Dental Hygiene Workforce in Canada
The Canadian Institute for Health Information collects supply and demographic data on 30 different groups of health care professionals, including dental hygienists. This information can be used to help plan for a sustainable and equitable health workforce.
The latest supply data reveals that dental hygiene is the 6th largest registered health profession in Canada with 31,170 registered dental hygienists.
Source: Canadian Institute for Health Information. Canada’s Health Care Providers, 2017 to 2021 – Data Tables and Methodology Notes.
Supply Trends: Dental Hygienists in Canada
| Province |
2021 (%) |
2020 (%) |
2019 (%) |
2018 (%) |
2017 (%) |
| Canada |
31,170 |
30,461 |
30,219 |
29,251 |
29,549 |
| NL |
269 (<1) |
— |
233 (<1) |
220 (<1) |
221 (<1) |
| PE |
122 (<1) |
122 (<1) |
— |
95 (<1) |
92 (<1) |
| NS |
797 (2.6) |
770 (2.5) |
749 (2.5) |
713 (2.4) |
736 (2.5) |
| NB |
545 (1.7) |
536 (1.8) |
517 (1.7) |
508 (1.7) |
508 (1.7) |
| QC |
6,786 (21.8) |
6,699 (22.0) |
6,712 (22.2) |
6,571 (22.5) |
6,472 (21.9) |
| ON |
13,560 (43.5) |
13,500 (44.3) |
13,694 (45.3) |
12,903 (44.1) |
13,150 (44.5) |
| MB |
810 (2.6) |
802 (2.6) |
773 (2.6) |
758 (2.6) |
740 (2.5) |
| SK |
668 (2.1) |
701 (2.3) |
— |
663 (2.3) |
644 (2.2) |
| AB |
3,405 (10.9) |
3,330 (10.9) |
3,279 (10.9) |
3,250 (11.1) |
3,176 (10.7) |
| BC |
4,119 (13.2) |
3,945 (13.0) |
4,172 (13.8) |
3,486 (12) |
3,748 (12.7) |
| Territories |
89 (<1) |
56 (<1) |
90 (<1) |
84 (<1) |
62 (<1) |
Notes:
1. — Data is not applicable, does not exist or is not reported due to data quality concerns.
2. % represents proportion of Canadian total.
3. 2021 data for territories reflects a combination of 3 territories for which data were reported.