how many people wear glasses or CL's in Canada?

**serrano** · 12-10-2014, 01:17 PM

You think it would be easy to get that info from a reliable source, not so, called all colleges from optometrists to opticians in Ontario and nobody can give me the answer. Can anyone direct me to a source for Canada and not having to pay for it. Thanks

**abdousou** · 12-10-2014, 06:45 PM

Check this out, free services from the Canadian Government. Usually, they email you the report analysis within 5 business days and you can ask them to make a research for you pretty much anything you want in Canada. Pretty cool, isn't it?

http://www.cbo-eco.ca/en/index.cfm/t...rvice-request/

Goodluck! :)

**HindSight2020** · 12-11-2014, 07:10 AM

Originally Posted by serrano

You think it would be easy to get that info from a reliable source, not so, called all colleges from optometrists to opticians in Ontario and nobody can give me the answer. Can anyone direct me to a source for Canada and not having to pay for it. Thanks

The colleges are a regulatory board, not a marketing analysis firm. Call the large contact lens companies directly or talk to their reps - they will know exact unit sales and brand marketshare. However, they may be somewhat guarded about specific proprietary demographics.

**idispense** · 12-11-2014, 10:15 AM

Originally Posted by HindSight2020

The colleges are a regulatory board, not a marketing analysis firm. Call the large contact lens companies directly or talk to their reps - they will know exact unit sales and brand marketshare. However, they may be somewhat guarded about specific proprietary demographics.

Good point. Why would they want to know the demographics of the market they regulate ?

**HindSight2020** · 12-11-2014, 10:17 AM

Originally Posted by idispense

Good point. Why would they want to know the demographics of the market they regulate ? That would be silly.

And make too much sense.

**Chris Ryser** · 12-11-2014, 01:50 PM

According to Statistics Canada, seniors will make up 21 per cent of the population by 2026 (one in five), compared to 13 per cent in 2000.

The ophthalmology profession is aging. Today 35.4 per cent of practicing ophthalmologist are over the age of 55. By the year 2015, 43.2 per cent will be over the age of 55. (CMA 2001)
The current ophthalmology graduates cannot fill the needs created by those leaving the profession. Residency programs have been reduced from 48 graduates in 1992 to only 24-28 graduates per year.

Eye Diseases
Cataracts

Approximately 244,766 cataract operations were performed in Canada in 2001.

Glaucoma

At least 300,000 Canadians are affected with glaucoma, with 50 per cent of patients unaware of their disease.

Age-related Macular Degeneration

Recent surveys estimate that nearly 80,000 Canadians are currently affected with AMD and as Canadians age, that number is growing at a rate of 10,000 per year.
In 2000, almost 50 per cent of new CNIB clients were diagnosed with macular degeneration.

Vision Health Funding - Canada vs. U.S.

The Medical Research Council of Canada is only able to invest less than one per cent of all medical research dollars, or about $14 million, to vision research, supporting fewer than 50 research projects across the country. Compare this to U.S. National Institutes of Health which provides $450 million to eye research.

Canadian Association of Optometrists - The Canadian Association of Optometrists is a national member organization of 3,700 optometrists. Its mission is to represent the profession of Optometry; to advance the quality, availability and accessibility of eye, vision, and related health care; to enhance and promote the independent and ethical decision-making of its members; and to assist Doctors of Optometry in practicing successfully in accordance with the highest standards of patient care. (www.opto.ca)

Canadian Ophthalmological Society - The Canadian Ophthalmological Society is the association representing Canada’s 1100 eye physicians and surgeons who provide comprehensive eye care to Canadians. Ophthalmologists have specialized medical education and training to diagnose and treat all eye diseases and perform surgery. (www.eyesite.ca)

**Chris Ryser** · 12-11-2014, 02:13 PM

Originally Posted by serrano

You think it would be easy to get that info from a reliable source, not so, called all colleges from optometrists to opticians in Ontario and nobody can give me the answer. Can anyone direct me to a source for Canada and not having to pay for it. Thanks

I tried Canadian Government statistic but could not find any good results.

However Canada has a population that is about 10 times smaller than the US so just take the percentage from the USA results which are as follows:

Corrective Lens Use Statistics
Total percentage of Americans that use some form of corrective lens	75%
Total amount of Americans that use some form of corrective lens	225 million
Percent who wear glasses	64 %
Percent who wear contact lenses	11 %
Contact Lens Statistics
Number of people globally who ear contact lenses	125 million
Number of Americans who wear contact lenses	38 million
Annual worldwide revenue from contact lens sales	$6.1 billion
US annual revenue from contact lens sales	$2.1 billion
Average age of contact lens wearers	31 years
Percent of wearers who are female	67 %
Eye Vision Statistics
Percent of Americans who are near-sighted	30 %
Percent of Americans who are far-sighted	60 %
Number of Americans age 40 and older who have cataracts	22 million
Estimate annual treatment costs for cataracts	$6.8 billion
Eye Glasses and Contact Lens Industry Statistics
Number of eye glasses and contact lens stores in the U.S.	7,608
Number of people employed by the corrective lens store industry	73,261
Estimate worldwide annual revenue from contact lens sales in 2015	$15 billion