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Optometrist: what the job actually is

Examining eyes, working out what is wrong with how someone sees, and prescribing the lenses or treatment that help.

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Optometrist: quick facts

Optometrist salary in Ontario: the median pay is $78,000 a year, according to Job Bank (reference period 2021). Its three-year outlook in Ontario is very good. The job usually needs a university degree.

Median pay in Ontario
$78,000 a year
Pay range (low to high)
$38,308 to $156,000 a year
Job outlook, 2025-2027
Very good
People working in it in Ontario
3,700
Usually needs
Usually a university degree

Source: Job Bank wages (updated 19 November 2025) and job prospects (updated 10 December 2025), NOC 31111. Pay varies by region and experience.

The work

What this job actually is

  • Looking after eyes and vision: testing how well someone sees, looking inside the eye, spotting disease and prescribing glasses, contacts or treatment.
  • It is not an ophthalmologist's job. An ophthalmologist is a medical doctor who does eye surgery. An optometrist has a different degree and does a different job.
  • Job Bank says most optometrists are self-employed in a private or group practice, so much of the working life is a small clinic that you also run.
  • Much of the day is the same set of tests, done carefully on one person after another, with the occasional case where something is wrong and you are the one who notices.
  • Job Bank says an ageing population is expected to increase demand for treating and managing age-related eye diseases as well as vision correction.

A Tuesday

What a normal day looks like

Not a good day or a bad one. The ordinary version, which is what you would actually be living.

  1. 8:45 — Check the day's bookings and what the technician has already done on each patient.
  2. 9:00 — First examination: history, vision test, reading the prescription, looking at the front and back of the eye.
  3. 9:40 — A child who will not look where you ask. You make it a game for five minutes, then you have the result.
  4. 10:30 — Someone with a new symptom. You check, find it is minor, and explain the plan.
  5. 12:00 — Lunch between patients, whenever there is a gap.
  6. 13:00 — An older patient with changes you want to monitor. You write precise notes so the next visit can compare.
  7. 14:30 — Phone a family doctor or specialist about someone whose result needs a second opinion.
  8. 15:30 — Talk through lens options with a patient who just wants to see the board. Selling is part of the job and you will be uncomfortable about it sometimes.
  9. 16:30 — The business side: staff, supplies, bookings, the supplier who has changed a price.
  10. 17:30 — Notes complete, last patient out. A day of ten-minute decisions that were each correct.

Honestly

Who loves this, and who should not do it

The second list is the useful one. Nearly every careers page leaves it out, which is why nearly every careers page reads like an advert.

You may like this if
  • You like precise measurement and careful, repeatable procedures.
  • You like a clinical job with a clear scope, a predictable schedule and a patient you can often help the same day.
  • You are curious about how the eye works and how small changes can mean something large.
  • You can explain a technical result simply, again and again, to people who are not interested in the technicalities.
  • You like the idea of a small clinic you could run.
You may hate this if
  • You want your career to start soon. Job Bank asks for three years of university studies before an optometry programme, and Waterloo describes its own degree as four years.
  • Competition worries you. The programme is hard to get into, and it is the only English-language optometry programme in Canada, according to its own page, which is a narrow door.
  • You dislike repeating the same tests. Most of the day follows a set pattern, and the interesting cases are a small share of it.
  • You dislike selling. Glasses and contacts are a product, and the practice has to pay for itself.
  • You do not want your own small clinic. Job Bank says most optometrists are self-employed.

The route in

How you actually get there in Ontario

  1. Do university studies first

    Job Bank says three years of university undergraduate studies are required before the optometry programme. Check the University of Waterloo's own page for the required courses, because admission is competitive and the prerequisites decide your first-year choices.

  2. Get into the Doctor of Optometry programme

    The University of Waterloo's School of Optometry and Vision Science describes an accredited four-year Doctor of Optometry degree. Its page lists a Casper test among the application steps. We have not verified the number of places, or the cost, so read them on its page.

  3. Register with the College of Optometrists of Ontario

    Job Bank says licensing in Ontario is compulsory and goes through the College of Optometrists of Ontario. We could not load the College's own website this session, so we have not repeated any exam names, fees or steps. Go to the College's site before you plan the end of the route.

Where this comes from: Job Bank — Optometrist requirements in Ontario · University of Waterloo — Doctor of Optometry

The money

Optometrist salary in Ontario

Job Bank's own figures, quoted rather than summarised, with the period they describe — so you can tell how old they are and go and check them.

$38,308
Low (a year)
$78,000
Median (a year)
$156,000
High (a year)

Ontario, NOC 31111. Reference period 2021, last updated by Job Bank on 19 November 2025. Wages vary a lot by region inside Ontario and by how long you have been doing it — the low figure is roughly where you start, not what the job is worth. Job Bank reports this one by the year rather than by the hour, because the income is commission and the hours behind it are nothing like fixed.

