Forgive me: loan forgiveness program extends to dentists
By Diane Peters
Over the next few months, as she completes final assignments, wraps up treatments with her patients and writes board exams, DDS4 student Noor Saiyed has to decide what’s next.
Does she stay in Toronto near friends and family, the buzz of city life, fabulous food and fitness and other amenities, but in a tight employment market? Or, take a leap and try for a job in a rural or remote community?
“In a rural setting, as a fresh graduate, you’re able to practise more, and more broadly, and take on a higher level of responsibility early on,” says Saiyed, who saw this firsthand when she did an observership in Sault Ste. Marie last summer.
“You can see a difference in how dentists are treated in smaller communities. There’s a higher need and people appreciate you so much.”
Financially, there are perks. Rural practices are keen to hire newly trained dentists, and offer a high percentage of collections and sometimes relocation and retention bonuses.
And now, as of December 31, 2025, the federal government is offering loan forgiveness for dentists who put in at least a full year of work in a rural community of under 30,000 people.
The program offers $8,000 of student federal loan forgiveness for the first year, and the amount grows annually after that, with $10,000 forgiven in year two. Over five years, dentists can get an impressive $60,000 subtracted from their federal loans.
“If more people knew about this, it would definitely tip the scales,” says Saiyed. “It’s one major factor that is making me seriously think about evaluating all my options.”
DDS tuition and fees currently add up to over $51,000 a year for domestic students, and more than double that for international. Some students, meanwhile, come into the program with existing student debt from their undergraduate or master’s degrees.
Joel Rosenbloom, director of student life and staff dentist at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) — who worked in Africa after graduation, including at a Sudan refugee centre, and is involved in projects such as the Toronto Addis Ababa Academic Collaboration — thinks this financial incentive might influence students who are “on the edge.”
“There is always going to be a large cohort who don’t want to leave Toronto,” he says. “And there will always be a small cohort who wants to do something different.”
Loan forgiveness could sway those with serious debt loads, but also new grads who don’t feel confident in their clinical skills. Working in a rural setting could be an alternative to a general practice residency (GPR) — where the stipend is around $35,000. “You get thrown in the deep end,” says Rosenbloom of the treatment demands of rural dentistry.
Meanwhile, the federal program has also expanded to a long list of other professions. Previously, medical doctors and nurses qualified and now dental hygienists, early childhood educators, midwives, personal support workers, pharmacists, physiotherapists, phycologists, social workers and teachers can apply. That may appeal to a new grad interested in an adventure with a friend or partner from a different, qualifying profession.
The Canadian Dental Association, Ontario Dental Association (ODA) and groups such as the Canadian Dental Hygienists Association and the Canadian Association of Social Workers advocated for this change.
In an emailed statement, ODA president David Brown told U of T Dentistry that the association was pleased with the program and its potential to help underserved communities, but hope it will continue to grow. “We support the expansion and continue to push for solutions to address the shortage of dental assistants in the province and to further improve access to care in rural and remote communities.”
When Sally Ji finished her DDS at the Faculty of Dentistry in 2021 and heard a clinic in Kirkland Lake, a town three hours north of Sudbury, was hiring, she applied, but money wasn’t the main driver. “I wanted to get as much experience as I could and I knew that if I stayed in Toronto, it might be a little harder because there’s so much competition.” As well, she knew it was now or never to go on an adventure.
Landing the job proved surprisingly straightforward, given the mid-2021 pandemic job market. “You’re not competing with anyone for the job,” Ji recalls. “So, my interview was I met with the principal dentist and he was like, ‘When can you start?’”
Ji found patients incredibly accepting of her, even though they knew she was young. The clinic’s receptionist and her husband often took her out cross-country skiing, hiking and berry picking, so she didn’t feel too isolated.
She was planning to stay on, but a year into her tenure, the position at CAMH came up, and she went back to Toronto for her dream job.
Rosenbloom says the expanded loan forgiveness program could lead to remote and rural work becoming more popular among new grads. “We need to turn this into a true and real option,” he says, noting that the impact of the care dentist can offer in these settings is profound, and often deeply moving and motivating. “I think this program will have an impact. That’s nothing but a good thing.”