National Joint Council Bargaining Agents met with Treasury Board officials on 25 June to close out the 2022 cyclical review of the dental plan. The Treasury Board and the NJC agreed that the remaining matters are either resolved or are purely administrative, meaning they should be handled by the Dental Board of Management on a case-by-case basis.
Those residual items, internal coordination of benefits, cover for students taking short academic breaks, anti-fraud safeguards, and formal recognition of the NJC plan, were each addressed. Canada Life’s analytics-based anti-fraud system was accepted as adequate to protect members and the plan’s integrity. Likewise, the questions regarding student cover and benefit coordination were judged to be isolated anomalies best managed within existing administrative processes.
To be clear, the parties succeeded in implementing several big wins that will benefit members for years to come. Beyond the significant increase to the annual maximum and the lifetime orthodontics cap, which moved from $2,500 to $3000 on January 1st, and will grow to $3,250 on January 1, 2027, we made incredible gains in language related to cancer dentistry and enhanced the rights to and access for members on parental and/or maternity leave.
PIPSC looks forward to the next review cycle in 2027 and will continue to collaborate closely with our NJC colleagues, allies and the Treasury Board to leverage our continued collaboration for successful outcomes.