Interested in Becoming an Optician?
To become an optician in Canada, students need to enroll in an Optician Training Program at one of the accredited educational institutions that offer opticianry programs. Optician Training Programs are offered full-time, part-time, or online study and take approximately 1-4 years for completion. Once a student has successfully completed an Optical program s/he is eligible to take the national licensing examination. Upon passing the licensing exam, students may apply for registration to their provincial regulatory agency, usually a college of opticians. An ophthalmic dispensing (this may change) license allows an Optician to dispense eyeglasses.
Depending on which province the student resides in, s/he may then decide to continue on and become a licensed Contact Lens Fitter. The student must successfully complete a Contact Lens program, then sit the national licensing exam for Contact Lenses, and become registered with the provincial regulatory body.
There are provinces (Ontario and Quebec) whose optician training programs and licenses include both eyeglass and contact lens. Students graduating from an Ontario institution need to sit the Eyeglass licensing exam and the Contact lens licensing exam separately, but may do so immediately after course completion.
The Opticians Association of Canada, in partnership with NAIT, endorses and administers the NAIT/OAC Optical Sciences Programs. These accredited Programs lead to becoming an optician in Canada.