Helping People See: 2024-25 Progress Report

[1] Fiscal year. Not including funding for CEVR, a research collaboration with The Hong Kong Polytechnic University.

[2]  OEBC and/or NBEO exams to practice as optometrists. One student didn’t complete the program for non-academic reasons.

[3] By startup companies involving members of the School of Optometry & Vision Science as founders.

Since we published the University of Waterloo School of Optometry and Vision Science 2024-2029 Strategic Plan in early 2024, this is our first opportunity to reflect on the progress made so far. It is our commitment to provide regular updates to highlight what we have accomplished with our partners and what exciting opportunities we see on the horizon. This is a particularly important time for the School and optometric profession as advocacy efforts ramp up provincially and nationally with the call for a national strategy for eye care. With the passage of Bill C-284 in November 2024, we are supporting the Canadian Association of Optometrists' effort to ensure that the Minister of Health tables a strategy that recognizes optometrists’ important primary eye care role in health and the role of vision scientists in research that will result in better diagnosing, managing and treating diseases of the eye and beyond.

As the only English-language school of optometry in Canada, we strive to be a national resource to the profession by providing not only excellent education for the next generation of optometrists but also evidence for advocacy, research-informed continuing professional development and partnership for policy development and research. In recent years, we have strengthened our relationships with associations and colleges across the country and we hope to further strengthen these partnerships going forward.

A major milestone was the groundbreaking for the Waterloo Eye Institute (WEI) in June 2024. A once-in-a-generation modernization, expansion and reorganization, the WEI will be Canada’s premier centre for optometric patient care, research and clinical education. We successfully moved the Waterloo Clinic to a nearby interim location in October 2024 so patient care could continue with minimal disruption. Construction has since been proceeding well.

On a personal note, I finished my second and final term as School director at the end of June 2025, so it has been especially meaningful to me to witness the amazing accomplishments of our talented teams over the past year. I have every confidence that our next director, Dr. Ben Thompson, will continue to make great progress on our Strategic Plan goals and take the school to new heights.

Going forward, the School will be in excellent hands – not only because of Dr. Thompson’s leadership but also because of the empowerment of our faculty, staff, students and partners. I’m proud of how everyone has come together to achieve our collective goals, and the support that we have received from friend and partners both at home and abroad. It’s through internal and external collaboration, now and in the future, that we will achieve our mission to help people see.

Stanley Woo, OD, MS, MBA, FAAO
Director, School of Optometry & Vision Science
University of Waterloo