Job prospects Licensed Dental Therapist in British Columbia

Explore current and future job prospects for people working as a "licensed dental therapist" in British Columbia or across Canada.

Job opportunities in British Columbia

The recent trends from the past 3 years were updated on July 25, 2025. The job outlooks over the next 3 years were updated on December 10, 2025.

Prospects over the next 3 years

The employment outlook will be Moderate for dental hygienists and dental therapists (NOC 32111) in British Columbia for the 2025-2027 period.

The following factors contributed to this outlook:

• Employment growth will lead to a moderate number of new positions.
• Not many positions will become available due to retirements.
• There are a small number of unemployed workers with recent experience in this occupation.

As the province has experienced robust population growth in the past couple of years, the Government of British Columbia has invested into expanding health care services around the province. Implementation of the Canadian Dental Care Plan (CDCP) will likely increase demand for this occupation. 

As of October 2025, about 2.8 million Canadians have received dental services through the CDCP. 

In British Columbia there are about 723,181 approved applicants for the program for benefit year 2025 to 2026 whereas about 232, 807 people have received care in that same period.

Here are some key facts about dental hygienists and dental therapists in British Columbia:

• Approximately 5,000 people work in this occupation.
• Dental hygienists and dental therapists mainly work in the following sectors:
  • Ambulatory health care services (NAICS 621): more than 95%
• The distribution of full-time and part-time workers in this occupation is:
  • Full-time workers: 69% compared to 78% for all occupations
  • Part-time workers: 31% compared to 22% for all occupations
• 25% of dental hygienists and dental therapists work all year, while 75% work only part of the year, compared to 61% and 39% respectively among all occupations. Those who worked only part of the year did so for an average of 38 weeks compared to 42 weeks for all occupations.
• Less than 5% of dental hygienists and dental therapists are self-employed compared to an average of 17% for all occupations.
• The gender distribution of people in this occupation is:
  • Men: 6% compared to 52% for all occupations
  • Women: 94% compared to 48% for all occupations
• The educational attainment of workers in this occupation is:
  • no high school diploma: less than 5% compared to 8% for all occupations
  • high school diploma or equivalent: less than 5% compared to 28% for all occupations
  • apprenticeship or trades certificate or diploma: less than 5% compared to 13% for all occupations
  • college certificate or diploma or university certificate below bachelor's: 65% compared to 17% for all occupations
  • bachelor's degree: 24% compared to 22% for all occupations
  • university certificate, degree or diploma above bachelor level: 7% compared to 12% for all occupations

Breakdown by region

Explore job prospects in British Columbia by economic region.

Source Labour Market Information | Prospects Methodology

Labour market conditions over the next 10 years

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