This Act transfers regulatory authority for dental hygienists from the Dental Auxiliaries Act into the Health and Social Services Professions Act (HSSPA), requires the Minister to recommend regulations for dental hygienists, and modernizes the Dental Auxiliaries Act by renaming it and removing references to dental hygiene.
The change centralizes professional regulation for dental hygienists under the HSSPA, sets firm dates for designation and regulatory recommendations, mandates consultation with Indigenous governments and local practitioners, and replaces gendered language in the existing statute. For regulators, practitioners and clinics, the bill creates a transition window during which regulatory details (scope of practice, licensing rules, standards) will be determined by future regulations rather than the statute itself.
At a Glance
What It Does
The bill designates dental hygienists as a profession covered by the HSSPA effective December 1, 2025, and requires the Minister to recommend regulations governing their practice by November 30, 2025. It also amends the Dental Auxiliaries Act—renaming it the Dental Therapists Act—and removes statutory references to dental hygiene and dental hygienists.
Who It Affects
Dental hygienists practicing in the Northwest Territories, the territorial Department of Health and Social Services, employers and clinics that hire hygienists, and regulators who will draft and enforce new licensing and practice regulations. Indigenous governments and the Canadian Dental Hygienists Association are specifically prescribed consultees.
Why It Matters
By moving hygienists under the HSSPA the territory aligns them with the broader framework for health professions regulation, but the substantive rules will be set by regulation—so the practical impact on licensing, scope of practice and disciplinary standards depends on the forthcoming regulations and the consultations mandated by the Act.
More articles like this one.
A weekly email with all the latest developments on this topic.
What This Bill Actually Does
The Act amends two statutes. It replaces section 5 of the Health and Social Services Professions Act so the Commissioner in Executive Council retains the power to designate professions and then adds a specific designation: dental hygienists become a profession regulated under that Act effective December 1, 2025.
The bill also inserts a new provision (s.67.1) that requires the Minister to recommend regulations to the Commissioner to govern the practice of dental hygienists, and it sets a firm deadline for that recommendation—November 30, 2025.
Before making the recommendation, the Minister must consult three groups: Indigenous governments, the Canadian Dental Hygienists Association, and dental hygienists actively practising in the Northwest Territories. The statute does not enumerate the contents of the regulations—such as education requirements, licensure criteria, controlled acts, or continuing competence—so those substantive elements will be developed and finalized through the regulatory process following consultation.The Dental Auxiliaries Act is substantially revised: the Act’s title is replaced to focus on dental therapists, statutory definitions for dental hygiene, dental hygienist and the Dental Hygienists Register are removed, and several sections that previously governed dental hygienists are repealed.
The English text also receives targeted modernization to replace gendered phrases (e.g., "he or she") with gender-neutral language (e.g., "the person" or "their").Finally, the bill preserves and clarifies disciplinary mechanics for dental therapists that remain under the revised Dental Therapists Act: a conviction under the Act can lead to licence suspension up to six months or removal from the register, but the person must be given a hearing; a person removed may apply for reinstatement after six months. Most of the Act comes into force on assent, while the provisions in the amended Dental Auxiliaries/Dental Therapists Act come into force December 1, 2025, aligning with the date dental hygienists are designated under the HSSPA.
The Five Things You Need to Know
The Act designates dental hygienists under the Health and Social Services Professions Act effective December 1, 2025.
The Minister must recommend regulations governing dental hygienists to the Commissioner by November 30, 2025.
Before recommending regulations the Minister must consult Indigenous governments, the Canadian Dental Hygienists Association, and hygienists actively practising in the N.W.T.
The Dental Auxiliaries Act is retitled the Dental Therapists Act and its statutory definitions and sections that governed dental hygienists are repealed.
Disciplinary procedures for dental therapists remain: conviction can trigger suspension (up to six months) or removal from the register, with a required hearing and eligibility to apply for reinstatement after six months.
Section-by-Section Breakdown
Every bill we cover gets an analysis of its key sections.
Commissioner may designate professions; dental hygienists slated for HSSPA
The bill repeals and replaces section 5 to reiterate the Commissioner in Executive Council’s authority to designate professions covered by the HSSPA and then explicitly designates dental hygienists with an effective date of December 1, 2025. Practically, designation shifts statutory oversight from the Dental Auxiliaries Act into the HSSPA framework and triggers the requirement to create profession-specific regulations under the HSSPA regime.
Minister must recommend regulations and consult specified stakeholders
Section 67.1 requires the Minister to recommend regulations to the Commissioner by November 30, 2025, and mandates consultation with Indigenous governments, the Canadian Dental Hygienists Association, and dental hygienists actively practising in the territory. The provision sets process and timeline but leaves regulatory substance—licensing criteria, controlled acts, standards of practice—to the subsequent regulations.
