Canada PR · Dentists Healthcare and social services category
Canada PR for Indian dentists: one NOC, a category that invites, and a licence cost you should see today
CRS 475. That was the cut-off when the healthcare and social services category invited 4,000 people on 25 June 2026. NOC 31110 Dentists is inside that category. Compare it with the 516 and 523 that the Canadian-experience rounds needed in August 2026. You can see why a BDS with a well-documented clinic in Ludhiana or Jalandhar has a real opening. The other side is the licence. The NDEB process that turns PR into a licence costs about CAD 9,000 in direct fees and takes two to three years. This page puts both numbers next to each other, so you decide with open eyes.
- NOC 31110 · Dentists · TEER 1
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Punjab Government licence
No. 849/DC/PTA/PLA/LC‑3/2024
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Pro Lifeset Overseas Private Limited · CIN U52291PB2024PTC060508 · since 2024
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Is this you?
- I run my own dental clinic in Punjab, I have the ITRs to show it, and I want PR filed while I prepare for the AFK.
- I am an MDS working as an associate, and I need to know if my owner’s letter proves twelve months.
- I finished BDS a few years ago, my English is strong, and I want a straight answer on whether 475 is within reach.
- My family wants to know the full cost, PR plus NDEB, before we decide anything.
The numbers, checked 2026-09-05
Where dentists stand in the 2026 draws
- Healthcare and social services, 25 June 2026
- CRS 475 for 4,000 invitations
- Dentists under NOC 31110 were eligible. Another healthcare round was held on 4 September 2026. The IRCC rounds page has the numbers.
- Canadian Experience Class, 5 August 2026
- CRS 516 for 3,000 invitations
- Only for people with a year of skilled work in Canada. Shown here to show the gap.
- Provincial nominee round, 31 August 2026
- CRS 697 for 562 invitations
- Every nominee has an extra 600 points, so the high number is not what it looks like.
- Category experience rule since 18 February 2026
- 12 months, 1,560 hours, one occupation, last three years
- Doubled from six months. Associate dentists with short, broken-up jobs are the ones who get caught.
Want your own score first? Use the free CRS calculator, then call us with the number.
Your degree, your papers
BDS goes to WES for PR. Do not mix it up with the NDEB
For the immigration file, your BDS or MDS needs an Educational Credential Assessment (ECA) from WES or another body approved by IRCC. It costs about CAD 230 plus courier and is valid for five years. The NDEB, the National Dental Examining Board of Canada, will also look at your degree. But the NDEB process is for the licence, and IRCC does not accept it in place of an ECA. Dentists often think the NDEB file covers PR, or that the WES report will help with the NDEB. Neither is true. Two bodies, two purposes, two sets of transcripts from your college. If the college takes four months to send the second set, that delay can cost you a draw.
DCI-recognised college, council registration
Your BDS or MDS must be from a college recognised by the Dental Council of India (DCI). Your DCI or state dental council registration should be current and in good standing. IRCC will compare the name and dates on the degree, the registration certificate and every experience paper. A married surname on one paper and a maiden name on another is a delay you can prevent in one afternoon.
Own clinic: the papers that make it count
Most Indian dentists with real experience are self-employed. Self-employment counts as full-time experience when it is documented as a business. Clinic registration, income tax returns, GST or professional-tax records, and appointment or patient records that show a working day together replace an employer letter. A clinic that has run on cash and goodwill will need a year of clean records before it proves anything. Tell us early, and we will say exactly which papers to start keeping.
Associate dentist: get the owner’s letter right
If you work in someone else’s clinic, the owner must write a letter that states your hours, your duties in words that match the NOC lead statement, and your dates. It must be on letterhead with a signature and contact details. Owners often do not want to put hours in writing. A letter without hours cannot prove the 1,560 hours the category needs. So have this talk with your employer before the profile, not after the ITA.
Where dentists lose a year
Treating the NDEB application as the ECA
This is the most common mix-up on this page. NDEB verification does not satisfy IRCC. A profile built without a WES report will be found ineligible. Start the WES request on day one, at the same time as the NDEB account.
A clinic with no paper trail
Twelve months of private practice with no records is, to an immigration officer, zero months. Dentists who think the profession speaks for itself lose their category eligibility on a technical point that clean bookkeeping would have avoided.
Booking the AFK after landing
The AFK can be sat from India. If you leave it until Canada, the two-to-three-year equivalency process starts only when your Canadian rent starts. Book early, and the licence timeline and the PR timeline overlap instead of adding up.
Points you can still win
Language above CLB 9, or you are giving points away
The CRS rewards a dentist twice for English. Once as a direct language score. Again through skill-transferability points that pair language with education and experience. Those pairs pay in full only at CLB 9 in listening, reading, writing and speaking. The FSW minimum is CLB 7. But a dentist at CLB 7 is far below what the healthcare category has needed this year. IELTS General Training, CELPIP-General or PTE Core all count for PR. Remember that the NDEB and the provinces have their own language rules later. The PR test is the one we plan with you.
The spouse who manages the clinic accounts may score higher than you
Indian dental families often have a second professional at home. A spouse’s language test and assessed education lift the main applicant’s score. Sometimes the spouse’s own profile is the stronger one. On the call we run the numbers both ways. It does not matter who is the main applicant. Only the higher score matters.
Score first, then plan the gap
Enter your details at /tools/canada-crs-calculator and note the number. If it is above the last healthcare cut-off, the work is proof and speed. If it is below, the work is a language retake, one more assessed degree, or a nomination worth 600 points. Which of these is cheapest for you is exactly what a twenty-minute call decides.
Provinces
Several provinces
Healthcare streams that name dentists
Most need a job offer from a clinic or health employer in the province. This depends on a job offer, and getting the offer is outside what we arrange.
