Happy New Year Opticians of Canada
The Opticians Association of Canada has a new slate of Executives to introduce for 2017 and some new provincial directors as well . Our national meeting was held in Toronto in late 2016 and here is the full list with the new directors identified :
Provincial Directors Claudia Rojas – British Columbia Scott Smith – Alberta Bill Fedrau - Saskatchewan Todd Smith – Manitoba Martin Lebeau – Ontario Luc Sauvageau – Quebec Jennifer Bishop ( new ) – New Brunswick Diana Carver ( new ) – Prince Edward Island Paul Sim – Nova Scotia Gary Maynard – Newfoundland and Labrador Robert Grimard – Director French Affairs
Also , introducing the new Executive Committee of the OAC President – Todd Smith Vice President – Martin Lebeau Treasurer – Paul Sim
We are very excited at the OAC office to hear from our new leadership regarding the direction of the OAC for 2017 . The continued focus on education including refraction , Vision rehabilitation , and creating the next level of learning which is currently under development by Canada ’ s National Opticians Association and the leading supplier of continuing education in the industry .
This new team at the helm have been given a two-year mandate to bring change and harmonization to the world of Opticianry . They believe in one set of competency rules for the country , with clarity and equality of the continuing education system . The same content , quality and quantity of continuing education should be available to all Opticians . We are the same professionals , delivering the same professional services from coast to coast , so we wish to be treated the same by government in terms of regulation .
Under this new leadership we will participate collaboratively with all relevant organizations to engage governments and be sure the scope of practice of Opticians and education is equal all across the nation .
This year , we are bringing the national Vision Canada event to Calgary , complete with professional learning and a trade show exhibit . It has been a long time since we held this event in Alberta and we look forward to experiencing the incredible atmosphere and hospitality of Albertans again ! While we are sad to leave Vancouver ( we will return in the future ), we are excited at the new audience of Opticians we will meet and engage with while in Calgary . We are in the early planning stages and have developed a committee with the College of Opticians of Alberta to ensure that we create an amazing experience that our Alberta Opticians and those travelling from other provinces , will not soon forget . We have committed to hosting Vision Canada in Calgary for 2017 and 2019 – so BUCKLE UP Opticians ! It is going to be a BLAST !
The question always asked of us is “ Will Vision Canada be available by webinar ?" And the answer is YES ! We feel it is important to provide ample opportunity to accessible professional development , so will be broadcasting Vision Canada over the internet for those outside of Alberta . Vision Canada 2016 has an online audience of over 200 Opticians ! This is our largest online educational community yet , and we at the OAC promise to continue to grow our online offerings .
The focus of professional development is an initiative committed to by the new OAC executive . Our goal is to develop our online library of educational offerings . We have been collecting video lectures and have been researching platforms for most of 2016 . We are hopeful to soon have these video lectures available fulltime in the OAC library or similar medium . Stay tuned in 2017 for more information .
The main point of this update and welcome to 2017 is to show Opticians and especially our OAC members that we take our work and YOUR interests very seriously . Our role in the OAC office is to be the engine . The OAC Board of Directors are the ones to set the course . We love the direction set by our leadership and encourage all Opticians to jump on this boat and grab an oar !
38 Optical Prism | January 2017