Refresher Program

 The Refresher Program is designed to support individuals in three scenarios:

1. Meeting currency requirement. Registered Opticians (RO) who want to maintain their RO status but who have not met the currency requirement. For more information, please click here.
2. Inactive Opticians who need recent practice experience. Inactive opticians who wish to change back to RO status but who haven’t had recent practice experience (e.g. out of province). For more information, please click here.
3. Applicants seeking initial registration as an Intern Optician or a Registered Optician whose education or examinations are no longer current. This includes Intern Opticians whose education or examinations are no longer current. For more information, please click here.

The Refresher Program has three levels, based on the length of time a registrant/applicant has been out of practice or has not maintained their currency requirement:

• Level 1: Registrants/applicants who have been out of practice/not current for a short period (under 3 years).

• Level 2: Registrants/applicants who have been out of practice/not current for a moderate period (3 - 6 years).

• Level 3: Registrants/applicants returning after a more extended absence (6 - 10 years).

• Registrants/applicants who have been out of practice for 10 years or more will be required to undergo a Competency Gap Analysis (CGA) prior to returning to practice or being eligible for initial registration. 

Depending on the level, registrants will engage with some or all of the following components:

• Review of Standards and Practice Guidelines: To ensure familiarity with current professional expectations, and to account for any changes since the registrant last practiced.
• Jurisprudence: A review of some day-to-day practice requirements. These modules, which include written materials and assessment, were developed by the College of Opticians of Ontario (COO) and are available on the COO website at no cost.
• Core Competency Modules: A refresher on practice skills that form the core compentencies of opticianry practice. These modules were developed by the National Alliance of Canadian Optician Regulators (NACOR) to align with the National Compentencies for Canadian Opticians. The modules, which include written materials and assessment, are available via NACOR.

Key features of the Refresher Program include:

• Different situations, different levels. Each level of the Refresher Program takes into account how long it has been since the registrant has last practiced.
• Cost & Time. The cost of the Refresher Program has been minimized to cost-recovery level. NACOR will be administering the majority of the modules and the COO will be utilizing a free module from our Jurisprudence tool. Importantly, under the previous regulation, any registrant who was out of practice for 3 years or more automatically had to undergo the competency gap analysis at a cost of $1000 upwards. In addition, the registrant's file needed to go to the Registration Committee for review, a wait time of approximately 8 weeks.
• Ease of access. All components of the Refresher Program can be done virtually and at the registrant's/applicant's own pace. Each module is offered virtually and consists of two parts: a video plus a multiple-choice test that needs to be passed.
• Planning. Registrants can plan ahead as to what is needed to return to practice. This will also assist registrants in making an informed decision around going inactive versus staying active using the Refresher Program to top up their currency hours.

Please note that a score of 80% is required on the NACOR modules for it to be considered a passing mark. If a second or any subsequent attempt is required on a NACOR module, the full fee ($100 + taxes) will be charged by NACOR. This fee is set by NACOR and is subject to change.