Issue 41 – 25, March 9, 2025
IMPORTANT! What you need to know – Dental Plan Coverage Renewal
To avoid a potential gap in coverage, individual members of the Canadian Dental Care Plan must renew their continued participation prior to June 1, 2025. Canadians currently covered under the plan will need to renew their coverage and will be able to do so once they have completed their 2024 tax return and received their Notice of Assessment issued by the Canada Revenue Agency. They will also receive a personalized letter from the Government of Canada informing them that they must renew, with instructions on how.
Those who do not renew will have their CDCP coverage end on June 30, 2025. CDCP members who miss the renewal deadline will still be able to renew but may face a gap in coverage; retroactive coverage will not be possible.
Read more - Canadian Dental Care Plan - Renew your coverage - Canada.ca
Workers and Unions across the Country are United to Fight Back “Canadian workers built this country. We’re not going to let Trump tear it down.”
The United Steelworkers and other unions called on the Canadian government to take immediate and decisive action to send a clear message that Canada will not be bullied, starting with the imposition of retaliatory tariffs on U.S. products to match the scale of this attack.
Canada must also strengthen its procurement policies, to ensure that publicly funded projects support Canadian jobs, and provide direct support to affected workers by expanding the Work-Share program, enhancing Employment Insurance, setting up a wage subsidy program, and investing in domestic industries to protect well-paid, community-supporting jobs.
“This will be one of the defining, critical moments in our lifetime”. But our response must be about more than just “buying Canadian.”
And, this week CUPE came out of their Building Strong Locals Conference in Montreal with a Declaration, calling for the to reshaping the Canadian economy into something that truly works for the people. We must advance public solutions in key sectors like agriculture, transportation, infrastructure, and natural resources, and diversify markets for Canadian products beyond the United States.
We must respond to the threats against the things that make us proud to be Canadian by making them stronger – not by allowing them to be torn apart. We must reject the kneejerk calls for tax cuts, deregulation and privatization from corporate boardrooms and the right-wing.
Read more - The United Steelworkers union will not back down in the face of Trump’s economic attack on Canada - USW Canada
Read more - CUPE members affirm Montreal Declaration to fight back against Trump assault on Canadian workers | Canadian Union of Public Employees
What is corporate dentistry and why is it happening? Corporate dentistry is when a dental corporation, often with the backing of private equity, are buying up assets of dental offices, owned by dentists, allowing them to assume control over the administrative aspects of the dental office (e.g. hiring, firing, bookkeeping). Many are unaware of this trend, as this takeover often happens with no outward changes to the dental clinic, and this not being advertised.
Corporate dentistry is still in its early stages in Canada; however, growth of corporate dentistry often occurs quietly, without public knowledge. The Dental Corp of Canada, the largest dental corporation in the country, owns over 550 dental offices across the country yet it does not list its locations on its website. Dentists who have received offers from DCC describe the proposals as extremely generous. After selling, they become part of a company that can wash their hands of annoying administrative matters.
n the US, dental corporations account for 25-40 per cent of dental clinics, and experts state that Canada is following in their footsteps but lagging 10 years behind. US Private Equity has provided hundreds of millions to dental corporations in Canada over the years. These large investments can put undue pressure on providers, who are sometimes personally invested in these dental corporations, to generate enough revenue to pay off this debt.
Also, US dental corporations have a history of pushing for and providing unnecessary treatments to increase profits. We need to harness the success of the CDCP to address further systemic problems in our dental care system. NDP MP Don Davies has stated “the Canadian Dental Care Plan needs to be seen as a down payment on a universal system.” Coverage needs to be universal with no co-payments and the government can stop the corporate takeover of dental offices.
Read more -Corporate dentistry is on the rise. Make dental care universal – Canadian Health Coalition
CURC 15th Constitutional Convention
The Fifteenth Convention of the Congress of Union Retirees of Canada will take place at the Pan Pacific Toronto, 900 York Mills Rd, Toronto, the convention will be June 17th, to June 19, 2025.
Resolutions MUST be received at the CURC office by April 1st, 2025, to be accepted. Resolutions may to be sent by mail to CURC office 2841 Riverside Drive, Ottawa, Ontario K1V 8X7, however, we encourage you to email the resolutions to curc@clcctc.ca with the subject line clearly marked CURC Resolution.
For more information about the convention please email curc@clcctc.ca .