Source: Job Bank — Optometrist wages in Ontario

Where it is heading

The outlook for the next three years

Job Bank publishes a three-year outlook for every job in every province. It is the closest thing to an honest forecast, and it moves, so read it as a weather report rather than a verdict.

Ontario, 2025-2027

Very good5 out of 5 stars

  • Employment growth will lead to several new positions.
  • Several positions will become available due to retirements.
  • There are a small number of unemployed workers with recent experience in this occupation.

What that rating means: how many openings Job Bank expects in Ontario for this kind of work against how many people are likely to be looking — not whether it is a good job. A “limited” rating means more competition for each opening; it does not close the door, and it can change before you are ready to walk through it.

What is changing in this work

  • Demand for optometry services is influenced by population growth, insurance coverage, and the need for eye care and vision correction services
  • The aging population is expected to increase the demand for optometry services to treat and manage age-related ocular diseases and vision correction needs

Who hires for it

  • The majority of optometrists are self employed in a private or group practice
3,700
people work in this job in Ontario
59%
are women (48% across all jobs)
87%
are self-employed (15% across all jobs)

Source: Job Bank — Optometrists job prospects in Ontario (NOC 31111). Outlook updated by Job Bank on 10 December 2025; read by us on 5 October 2026.

Before you leave school

Things you can do now

  • Take the senior sciences and biology. The undergraduate years come first, and they ask for strong marks.
  • Pay attention at your own next eye exam. Ask the optometrist one question about what they are looking at. This is a normal thing to ask.
  • Ask your guidance office whether an optometry office takes students for a job-shadow.
  • Volunteer somewhere that puts you around patients or older people, which also counts toward your volunteer hours.

Test it

Do this before you decide anything

Reading about a job tells you almost nothing. This is designed to be done alone, this week, for free.

Ask a clinic a question and read the Waterloo page

About 60 minutes
  1. Phone an optometry clinic and ask: "I am researching optometry as a career. Could an optometrist answer one question by email about what the work is like?" Do not ask about your own eyes or ask for medical advice.
  2. Read the University of Waterloo's Doctor of Optometry page and the admission pages it links to. Write down the three things you would have to do before applying.
  3. Watch a day-in-the-life video from an optometrist. Notice whether the repeated routine of the exam looks calming or dull.

What it tells you. If the careful, repeatable work and the narrow door both sounded fine, shadow an optometrist and talk to your counsellor about undergraduate choices. If the routine looked dull, or you wanted more variety, the other helping jobs on this site cover different kinds of patient contact.

Better than any article

Questions for somebody who does this job

Most people say yes to a teenager who asks good questions. These are the ones that get real answers rather than encouragement.

  1. “What does a typical day look like, and how much of it is routine tests?”
  2. “How hard was it to get into the programme, and what helped?”
  3. “How much of the job is running a business?”
  4. “What is the part of the work you did not expect to like?”
  5. “What would you tell someone who wants to help people but dislikes a clinic setting?”

Could you own one of these?

The part other career sites never mention

Yes, and for many it is the normal route. Job Bank says the majority of optometrists are self-employed in a private or group practice. That is a real small business, so ask a working optometrist what it costs and what it asks of you.

Business 101 is free and teaches that part

Quick answers

Questions people ask about this job

How much does an optometrist make in Ontario?

The median pay for an optometrist in Ontario is $78,000 a year, according to Job Bank (reference period 2021, updated 19 November 2025). The range Job Bank publishes runs from $38,308 to $156,000 a year. Pay varies by region, employer and experience.

What is the job outlook for an optometrist in Ontario?

Job Bank rates the employment outlook for this work in Ontario as very good for 2025-2027 (updated 10 December 2025). Employment growth will lead to several new positions. Several positions will become available due to retirements. There are a small number of unemployed workers with recent experience in this occupation. A lower rating means more competition for each opening, not that no one is hiring.

What do you need to become an optometrist in Ontario?

Job Bank says this work usually needs a university degree. The usual route in Ontario, in order: Do university studies first; Get into the Doctor of Optometry programme; Register with the College of Optometrists of Ontario.

Where does an optometrist work in Ontario?

The majority of optometrists are self employed in a private or group practice. (Job Bank.)

How many people work as an optometrist in Ontario, and how many are women?

Job Bank counts about 3,700 people working in this job in Ontario. 59% of them are women, compared with 48% across all jobs. That describes who does the work today, not who can.

Not sure this is the right list to be reading

Start from yourself, not from the job.

Future Finder is free, takes about ten minutes, needs no account and stores nothing. It will tell you which kinds of work you lean toward, and which of these pages are worth your time.

Try Future Finder — freeAll jobs

Parent of a teenager weighing this up? Career coaching for teens gets them talking to people who do the work, anywhere in Ontario.

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Wages and training requirements change. Every figure on this page is linked to the body that publishes it, and the review date above says when we last checked. If you find something out of date, tell us and we will fix it.