Below you’ll find a brief explanation and links to Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) resources to help you and your tax experts fill out T4s.
What is the Canadian Dental Care Plan?
The Canadian Dental Care Plan is intended to help lower dental costs for eligible families earning less than $90,000 per year. Depending on a family's adjusted income, they may be eligible for tax-free payments.
How HSAs and EHBs impact Canadian Dental Care Plan Eligibility
In order to be eligible for the Canadian Dental Care Plan, a child must not have access to a private dental insurance plan. The CRA uses the term "private dental insurance plan" loosely, including any employer-provided dental coverage such as our EHB or HSA (Health Care Spending Accounts are even mentioned specifically by name).
This is a yes/no question - either you have coverage, or you don't. No mention is made of the level or amount of coverage.
That implies that any Blendable Plan Member with an HSA or EHB is not eligible for the Canadian Dental Care Plan.
What Plan Sponsors/Plan Admins need to do
Since 2023, employers are required to indicate on employee T4s whether access to coverage for dental services is available to employees and their families. This will be added in Box 45 of the T4.
If the employee has a Blendable HSA, they and their dependants have access to coverage for dental services.
If the employee has a Blendable EHB, then whether they have coverage depends on whether their plan includes dental coverage for them and/or their dependants.
Will Blendable be sending anything else?
No, since type/amount/level of coverage does not need to be disclosed, Plan Sponsors and Plan Members do not need any special reporting from Blendable.
The usual disclaimer
This is not specific advice on how to apply for the Canadian Dental Care Plan or fill out tax forms. Plan Members and Plan Sponsors should consult the CRA resources and their own tax experts.