental faculties' short term financial needs to attract and retain patients in order to maintain high-quality training for students
Description: Funding for this project will help improve access to oral health care by allowing the university to provide coverage for CDCP members, providing coverage for CDCP eligible procedures for non-insured populations, and supporting activities related to attracting and retaining patients to the school's training dental clinic.

Lead Organization: Western University
Funding: $613,000
Project Title: Addressing dental faculties' short term financial needs to attract and retain patients in order to maintain high- quality training for students
Description: Funding for this project will help ensure sufficient training opportunities for dental students, attract and retain patients, develop targeted marketing and outreach campaigns, and deliver patient-centred care. The project will target no-income and/or low-income families, seniors, newcomers to Canada, or non-insured populations who face barriers to filing taxes and are therefore not eligible for the CDCP.

Lead Organization: Western University
Funding: $2,343,399
Project Title: Community Service Learning at Schulich Dentistry: Transforming the Training of Dental Professionals
Description: Funding for this project will help expand the Community Service Learning program to maintain a robust and sustainable training environment that prepares Doctor of Dental Surgery students for real-world practice.

Lead Organization: University of Toronto
Funding: $1,672,823
Project Title: An upstream cost-free effective and person-centered emergency dental care for all: moving towards sustainability
Description: The project aims to enhance hands-on training opportunities for oral health students while improving access to oral health care for patients requiring urgent treatment at the new Dental Public Health Emergency Clinic. Located in downtown Toronto, the urgent dental clinic provides no-cost treatments to patients experiencing non-traumatic dental conditions to walk-ins and individuals referred from hospitals' emergency departments, food banks, shelters and agencies caring for people with developmental disabilities.

Lead Organization: University of Toronto
Funding: $527,898
Project Title: Development of a micro-credential course to expand access to dental care and training for students in rural and remote community dental care clinics
Description: The project seeks to expand hands-on learning opportunities for dental students and enhance access to dental care in rural and remote community dental clinics. Specifically, it aims to develop and implement micro-credentials in clinical teaching, designed to upskill experienced dentists working in these communities.

Lead Organization: The Cambrian College of Applied Arts and Technology
Funding: $2,693,776
Project Title: Dental Program Expansions
Description: The project seeks to develop Northeastern Ontario's first level II Dental Assisting program and increase capacity in the existing dental hygiene programs.

Lead Organization: Canadore College
Funding: $631,595
Project Title: VR Training for Dental Hygiene Students: Addressing Mild Cognitive Impairment
Description: Funding for this project aims to develop an immersive Virtual Reality (VR) Learning Module to enhance dental hygiene students' ability to care for people with early-stage dementia or Alzheimer's disease.

Prince Edward Island

Lead Organization: Holland College
Funding: $1,766,445
Project Title: Identifying and Addressing Cultural Competency Gaps in Holland College's Dental Assisting Program
Description: Funding for this project aims to enhance cultural competency training opportunities for students and faculty in the Dental Assisting Program at Holland College. The project provides opportunities for Dental Assisting students and faculty to practice culturally competent, patient-centered care through evidence-informed course content and hands-on learning experiences.

Québec

Lead Organization: McGill University
Project Title: Addressing dental faculties' short term financial needs to attract and retain patients in order to maintain high-quality training for students
Funding: $397,000
Description: The project will help reinforce student hands on training by covering the costs for CDCP members and underserved populations. Funds will be used for the university to cover co-payments for CDCP members and to provide coverage for treatments for patients who are not eligible for CDCP (e.g. newcomers, housing insecure individuals).

Saskatchewan

Lead Organization: The University of Saskatchewan
Project Title: Expanding Dental Therapy Education to NWT: Building Capacity and Serving Underserved Communities
Funding: $3,076,284
Description: Funding for this project will be used to expand its Bachelor of Science in Dental Therapy program to the Northwest Territories (NWT) through a "learn where you live" model, enabling students to pursue education with their own communities. In partnership with Aurora College, the project leverages existing infrastructure and local expertise to support the program's implementation in NWT, facilitating an integration into the NWT education and healthcare system.

Lead Organization: The University of Saskatchewan
Project Title: Implementing field clinic practicums for dental therapy students in priority communities across Canada
Funding: $1,193,826
Description: Funding for this project will be used to enhance practicum experiences for dental therapy students by integrating field clinic placements in non-urban settings. These placements emphasize opportunities to serve priority population and expand access to oral health care across the country.

Lead Organization: The University of Saskatchewan
Project Title: Addressing dental faculties' short term financial needs to attract and retain patients in order to maintain high-quality training for students
Funding: $411,000
Description: Funding for this project will be used to enhance clinical training opportunities for oral health students while improving access to oral health care for underserved populations. This will be done by expanding patient access, reducing financial barriers and strengthening community partnerships to support both student education and equitable dental care.

Lead Organization: Saskatchewan Polytechnic
Project Title: Oral Hygiene Instructional Video Series
Funding: $238,049
Description: Funding for this project will be used to develop an oral hygiene instructional video series to enhance students' skills for procedures where there is limited exposure in order to boost their skills and confidence.