About optometrists
Optometrists are regulated health professionals who examine patients’ eyes; diagnose vision and ocular health problems; and prescribe treatments to conserve, improve and correct vision and ocular health disorders. Optometrists frequently serve as the entry point to the eye health care system.
Optometrists work in private practices, clinics, hospitals, community health centres, corporate optometry, research, teaching and administration.
CIHI collects high-level, standardized information on more than 30 groups of health care professionals in Canada. This includes information on their supply, distribution, demographics and regulatory environment. To find out more about CIHI’s health workforce data, visit the Health Workforce Database metadata page.
Learn more about optometrists in our recent release on Health workforce in Canada: Overview.