Provinces with Express Entry-aligned streams
Invitations by occupation from the federal pool
Some provinces sometimes invite pool candidates by occupation without a job offer. The timing is theirs. We keep your profile ready so a notice is not wasted.
PR is one process. Your licence is another.
The NDEB Equivalency Process, in its fixed order
Canada does not give a foreign dentist a licence on the basis of a BDS. The equivalency process has three tests that must be passed in order. First, the Assessment of Fundamental Knowledge (AFK), CAD 1,000. Second, the Assessment of Clinical Judgement (ACJ), CAD 1,350. Third, the NDECC clinical competence exam, CAD 6,500, or CAD 3,250 per component. The NDECC is held at the NDEB’s own centre in Ottawa. It has a clinical-skills part and a situational-judgement part. There is also a one-time application fee of CAD 900. These fees are the ones in force from 1 July 2025. PR is not part of this chain at all.
What it really costs, all-in
Direct NDEB fees alone come to about CAD 9,000 or more. Add preparation courses, flights and stays for Ottawa, and provincial registration fees. Most dentists spend about CAD 15,000 to 30,000 before they hold a licence. We put this number on the page on purpose. A family planning the move needs it in the budget next to proof of funds and government fees. It should not be a surprise one year after landing. The AFK can be booked from India. That is why the smart order is to start it before the profile even enters the pool.
The other option: a two-year Canadian dental programme
Instead of the exam route, some dentists join a two-year qualifying or degree-completion programme at an accredited Canadian dental faculty. It is slower and costs much more. But for a dentist who wants Canadian training on the CV, or who has found the clinical exam hard, it is a recognised path to the same certification. Which route suits you depends on your years in practice, your money, and how long your family can manage without a second income. That is a discussion, and we are happy to have it.
After certification: the provincial regulator
NDEB certification is national. The right to practise is provincial. After certification you register with the regulator of the province you settle in, for example the Royal College of Dental Surgeons of Ontario. The equivalency path, from first booking to registration, usually takes two to three years. That is longer than the PR file itself. Run together, the two overlap. Run one after the other, you add years of not treating a single patient. We handle the PR side only, and we plan it to fit inside your NDEB timeline.
How long it takes
- 1
Language test and WES assessment 2 to 4 months
Book the test, ask the college for transcripts for WES, and if you are ready, register for the AFK in the same month. Three clocks start together.
- 2
Profile submitted to the pool Once results are in hand
NOC 31110, with letters or self-employment proof that match it. The score is fixed at submission, and only new results can move it.
- 3
Waiting for the next healthcare round IRCC decides; 2026 has had no fixed pattern
Use the wait for AFK preparation. A dentist who passes the AFK during the pool wait has already cut a year from the licence timeline.
- 4
ITA and the 60-day submission 60 days, no extension
Medical exam, police certificates, proof of funds and the final clinic proof. Most of the file is built before this, so the sixty days are for checking, not panic.
- 5
IRCC processing About six months by standard; often more
Requests for papers come to us. ACJ preparation continues with you.
- 6
Landing and the Ottawa exam After arrival
The NDECC is sat in Ottawa, then provincial registration. The full equivalency path usually takes two to three years from the first booking.
What we do for dentists, and what we do not
- Check if your clinic records or associate letter prove twelve months under NOC 31110 before you enter the pool.
- Run the ECA through WES and plan the language sitting that takes you past CLB 9.
- Prepare and file the Express Entry profile and the family PR application for ₹89,999 all-in, GST included, on instalments if needed.
- Time the PR file around your AFK and ACJ bookings so the two processes overlap.
- Arrange clinic jobs, job offers, LMIAs or work permits. No MEA Recruiting Agent licence, ever.
- Prepare you for, or register you with, the NDEB or a provincial dental regulator.
- Guarantee anything about draws, scores or results. Those belong to IRCC.
Full Canada PR filing is ₹89,999 all-in, GST included, spouse and children included. See what is inside.
Questions dentists ask us
It depends on your age, language bands, assessed degrees and spouse factors. That is why the calculator at /tools/canada-crs-calculator comes first. Dentists with CLB 9 and two assessed degrees are often near or above it. Those with CLB 7 usually are not. The 25 June 2026 round is one data point, and cut-offs move.
No. PR and the dental licence are not linked. Practice needs NDEB certification through the AFK, ACJ and NDECC, or a two-year Canadian programme, and then provincial registration. We file the PR only, and we tell you this before you pay us anything.
Direct fees are about CAD 9,000 or more: CAD 900 application, CAD 1,000 AFK, CAD 1,350 ACJ and CAD 6,500 NDECC, at the rates from 1 July 2025. With preparation, travel to Ottawa and provincial fees, most dentists spend CAD 15,000 to 30,000.
Yes, when it is documented as a business with clinic registration, ITRs, GST or professional-tax records and patient records. IRCC assesses the papers, not the profession.
CAD 23,360 under the IRCC table dated 7 July 2025. It is CAD 19,001 for two and CAD 28,362 for four. The money must be your own, ready to withdraw, and not borrowed. Try /tools/canada-proof-of-funds-calculator for your family size.
No. That needs an MEA Recruiting Agent licence, which we do not hold. Where a provincial stream needs an offer, we say so and plan around it instead of pretending.
You have sixty days to submit the full application with medical exam, police certificates and proof of funds. IRCC then works to a six-month standard, which is often longer. Government fees from 30 April 2026 are CAD 990 plus CAD 600 per adult and CAD 270 per child, paid at cost.
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Checked 2026-09-05 against: National Dental Examining Board of Canada · IRCC — Express Entry rounds of invitations · IRCC — category-based selection. Draw scores change with every round; we re-check before you file.