BC College of Optics is Canada’s first private post-secondary training facility teaching opticianry and contact lens fitting exclusively. Founded in 1984, BC College of Optics offered British Columbians an opportunity to receive hands-on, in-house training as an alternative to an out of province two year program and in BC the existing opticianry correspondence course that required its students to receive training by way of a long-term apprenticeship program.
BC College of Optics is registered as a post-secondary training institution with British Columbia’s Private Training Institutions Branch (PTIB). BC College of Optics training facility has been formally accredited since 1998.
Our ‘mission’ is to provide graduates of BC College of Optics with a comprehensive optical education in a timely manner, which will provide them with the necessary knowledge and skills to secure an ‘entry-level’ position in the optical industry.
Our ‘philosophy’ is to instill in our graduates a love of learning, an adoption of the Japanese “kaizen” philosophy of ‘continuous improvement’, and to foster a commitment to lifetime learning in the field of opticianry.
In 1984, the predecessor to BC College of Optics was registered and regulated by British Columbia’s Ministry of Education, Apprenticeship Branch. Holding classes in a 600 square foot facility, our school soon outgrew its surroundings and moved to larger premises in 1988. At that time, the only other method of obtaining training in Ophthalmic Dispensing or Contact Lens Fitting in British Columbia was by a distance-learning program administered by the Dispensing Opticians Association of BC (DOABC). In 1995, a two (2)-year public College Diploma opticianry program was established at Douglas College.
In 1996, formal licensure in both Dispensing and Contact Lens Fitting became a requirement in British Columbia and a new regulatory College of Opticians of British Columbia (COBC) was formed to regulate this profession. By October 1998, BC College of Optics received its first formal Accreditation through the Ministry of Advanced Education. In 2004 Private Training Institutions Branch (PTIB) took over the responsibility of regulating private career training in BC, and in January 2004 our school moved to larger premises…to its present location to its present location of #208- 10070 King George Blvd, Surrey, B.C. V3T 2W.
BC College of Optics is also a member of the National Federation of Opticianry Schools (NFOS). NFOS is an organization of North American opticianry schools dedicated to the advancement of formal education in opticianry.
Ted Morse, ABOM, FCLSA is founder, Program Director and one of the instructors at BC College of Optics. He is certified as a Master Optician (ABOM) by the American Board of Opticianry (ABO) and is one of few Canadians that holds Fellow (FCLSA) status with the prestigious Contact Lens Society of America (CLSA). Ted Morse is also registered as an Optician and Certified Contact Lens Fitter by British Columbia’s regulatory COBC, and served as elected representative to the Board of Directors of COBC from 1996-1999.
Sheree Watson, ABO, NCLE is an instructor at BC College of Optics and has received certification both as a Certified Optician by the American Board of Opticianry (ABO) and as a Registered Contact Lens Fitter by the National Contact Lens Examiners (NCLE). A graduate of BC College of Optics in 1992, Ms. Watson owned and operated her own optical dispensary on BC’s Sunshine Coast for 14 years. Ms. Watson is registered as an Optician and Contact Lens Fitter by British Columbia’s College of Opticians of BC (COBC), and was also elected to the Board of Directors of the Dispensing Opticians Association of BC (DOABC) from 1995-1998. Ms. Watson has her Advanced Instructor’s Certification with the National Association of Career Colleges and is also registered as a Refracting Optician in British Columbia.
David Watson, ABO, NCLE is an instructor at BC College of Optics. He is both ABO and NCLE certified and also is licensed as a Dispensing Optician and Contact Lens Fitter by the regulatory College of Opticians of BC. A 1995 graduate of BC College of Optics, David Watson has successfully managed a retail Optical Dispensary for over 12 years before he began teaching full-time at our school in 2007. David Watson has his Advanced Instructor’s Certification with the NACC and is registered as a Refracting Optician in BC.
A Career with Vision
