Leading through change
The Ontario Dental Association (ODA) has been the leading voice of the province’s dental profession for more than 150 years. We are committed to the success of our members in service to their patients and the public.
ODA 2025–2028: Leading Through Change charts a clear and focused course for the organization over the next three years and beyond. It reaffirms ODA’s position as the trusted, unified voice of Ontario dentists; a leading source of lifelong learning and professional development; and a reliable provider of leadership, guidance, and resources for dental professionals at every stage of their careers.
Read our Mission, Vision and Values.
Strategic Priorities
Strategic End Statement: The ODA is the trusted and unified voice of dentistry, dedicated to shaping programs and policy to uphold, promote, and preserve professional autonomy, evidence informed standards of treatment, and accessible oral health care.
Advocacy is a clear priority for the profession, with constituent needs and concerns focused on issues such as the Canadian Dental Care Plan (CDCP), oral health human resource shortages, provincial dental programs (HSO, OW, ODSP), and third-party insurance. Within the context of growing regulatory pressure and policy uncertainty, proactive advocacy is essential to support the profession. There is strong support for ODA to defend professional autonomy and champion evidence-based standards to ensure the long-term
sustainability of dental care.
2025-2028 Priority Goals
- Achieve successful rounds of negotiations for provincial government dental programs
- Protect and entrench our gains with the CDCP, while protecting the third-party insurance model
- Improve the experience of dentists and patients that participate in government dental programs
- Champion evidence-informed standards in dentistry that maintain professional autonomy
- Champion system-level solutions to address oral health human resource shortages, with emphasis on training capacity and recruitment pathways
Strategic End Statement: ODA is the leading source of lifelong learning and professional development for Ontario dentists. It is the trusted resource for members and their teams at every stage of their careers, providing a high quality, future-focused educational experience.
Education is a key area of focus, with strong demand for content that addresses emerging trends such as artificial intelligence, new technologies, and innovations in dentistry. There is also a need for targeted education to help address critical workforce shortages, particularly in dental hygiene and dental assisting. At the same time, many members and their teams are seeking greater awareness and clarity from ODA about available educational offerings, highlighting the importance of improved communication and promotion.
2025-2028 Priority Goals
- Promote our educational experiences to ensure member awareness and participation at all levels (ASM, member education program, component societies)
- Develop relevant high quality programs for the dental team at ASM, member education program and for component societies
- Enhance our future-focused content on emerging technologies and trends (e.g., AI, cyber security, robotics, Botox, vaccinations, infection prevention and control, sustainability and other clinical technologies)
Strategic End Statement: The ODA provides strong, reliable leadership and resources that are critical to every stage of ODA
members’ professional and personal success.
Practice support is a high-value area for members, consistently ranked among the most important services ODA provides. There is strong interest in expanding practical resources, including legal guidance, mental health supports, and other tools, to help members navigate an increasingly complex professional and business environment. Members also emphasized the need for more tailored support, with services customized by career stage, geographic region, and practice type to better meet diverse member needs.
2025-2028 Priority Goals
- Ensure ODA Products, Services and Programs (PSPs) support evolving needs, challenges and expectations of its members
- Enhance the personalized experience across all member segments
- Provide tools, data, education and resources to support members in navigating staffing challenges and workforce planning
Strategic End Statement: The ODA is the professional community for Ontario dentists, where members feel connected, valued and
able to contribute to the future of their profession.
There is strong interest in more flexible and accessible volunteer opportunities to support engagement and attract new participants. Furthermore, engaging members across all stages of their professional journey, from students to retirees, is seen as essential to fostering a vibrant and connected membership. Importantly, strengthening collaboration with Component Societies and creating more direct channels of communication with members were also identified as important opportunities for building a more engaged and inclusive ODA community.
2025-2028 Priority Goals
- Expand volunteerism with flexible options, such as microvolunteering
- Ensure members feel valued and stay engaged throughout their lifetime — from student to retiree
- Enhance engagement of component societies through meaningful in person and virtual experiences that strengthen connection and participation
Strategic End Statement: The ODA is a best-in-class professional association, recognized for its resilience, operational agility, evidence-informed decision-making, service excellence and continuous improvement that empowers staff, volunteers and members.
The dental profession’s success is underpinned by a foundation of strong infrastructure, people, systems and measurement. During turbulent times for our members, they must be able to rely on a strong, adaptable, trusted ODA to meet their needs today and in the future. Feedback emphasized the importance of building agility into ODA operations, modernizing technology, ensuring a leading staff and culture, and using data to drive decision-making.
2025-2028 Priority Goals
- Strengthen our talent management and development
- Modernize our structure, core systems and processes
- Foster a culture of innovation, responsiveness, accountability and participation