This impetus for the Future of Canadian Optometry series began when the announcement was made that Specsavers was coming to Canada, making bold statements about their plans for the market and rapid growth across the country. They plan to open 200+ locations across the country in the next couple of years. In the third installment of the series, Dr. Harbir Sian speaks with Bill Moir, GM of Specsavers Canada, to answer the questions that have been bubbling up about the future of Canadian optometry.
In this episode, Mr. Moir discusses:
• What made Canada a desirable market for Specsavers
• Why he believes consolidation is harmful to optometry
• The Specsavers business model has been successful in other markets (UK and Australia)
• What his organization is doing to support optometry
• What he feels needs to change with the educational system
Aequus Pharmaceuticals present the Future of Canadian Optometry series. Stay tuned for all six interviews with guests from different large organizations within Canadian eye care.
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Listen to the podcast here
Specsavers Canada GM, Bill Moir - The Future Of Canadian Optometry
Welcome back to The Future of Canadian Optometry Series presented by Aequus Pharma. If you’ve been following along, then you know that this series of conversations is a series of interviews that I’m having with leaders from various organizations that have a footprint in the Canadian Optometry market. It’s to ask them the questions that we would like to ask as Canadian Optometrists about what they see from their perspective as leaders from these large organizations that the future of our profession is. Also, what can we do as optometrists to make sure that we are heading in the right direction to make sure our profession thrives?
Now, if you’ve been following along, you know that the previous two interviews I had were with Dr. Alan Ulsifer from FYidoctors, the CEO of FYi, and Dr. Daryan Angle, the VP of Business Development from the IRIS Group. This episode number three is probably the one that most people have been asking about and looking forward to because this one is with Mr. Bill Moir, the GM of Specsavers Canada. He is the one who oversees all of Specsavers and planned growth across Canada over the next couple of years.
The reason why this is the one that so many people have been looking forward to is because that’s where this conversation started. This impetus for the Future of Canadian Optometry Series began in 2021 when the announcement was made that Specsavers was coming to Canada. They made bold statements about their plans for market or rapid growth for 200 and 250-plus locations across the country that they plan to open in the next couple of years.
The trickle-down effect, the 2nd and 3rd order effect of that other organization battening down the hatches beefing up their recruiting processes. OD is seeing their staff and optometrists being at least approached to be poached from them. A lot of the conversations I was having with you guys out there with colleagues across the country started in 2021 when those announcements were being made.
I was excited to finally sit down with Mr. Bill Moir to start to ask him some of these questions that I know many of us have had. I’ve been going around and asking, texting, emailing, and speaking over the phone about what conversations we should have and questions we should be asking when we have somebody from Specsavers sitting down. What do you want to know? I will say at the beginning of every interview, I ask every guest to be as candid as possible.
I know everybody is going to have their canned or planned responses. They’re looking and giving their corporation their best face, but most guests are willing to go beyond that, share their inner thoughts and what their personal feelings are. Bill was one of the guests who kept most of his answers close to the chest and played it from the most corporate direction.
At the same time, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed with this interview as Bill did share some great insights as to what has happened in other markets with Specsavers in the UK and Australia and what he foresees happening here in Canada as the gaps in the market right now, where Specsavers feels they can fill in and what they can do to change and for their own benefit too for them to grow. You’re going to love this episode and take a lot away from it. Thanks again for tuning in to The Future of Canadian Optometry Series presented by Aequus Pharma. Here is the interview with Mr. Bill Moir.
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Mr. Bill Moir, thank you so much for joining me on this special episode to discuss The Future of Canadian Optometry. It’s good to have you here.
Thank you, Harbir. It’s nice for you to have me.
As you likely know, not long ago, I put essentially a call out, more so an invitation to the leaders of various organizations that have a presence in optometry in Canada, and simply invited everybody to come on and discuss what we think the future of optometry will look like. Since then, I’ve been talking to a lot of my colleagues from across the country and getting their thoughts on taking this national temperature of the profession. A lot of the questions and the conversation topics that we’re going to cover come from our colleagues across the country who have questions that they’d like to have answered and are not always able to sit down with someone like yourself to ask them.
Of course, Bill, someone like yourself and other guests who are part of this conversation is in somewhat of a unique position within the leadership of these large organizations that have this presence in Canada and in some cases, in other countries as well. You have this perspective from an angle that many of us don’t. I’ll ask these questions and I’d love for you to share them from your unique perspective as much as you’re able to or comfortable sharing. I start everybody with the same question. That is, from your perspective, how would you describe the current state of optometry in Canada?
