How Much Do Optometrists Make in Canada? Income by Province

Optometrists in Canada work as associates in someone else’s practice, in optical retail, or as owners of their own clinic, so income in this profession mixes employment pay and business income. This guide uses the two public sources the salary by profession hub relies on throughout, Job Bank and the 2021 Census, and explains what each one counts. The dentists guide covers a profession with a similar practice-ownership model, and the pharmacists guide another regulated health profession.

Optometrist income from Job Bank

For optometrists (NOC 31111), Job Bank publishes annual figures rather than hourly wages, taken from the 2021 Census (reference period 2021). The national median is $81,000 a year, and the 90th percentile $162,000. Because these figures also come from the Census, they are no newer than the Census table further down; Job Bank simply adds the low and high ends. Job Bank publishes optometrist figures for only some provinces; the table lists the ones it has.

Source: Job Bank wages (Employment and Social Development Canada), NOC 31111, 2021, 2021 Census. Low is the 10th percentile and high the 90th percentile of wages. Lows are not shown (n/a) for occupations whose figures come from the 2021 Census: Job Bank repeats the same low across most such occupations in a region, so it isn't that occupation's 10th percentile.

Full-time, full-year income in the 2021 Census

This table narrows the Census to optometrists who worked the full year, mostly full time, and gives their median employment income in 2020 by province. The inflation-adjusted columns convert those 2020 incomes to today’s dollars; they are not more recent earnings.

Source: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census of Population, Table 98-10-0586-01: employment income in 2020 of people who worked full year, full time. Columns in August 2026 dollars multiply the 2020 figure by the change in the Consumer Price Index from its 2020 average to August 2026 and round to the nearest $100; they are not newer survey results. *Not published: Statistics Canada does not release Census income figures for groups with too few people, to protect confidentiality.

How practice owners show up in these figures

Statistics Canada defines employment income as “wages, salaries and commissions from paid employment and net self-employment income from farm or non-farm unincorporated business and/or professional practice”. An optometrist who owns an unincorporated practice is counted at the practice’s net income. An owner who takes dividends from a professional corporation is only partly reflected: Statistics Canada itself notes that some self-employed workers receive dividends instead of earnings. No public source reports what optometry practice owners earn after expenses, so this guide doesn’t put a number on it. The incorporated professional tax guide explains how salary and dividends from a professional corporation are taxed.

Optometrists, dentists and opticians

Job Bank’s national figures for optometrists alongside two related occupations. Dentists, like optometrists, are published as annual Census figures; opticians as hourly wages from the Labour Force Survey, so the rows are not directly comparable.

Source: Job Bank wages (Employment and Social Development Canada). Low is the 10th percentile and high the 90th percentile of wages; amounts marked /yr are annual, the rest hourly. Lows are not shown (n/a) for occupations whose figures come from the 2021 Census: Job Bank repeats the same low across most such occupations in a region, so it isn't that occupation's 10th percentile.

Training and the board exam

The University of Waterloo’s School of Optometry and Vision Science provides the only English-language optometric training in Canada leading to an accredited Doctor of Optometry degree (University of Waterloo). In French, the Université de Montréal’s École d'optométrie offers the Doctorat de 1er cycle en optométrie (Université de Montréal).

The national entry exam is set by the Optometry Examining Board of Canada (OEBC), whose members are the ten provincial optometry regulators in Canada. Its exam assesses entry-to-practice competence in optometry in Canada (OEBC). The licence itself comes from the regulator in the province where the optometrist practises.

Related guides

Take-home pay on an associate’s salary can be estimated with the income tax calculator. Other guides in this hub cover physiotherapists and veterinarians.