Proposed changes to the eligibility period for the Pensioners’ Dental Services Plan
Budget 2025 proposes amending the eligibility period for the Pensioners’ Dental Servies Plan (PDSP) to six years of pensionable service.
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Background
The PDSP is a voluntary dental services plan for eligible retired members of the public service and their eligible dependants and survivors, including the Royal Canadian Mounted Police dependants, the Canadian Armed Forces dependants and participating agencies or entities.
Currently, to become a member of the PDSP, an individual must meet the eligibility requirements described in Rule 2 of the PDSP Rules. This includes being either:
- A retired member in receipt of an ongoing recognized monthly pension from the Canadian federal government, which in most cases requires two years of pensionable service; or
- A surviving dependant of a deceased employee or retired member who is eligible for coverage under the PDSP because they are in receipt of an ongoing recognized monthly pension.
Pensionable service means the complete or partial years of service credited to an individual at retirement, and it is used to calculate the pension benefits to which they are entitled. Total pensionable service is:
- The sum of all periods of current service;
- Service that has been bought back; and
- Service transferred through a Pension Transfer Agreement.
What you need to know
Budget 2025 proposes to amend the eligibility period for the PDSP from its current two-year pensionable service requirement to six years of pensionable service requirement. This proposed change would align the PDSP eligibility period with that of the Public Service Health Care Plan for retired plan members.
Who is affected by this change
The new eligibility period would affect employees of the federal public service hired after the change’s effective date. Current PDSP members would not be affected.
Next steps
The proposals outlined on this page are subject to approval by Parliament of Budget 2025 and the budget implementation legislation. If approved, additional information will be communicated to employees and retired plan members. Continue to visit this page for the most up-to-date information.