Currency

Currency needs to be reported each year at renewal. You do not need to report 500 practice hours in each calendar year to remain current. Rather, you must have completed at least 500 practice hours over the most recent three-year period. This is a rolling requirement, meaning that each year the oldest year drops off and the newest year is added to the three-year total. 

A calendar year is January 1 – December 31.

Many activities you perform in your day-to-day opticianry practice count toward the currency requirement:

• Dispensing of eyeglasses, contact lenses, and subnormal vision devices, and related duties.
• Directly supervising, managing, or assuring the quality of services of opticianry staff engaged in dispensing. 
• Completing continuing education activities accredited by the College.
• Completing up to a maximum of 4 hours of self-directed continuing education activities annually. 
• Collaborative Patient Care
• Developing and/or Presenting Optical/Optometry Training Resources

To see the full list of activities that count towards currency, please review the Currency of Practice Policy. 

The following activities do not count towards the currency requirement :

• Work in a dispensary that is not related to opticianry services (e.g. human resources, information technology, business administration).
• Supervision of staff who are not providing opticianry services or engaging in dispensing (e.g. supervision of IT or reception staff).
• Engaging in sales or marketing of eyewear or optical appliances, other than sales or marketing that is direct to patients.

While these activities may be valuable and important to your business or career path, the currency requirement focuses only on activities that are directly related to the core competencies of opticianry practice.  

Newly registered opticians will have until the end of their third full year in practice to meet the currency requirement. For example, if someone becomes registered as an optician in May 2026, they will have until December 31, 2029 to reach the 500-hour threshold. 

During this period, Registered Opticians will still be asked at each renewal to report the number of practice hours completed in the previous year. These annual reports allow the College to track progress toward the 500-hour requirement, but new registrants will not be assessed for compliance until the end of their third full year in practice. 

An administrative suspension (e.g. for non-renewal) does not pause or reset the currency requirement. Once your registration is reinstated, your currency will continue to be assessed based on the three previous calendar years, including any period during which you were administratively suspended.

The next time you renew your registration, you will need to demonstrate that you completed at least 500 practice hours within the previous three calendar years. If you are unable to do so, you can complete the Refresher Program. There are several levels of the Refresher Program, determined by how long it has been since you last practised opticianry. 

• If it has been 3 to under 6 years since you have practised, you will complete Level 2.
• If is has been 6 to under 10 years since you have practised, you will complete Level 3.
• If it has been more than 10 years since you have practised, you will complete the Competency Gap Analysis.

To read more about the Refresher Program, please click here. 

If you are currently in the Inactive class, you do not have to maintain currency. However, when you are ready to move back to Registered Optician class, you will be required to demonstrate that your knowledge and skills are current for your class change to be approved. To see what activities can be used to meet this requirement, please review the Reinstatement and Changing from Inactive to Active Practice Policy.

Opticians who change class from Inactive to Registered Optician will have until the end of the third year following their class change to meet the currency requirement. For example, if an optician in the Inactive class moves to the Registered Optician class in May 2026, they will have until December 31, 2029 to reach the 500-hour threshold. 

During this period, Registered Opticians will still be asked at each renewal to report the number of practice hours completed in the previous year. These annual reports allow the College to track progress toward the 500-hour requirement, but registrants will not be assessed for compliance until the end of the third year following their class change to the Registered Optician class. 

If you are unable to demonstrate at least 500 practice hours over the previous three-year period, but you still wish to renew your registration in the Registered Optician class, you will need to complete a Refresher Program before the renewal deadline.  

There are several levels of the Refresher Program, determined by how long it has been since you have practised opticianry. 

• If it has been 3 to under 6 years since you have practised, you will complete Level 2.
• If is has been 6 to under 10 years since you have practised, you will complete Level 3.
• If it has been more than 10 years since you have practised, you will complete the Competency Gap Analysis.

To read more about the Refresher Program, please click here. 

You must complete the appropriate level of Refresher Program before the renewal deadline (January 15). If you do not complete the Refresher Program by that date, you may be referred to the Quality Assurance Committee and required to complete a Competency Gap Analysis.

You do not have to wait until renewal opens to complete the Refresher Program. You can complete the Refresher Program at any point in the preceding 12 months of the renewal deadline (January 15) to meet currency.

Details about the cost for each level of the Refresher Program can be found here.

The Refresher Program is priced at cost-recovery levels, meaning that the College of Opticians of Ontario does not make any money from the Refresher Program.

Please email [email protected] with the following information:

• That you would like to complete the Refresher Program to meet currency
• When you last practised opticianry.

We will then provide the details of how to complete the Refresher Program to meet currency.

No. The Refresher Program is completed remotely.

If you do not meet the currency requirement or complete the Refresher Program by the deadline to renew your registration, you will be referred to the Quality Assurance Committee and required to undergo a Competency Gap Analysis (CGA).

Please note that the CGA must be completed at the optician’s own expense (see cost information here) and that failure to comply may result in a referral for disciplinary proceedings. 

In the alternative, if you are not current, and you do not intend to practice for a period of time, you may wish to consider changing to the Inactive class until you are ready to practice again. When you are ready to move back to the Registered Optician class, you will need to meet the requirements set out in the Reinstatement and Changing from Inactive to Active Policy.

If you are no longer practising and do intend to practise anymore, you may resign your resignation by reviewing the Retiring or Resigning Policy and submitting a request. Please note that if you resign your certificate of registration, and would like to return to practice in the future, you will need to meet the requirements at that time to re-register. For more information about resigning, please click here. 

Yes. The policy does not distinguish between services that are compensated and those provided on a volunteer basis. As long as the activity qualifies as a professional activity under the Currency of Practice Policy, it can be counted toward currency.

Yes. If requested by the College, registrants must be able to provide additional information and/or supporting documents to confirm their practice hours. Examples of supporting documentation include time sheets, schedules, or activity logs, etc. 

Supporting documents (e.g. timesheets, schedules) must be kept for a period of 6 years. The College reserves the right to audit a registrant’s currency or request supporting information at any time, and registrants must provide such information or documentation upon request.

Quality Assurance and currency serve different, but complementary, purposes:

• Quality Assurance activities help ensure opticians are staying current with developments, best practices and changes in the profession through ongoing learning and reflection.
• Currency focuses on maintaining and applying professional knowledge and skills through regular practice.

In other words, Quality Assurance helps ensure you know what is current, while currency helps ensure you continue to use and maintain your competence in practice. Both are important safeguards that support safe, effective, and professional care.