Ophthalmologists urge provinces not to allow optometrists to perform minor surgeries

Ophthalmologists are urging provincial governments not to move ahead with plans that would allow optometrists to perform some surgeries and laser eye treatments, which are currently outside their scope of practice.

Dr. Nina Ahuja, president-elect of the Canadian Ophthalmological Society, says surgery must remain in the hands of physicians and handing over even seemingly minor procedures to optometrists is “200 per cent unsafe” for patients.

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Both professions specialize in the eye, but optometrists are primary eye care providers with a four-year professional degree after an undergraduate education, and ophthalmologists are surgeons and eye disease doctors with at least nine years of medical training, also after undergrad.

Ahuja is responding to news that the governments of Ontario and Alberta are working with optometrists to implement proposed changes to their practice, which both governments say would improve access to eye care.

A spokesperson for Ontario’s health minister says the changes could allow optometrists to perform minor in-office surgical procedures under local anesthesia, use laser therapy to manage cataracts and glaucoma, order diagnostic tests and independently treat open-angle glaucoma.

The college of optometrists in Alberta proposed broadening their scope of practice in 2020 to include minor laser treatments, injections, and superficial skin surgical procedures such as the removal of skin tags and warts.

Alberta’s ministry of primary and preventative health services announced its support of an expansion last month, and now says it is working with the optometrists’ college to finalize proposed changes.

Optometrists would be required to pass laser and minor surgical examinations and complete supervised clinical practice before being authorized to perform the procedures.

The ministry says the college has been willing to “refine its proposals to address patient-safety considerations,” although it has not expanded further on what that entails.

Dr. Allison Scott, president of the Canadian Association of Optometrists, says the changes would not include procedures that take place in an operating room, such as retinal surgeries.

Scott says optometry students are trained in the procedures proposed, the complications that may arise and how to manage them, and their level of education should be optimized.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 18, 2025.