Statute refocused: dental hygienists removed; Act renamed for therapists
The Act replaces the Dental Auxiliaries Act title with 'Dental Therapists Act', repeals definitions for 'dental hygiene', 'dental hygienist' and the 'Dental Hygienists Register', and repeals sections (2–6) that previously regulated hygienists. This is a legislative housekeeping and substantive transfer: duties, licensing and registers for hygienists will operate under the HSSPA once its regulations are in place.
Modernizes English wording to gender-neutral terms
The amendments systematically replace gendered English phrases ('he or she', 'his or her') with neutral alternatives ('the person', 'their'). These edits are drafting modernizations that do not change substantive rights or obligations but reduce ambiguity associated with gendered pronouns in enforcement and administrative contexts.
Discipline, hearings and reinstatement for dental therapists
The Act preserves and clarifies disciplinary mechanics for dental therapists: following a conviction, the Minister may suspend a licence for up to six months or have the person's name struck off the register and cancel the licence, but must provide a hearing opportunity before acting. A person whose name was struck off may apply for reinstatement after six months. The amendments also standardize register terminology, replacing 'appropriate register' with 'Dental Therapists Register'.
Phased coming-into-force
Most of the Act comes into force on assent, but the package of amendments to the Dental Auxiliaries Act (retitled Dental Therapists Act)—and therefore the operative transfer and renaming—comes into force on December 1, 2025. That date aligns with the statutory designation of dental hygienists under the HSSPA.
This bill is one of many.
Codify tracks hundreds of bills on this topic across all five countries.
Explore this topic in Codify Search →Who Benefits and Who Bears the Cost
Every bill creates winners and losers. Here's who stands to gain and who bears the cost.
Who Benefits
- Dental hygienists practising in the N.W.T.: They move into the HSSPA framework, which typically provides clearer, centralized professional regulation, a consistent licensing pathway, and a single statutory home for complaints and standards once regulations are in place.
- Patients and the public: Consolidating hygienist regulation under the HSSPA enables standardized oversight and the potential for clearer professional standards and disciplinary remedies across health professions.
- Indigenous governments and local hygienists: The statute mandates consultation with these groups, giving them a formal role in shaping the forthcoming regulations that will govern local practice.
- Department of Health and Social Services/regulatory administrators: Over time, having hygienists under the HSSPA can streamline regulatory administration across health professions and align inspection, complaint and registration processes.
Who Bears the Cost
- Territorial Department of Health and Social Services: The Department must prepare regulatory proposals, run consultations, draft and implement registration processes and potentially expand administrative capacity—costs not specified in the Act.
- Dental hygienists and clinics during transition: Practices may face uncertainty and compliance costs as new licensing rules, standards of practice, or scope of practice restrictions are developed and implemented by regulation.
- Dental therapists and the existing Dental Therapists Register: The Act repurposes the former Dental Auxiliaries statute and clarifies registers and disciplinary rules; administrators and therapists must adapt to renamed statutory structures and revised registration references.
- Regulatory stakeholders (professional associations): They must mobilize for consultations and engage in rule-making to influence education, competency and scope decisions—requiring time and potentially legal or policy resources.
Key Issues
The Core Tension
The central dilemma is between regulatory modernization and public protection on one hand, and the risk of regulatory uncertainty and administrative burdens on the other: the Act modernizes and consolidates oversight by moving hygienists into the HSSPA, but it defers core licensing and practice rules to regulations, creating a critical implementation phase where stakeholder input, drafting speed and administrative capacity will determine whether the change improves clarity and safety or generates uncertainty and compliance costs.
The Act sets firm dates and a consultation requirement but leaves virtually all substantive regulatory detail to future regulations. That makes the forthcoming regulatory drafting the decisive moment for changes in licensure criteria, scope of practice, supervised acts, mobility, and continuing competence—not the statute itself.
Stakeholders therefore must rely on the consultation process and the Department’s regulatory drafting to see how day-to-day practice will change.
The transfer creates a transition risk: the statute repeals statutory provisions that previously governed hygienists and postpones the details to regulations with a recommendation deadline of November 30, 2025 and an effective designation date of December 1, 2025. If regulations are delayed or scoped narrowly, there is a window in which clarity about who may practise which acts and under what conditions could be thin.
The Act also renames and narrows the old Dental Auxiliaries Act to focus on dental therapists; that reallocation could leave gaps for other categories of dental auxiliaries unless the regulations or other statutes fill them. Finally, the bill mandates consultation with specific bodies but does not prescribe format, minimum notice periods or dispute-resolution steps, leaving procedural choices—and potential contestation—to the Department’s implementation approach.
There's more to this law than the bill.
Codify Laws traces every connection across the legislative lifecycle.