Optical Sciences - Contact Lenses (2025)

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If you’re already a licensed and practicing optician, the additional license to dispense contact lenses can help you offer increased value to employees and clients as well as increase your opportunities in the optical industry.

The ability to dispense contact lenses is a specialized skill, one that employers recognize as a great asset. This 1-year, independent study program is an advanced practice intended for licensed opticians that will require a qualified preceptor in your workplace to guide and directly supervise your clinical training. This training consists of 500 hours over 2 clinical practicum courses.

Upcoming Intakes

Select your preferred intake to see relevant program information. Program details, including tuition and course information, may vary by intake.

Selection Start Date Delivery Mode Time Campus Length Domestic Status International Status
Aug. 28, 2025 (Fall) Online No set time Online 1 Year (Full-time) Open N/A

Swipe table to view more information for each intake.

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  • Admission Requirements
  • International Applicants
  • What You Will Learn
  • Applicant Outside Alberta
  • International Applicants
  • Work Experience Placements
  • Career Outcomes
  • Courses and Advanced Credit
  • Tuition and Fees
  • Scholarships and Awards
  • Contact

Hands-on, industry-relevant skills

This program is specifically focused on the fitting of contact lenses.You’ll be introduced to the art and science of contact lens fit, design, care and management of both soft and hard lenses.We will also discuss specialty lenses and examine required follow-up procedures.

This clinical consists of on-the-job training, which will allow you to practice what you’ve learned under the direct supervision of a practicing contact lens practitioner, optometrist or ophthalmologist.

After completion

Upon completion of the program, you will receive a NAIT certificate that will provide proof of your advanced competency with contact lenses.

Canadian Applicants Outside of Alberta

If you are a Canadian resident outside of Alberta, please contact the Opticians Association of Canada (OAC) for registration information and an application package.Canadian residents outside of Alberta do not apply through the Alberta Post-Secondary Application System (APAS).If you apply in error, the application fee cannot be refunded.

  • Email:education@opticians.ca
  • Phone:204.982.6060
  • Toll Free:1.800.847.3155

Important note for residents of Lloydminster

If your practicum is located on theAlberta side of the border, you follow the same application process as theCanadian residents in Alberta(i.e., apply through APAS and complete your application checklist). If your practicum is located on theSaskatchewan side of the border, you follow the same application process as theCanadian residents outside of Alberta(i.e., DO NOT apply through APAS – contact the OAC instead).

Important note for residents of Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut

You follow the same application process as theCanadian residents in Alberta(i.e., apply through APAS and complete your application checklist).

International Students

Some NAIT programsare unavailable to international students because they do not meeteligibility for astudy permitorPost-Graduation Work Permit(PGWP).

  • Study Permit:This program is delivered throughdistance learningand thereforedoes notmeet the criteria for a study permit.
  • Co-Op:Due to this program not meeting the criteria of a study permit, it alsodoes notmeet the criteria for a Co-Op Work Permit.
  • Post-Graduation Work Permit:This program is delivered throughdistance learningand therefore isnot eligiblefor thePost-Graduation Work Permit (PGWP) Program. Completion of this programwill notmake you eligible for aPGWP.

International students who have questions about permissions to take this program cancontacta NAIT Academic Advisor – International to discuss options.

Work Experience Placements

Students in this program gain valuable work experience with Work Integrated Learning (WIL). WIL is a form of experiential learning that integrates academic studies with relevant work-based learning. The WIL placement in this program is a Clinical Placement.

Clinical Placement

A Clinical Placement involves work experience under the supervision of an experienced registered or licensed professional (e.g. preceptor) in any discipline that requires practice-based work experience for professional licensure or certification. Practica are generally unpaid and the work is done in a supervised setting.

Duration30 weeks
CompensationNo
International StudentsNot Accepted
Placement Identified ByStudent - Submits resume to employers to apply for WIL positions.
Student Interview RequiredNo

Benefits of a Clinical Placement

  • Understand more about career opportunities, expectations and requirements of the professional field
  • Gain the opportunity to apply classroom knowledge in a real-world environment
  • Create networking opportunities in your chosen industry
  • Develop and improve communication, interpersonal and employment skills
  • Gain confidence in your professional skills
  • Practice job placement skills including job search, resume preparation, interviewing
  • Explore career options and program specialization within the industry
  • Improve application for future positions by gaining industry experience and increasing your employability
  • Possibility of employment after graduation
  • Potential financial benefits if the placement is paid

Contact

  • Email: optical@nait.ca

Career Outcomes

NAIT's Optical Sciences Contact Lens program is a fully accredited program. After successful completion, graduates can take the national licensing examination to practice in Canada:National Alliance of Canadian Opticians Regulators(NACOR). In order to work in Alberta, graduates of the Optical Sciences - Contact Lenses program are required to obtain a provisional license from the College of Opticians of Alberta (COA) after graduating from NAIT until they pass the NACOR exam. After passing the NACOR exam, Alberta opticians can register as a Contact Lens Practitioner.

Optician Contact Lens Practitioners must complete continuing competence requirements throughout their career. For information on these post-licensing requirements, contact the College of Opticians of Alberta.

Optical Sciences - Contact Lenses (1)

Courses and Advanced Credit

Current and recently admitted students can find information and updates about their program on their My Program page in the MyNAIT Portal. To monitor your course progress and the courses still needed to graduate, visit your Academic Progress Report.

Advanced Credit

You may apply for advanced credit once you have been accepted into the program. Advanced credit can be Transfer Credit (for completed post-secondary courses) or PLAR (Prior Learning Assessment and Recognition).

Transfer Credit

In addition to the common guidelines outlined on the Transfer and Credit Options section, your program has other advanced credit requirements that are applied to each request including:

  • You must have completed the course or program no more than 2 year(s) ago unless a formalized articulation agreement is in place
  • You must have a minimum mark of C in the course(s) or program

Read more about advanced credit or contact us about applying for credit for this program.

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Optical Sciences - Contact Lenses (3)

Scholarships & Awards

NAIT awards over $6 million in scholarships and bursaries to more than 4,000 students each year, with the support of donors and the government. A variety of awards are available, including ones for academics, community involvement, equity/diversity grants, bursaries for financial need, program-specific awards and more!

Learn how to apply for awards

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International Applicants

This program does not accept international applicants. International applicants interested in this program may contact a NAIT International Academic Advisor to discuss their options.

Want to learn more about this program?

Thank you for your interest! We want to get you in contact with the right person to answer your questions. If you are a current or recently admitted student you can find program and course information as well as contact details for your program on the My Program page on the MyNAIT Portal.

  • Admission Requirements
  • International Applicants
  • What You Will Learn
  • Applicant Outside Alberta
  • International Applicants
  • Work Experience Placements
  • Career Outcomes
  • Courses and Advanced Credit
  • Tuition and Fees
  • Scholarships and Awards
  • Contact

This program is a part of the School of Health and Life Sciences.

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Optical Sciences - Contact Lenses (2025)
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