Self-regulation and licensing fees explained
Last updated: May 2025
The role of the Prince Edward Island Dental College
The Prince Edward Island Dental College (PEIDC) has the role of making sure the public is protected when it comes to dental care in PEI. Currently, the PEIDC is one of twenty-three health regulators in Prince Edward Island. It regulates the professions of dentistry and dental assisting. Other regulated health professions include medicine, nursing, physiotherapy, etc. The health regulators are different from professional associations (e.g., Dental Association of PEI, PEI Dental Hygienist Association, PEI Nurses Union, PEI Physiotherapy Association etc.). These associations have as their mandate to support the members of their profession.
Why are health professions regulated?
The public and government expect individuals performing health services to have a proper level of training and to be held to a high standard. The same is true for some other professions. For example, when you drive over a bridge or fly in a plane, you want to be confident that the engineers who designed the bridge and the pilots flying the plane know what they are doing. People expect the same level of assurance in healthcare.
Self-regulation – a privilege and a responsibility
In PEI, health professions have been granted the privilege of self-regulation. This means that the board/council and committees overseeing the professions are made up mostly of members of those professions. With that privilege of self-regulation comes the responsibility to protect the public and to do it well.
The PEIDC protects the public by:
- developing standards and guidelines
- conducting inspections
- ensuring that continuing education takes place
- dealing with complaints and discipline
- assessing applications to ensure that only qualified people provide treatment
As well, the PEIDC supports national organizations such as National Dental Examining Board (NDEB), National Dental Assisting Examining Board (NDAEB), the Commission on Dental Accreditation of Canada (CDAC), and the Canadian Dental Assisting Regulatory Authorities (CDARA). Each of these organizations play an important role in establishing a high standard for dentistry and dental assisting in Canada. Self-regulation requires things as staff, board members, committee members, consultants, IT support, legal support, financial auditors, office space, photocopying/printing, courier/postage, software licenses, and insurances. This all requires money.
How are licence fees determined?
The only source of revenue for the PEIDC comes from the licence fees paid by dentists and dental assistants. There is no funding from government or other sources. This is the same for the regulators of all professions. The PEIDC is the smallest dental regulatory authority (DRA) in Canada and must function with the fewest number of registrants while maintaining the high standards expected of other self-regulated health professions.
Each year, the council for the PEIDC will approve a budget for the upcoming year that will permit the college to carry out its mandate to protect the public. The budget must include the fees which will be needed to cover expenses for the coming year. Fees can change over time in response to changing expenses.