Total output in the dental industry dropped 14.6% from 2019 to 2020, falling from $18.1 billion to $15.5 billion. This makes it the only industry, when viewed alongside physician offices and miscellaneous ambulatory health care services, to experience a decline in output during this period.
The COVID-19 pandemic caused major disruptions in all sectors of the Canadian economy, and the dental care industry was no exception. The suspension of non-essential and non-emergency dental treatments and services, as well as the additional precautions and public health measures taken to limit the spread of the virus and ensure the safety of both patients and dental professionals, resulted in a reduced capacity of dental offices to treat patients compared to pre-pandemic times.
These measures and restrictions had a significant negative impact on dental outputs and jobs, with record lows recorded in 2020. However, with the easing of restrictions, dental offices experienced a recovery as early as 2021, though this rebound was not consistently seen across Canada.
These results are based on a new study released today, entitled "Looking at the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Canadian dental industry."
Using data from the Canadian System of Macroeconomic Accounts, this study examines how economic output, job levels, and hours worked in the Canadian dental industry were affected by the pandemic. The study also examines how the industry has recovered from disruptions experienced during the pandemic. This information is particularly important in the context of the anticipated increase in demand for oral health care following the implementation of the Canadian Dental Care Plan in 2024.
The dental industry saw a significant decline in 2020
Pandemic-related public health measures had a significant negative impact on output, jobs and hours worked in the dental industry in 2020.
Total output in the dental industry dropped 14.6% from 2019 to 2020, falling from $18.1 billion to $15.5 billion. This makes it the only industry, when viewed alongside physician offices and miscellaneous ambulatory health care services, to experience a decline in output during this period.
Moreover, roughly 1 in 6 jobs (15.4%) in the dental industry were lost from 2019 to 2020, representing a loss of 17,825 jobs nationwide and the steepest decline among the ambulatory health services subsectors. By comparison, total jobs in physician offices fell by 4.7% during the same period.
Total hours worked also showed notable changes from 2019 to 2020 in the dental industry. During this period, total hours worked at all dental industry jobs declined by 15.7%, from 174.1 million hours to 146.7 million hours.
The dental industry rebounded in 2021
With the easing of public health measure restrictions, dental offices gradually resumed routine procedures, and a full recovery in the sector's economic activity was observed by 2021.
From 2020 to 2021, total economic output for the dental industry increased by 22.7% to $19.0 billion, surpassing the industry's output in 2019 by $851 million.
Jobs in dental offices also recovered in 2021, with the total number of jobs increasing by 24.1% (+23,632 jobs), bringing total jobs (121,760) above pre-pandemic levels. Furthermore, the total number of hours worked reached 188.3 million hours, representing a 28.3% increase from 2020, as well as the highest single-year increase since 2010.
The number of dental office jobs continued to grow in 2022 (+1.4%) and 2023 (+4.6%), albeit at a more moderate pace. The same applies to the number of hours worked at all jobs in the dental industry, which reached 195.8 million hours in 2023, an increase of 12.5% from the number of hours worked in 2019.
The recovery in jobs was not consistent across Canada
The impact of the pandemic on dental office jobs varied significantly across Canada, reflecting the diverse responses and challenges faced by each jurisdiction, as well as the duration of restrictions on health care providers, which varied from jurisdiction to jurisdiction.
In 2020, all provinces and territories saw a decrease in job levels in dentist office jobs compared with 2019, with Nunavut (-22.6%), Ontario (-18.6%), and the Northwest Territories (-17.6%) experiencing the largest declines.
With the easing of pandemic-related restrictions, dental offices largely experienced a recovery in 2021, but this rebound was not consistently seen across Canada.
From 2020 to 2021, the situation improved significantly in most jurisdictions. Ontario (+27.8%), Alberta (+27.6%) and British Columbia (+24.0%) posted the largest year-over-year increases in job numbers during this period.
However, although total jobs in the dental industry has reached or exceeded pre-pandemic levels in most provinces and territories, Nunavut (-22.6%) and the Northwest Territories (-11.8%) continued to report fewer jobs in 2023 than in 2019.
Note to readers
Data source
In this study, output data for years prior to 2021 are derived from Supply and Use tables, while data for 2021 and 2022 are obtained from Symmetric Input-Output tables due to data availability constraints. Insights into labour productivity and related measures by industry are available through 2023.
Definitions
Ambulatory Health Care Services
The Ambulatory Health Care Services subsector comprises establishments primarily engaged in providing health care services to ambulatory patients, either directly or indirectly.
For the purposes of this study, the Ambulatory Health Care Services subsector is broken down as follows: 1-Offices of physicians (6211), 2-Offices of dentists (6212), and 3-Miscellaneous ambulatory health care services, which combines North American Industry Classification System codes 6213, 6214, 6215, 6216, and 6219.
Dental industry
In this analysis, the term "dental industry" and similar variants refer specifically to the Offices of Dentists Industry. It does not include offices of denturists and offices of independent dental hygienists. Instead, businesses such as Offices of Denturists and Offices of Dental Hygienists are classified under Offices of all other health practitioners.
Jobs
A job refers to any agreement between an employee and an employer, including self-employed individuals, which may result in discrepancies between job counts and actual employment figures due to individuals holding multiple positions.
Output
Total economic output measures the value of goods and services produced by industries in an economy. This indicator is key to measuring economic activity and productivity, with fluctuations reflecting changes in demand for the industry's offerings. Increased demand typically correlates with increased output, while decreased demand leads to reduced output. Output and job creation are closely intertwined, as increased production requires additional labour.
Hours worked for all jobs
Hours worked refers to the total number of hours that paid and self-employed workers devote to work, whether paid or unpaid. It includes regular and overtime hours, coffee breaks, on-the-job training, as well as time lost due to momentary interruptions in production when the persons involved remain on the job. Time lost due to strikes or lockouts, to statutory holidays, vacations, as well as illness, maternity or other personal leave are all excluded from the total number of hours worked.
Reference
Contact information
For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact us (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; infostats@statcan.gc.ca) or Media Relations (statcan.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.statcan@statcan.gc.ca).