Waterloo’s School of Optometry & Vision Science offers an accredited, professional, 4 year Doctor of Optometry (OD) degree. The School is the only provider of English-language instruction for optometry in Canada (there is also a French-language school; the École d'Optométrie, Université de Montréal).
Our students enjoy a leading university that attracts award-winning professors along with some of the best and brightest students from around the world. Licensed ODs make up the body of expert faculty and clinic supervisors who provide an optimum mix of theoretical study and practical training.
Student graduation rates in Optometry
Standards for students and for teaching are set very high, but our graduation/attrition rates suggest that our students excel in this environment, as can be seen in the following table of recent graduations:
| Year of graduation | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year of entrance to program | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 |
| Graduated in 4 years | 83 | 88 | 88 | 87 | 90 | 85 | 86 |
| Graduated in 5 years or more | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Graduated at any time | 96% | 98% | 98% | 97% | 100% | 95% | 96% |
| Attrition for academic reasons | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| Attrition for other reasons | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 2 |
| Completed all curricular requirements but did not meet other graduation requirements | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Still enrolled or on a leave of absence | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
Student test scores for registration exams
To complete their professional qualifications, after graduation, students must pass a registration exam. In Canada, this exam is administered by the Optometry Examining Board of Canada (OEBC), and some provinces accept the National Board of Examiners in Optometry (NBEO) exam. Graduates from our program are eligible for either set of registration exams and, depending on their plans, may opt to take one over the other. The School of Optometry & Vision Science has a history of doing very well on these exams. Here are the most recent results for our students:
| Written compenent | OSCE component | OEBC Overall | OEBC or NBEO | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Year of entrance |
Passed first attempt |
Ultimate pass |
Passed first attempt |
Ultimate pass |
Passed first attempt | Ultimate pass | Ultimate pass |
| 2017 | 90.8% | 96.1% | 80.3% | 89.5% | 76.3% | 89.5% | 92.1% |
| 2016 | 98.9% | 100.0% | 85.1% | 95.4% | 85.1% | 95.4% | 100.0% |
| 2015 | 98.9% | 100.0% | 92.0% | 96.6% | 92.0% | 96.6% | 98.9% |
Exam results for students trained in Canada can be found on the following page of OEBC exam pass rates.