There are lots of positives about the current state of optometry in the industry in Canada. The quality of education for optometrists is strong. Optometrists in Canada are well qualified to give good clinical care. However, I do believe that the needs of patients and customers in the market aren’t being met all the time. We see a trend of consolidation of players in the market largely by private equity firms and the net result of this for customers and patients is that they increasingly have less variety of eyewear.
They have higher prices and that leads to longer return cycles. We did a survey earlier on in 2022 and we learned that over half of Canadians don’t think eyewear is affordable and consequently. Over 1/3 of them haven’t had an eye exam in the last 2 or 3 years. We know that by making eyewear affordable, we can reduce return cycles and lead to more regular eye exams, which not only improves disease detection for the patient but also grows the industry as a whole.
If we look at the optometrist, this consolidation means there are less options for career development, career progression, and potentially less independence to practice and it makes it harder to compete and, therefore, harder to establish and operate their own business. Our aim is to reverse that trend of consolidation.
I understand Specsavers has a presence in many countries now and I imagine Specsavers do their homework very diligently before entering a market. Also, Specsavers have had their eye on Canada for a while. From your perspective, what made Canada look like a desirable location for Specsavers to land?
You’re right. We have been interested in the Canadian market for a long time. We spent a lot of time in the country, understanding the culture and the market before we decided to enter it. One of the things which are appealing about the Canadian market as far as there are lots of different optical players here. We don’t believe that anyone is servicing the need of customers in the way that we would like to.
As I said before, we’re seeing high prices and long purchase cycles leading to the market not being able to always offer the best clinical care. The consolidation in the market leads to that as well. The thing that we find most attractive in the market is we believe we can come in with a very clear offer for patients and customers. This will lead to us delivering the best patient care to customers and doing it in a way where we ensure the independence and autonomy for optometrists, opticians, and retailers.
Specsavers Canada: Optometrists in Canada are well qualified to give good clinical care.
You’ve mentioned the consolidation part a couple of times. I did have a question a little bit later, but since it’s come up already, I remember in a press release or something, there was a statement that Specsavers’ intent is to reverse the current trend of consolidation in the Canadian market. Obviously, that’s a big point of conversation, generally speaking. For a large entity like Specsavers that has the intent to have a couple of hundred stores across the country and already 2,500, if I’m not mistaken, across the world, is that much of a different presence than the consolidated presence of other organizations?
We’ve seen this in other international markets in the past before we went into Australia. For example, many years ago, there was a company that had close to 50% market share. They had it across three different brands, but they’d grown by having acquired lots of small chains in independence and they dominated train supply to the independent optometrist competitors as well.
The end result was basically high consumer prices, long return cycles for customers, and consequently, little investments to grow the market. Specsavers operate quite differently. Our focus is on affordable eyewear and access to high-quality eye care, as well as the needs of our partners who own our stores and the local community. Those are the key things that we bring to the market. Specsavers’ optometrists are number one in Australia.
For all customers, eyecare needs the return cycles significantly reduced. The optical sector industry has doubled as a consequence of it. The detection rates find these things have increased dramatically as a result as well. What we bring by introducing that affordable eyewear, but access to high-quality eyewear, we encourage people to visit their optometrists more often. We set up more independent optometrists and opticians in their own businesses and communities to be able to service the needs of their customers locally.
In a setting like in Australia, if I’m not mistaken, their private practice optometry wasn’t as prominent as it is here in Canada, where I believe 60% of the market or so is private practice. With an entity Specsavers, any large entities going to come in and take up a lot of market share. It’s conceivable that it’s not the consolidated companies that are going to be losing the market share but a lot of the private practice optometrists as well.
We work with private practice optometrists. That’s what Specsavers optometrists are.
What’s the reception been so far for Specsavers in Canada with optometrists specifically?
It’s been very positive. We’ve had positive responses from our partners and associates. To be fair, we spent a lot of time, before we even entered the market, listening to Canadian optometrists about what’s important to them. What we learned is that the investment in clinical equipment and their independence is being able to act and develop as professionals while also understanding who they are personally, things like work-life balance and personal ambitions.
These are the things that are important to people and they’re important to optometrists in the industry. We know there are also significant differences by province. Not every province is the same, and we’ve had to adapt our model and benefits. They offer to suit different provinces where needed. There is a core model of enabling and supporting optometrists on and building their own successful practice that has been incredibly well received across the board.
We put a very high support environment around our independent optometrists. That allows them to focus on what matters to them, which is patient care where we can support them in all the other aspects of running their business, like product supply, marketing, finance, accounting, and payroll, all these things, which isn’t their core skillset, or they don’t want to focus their time. We’ve spent a lot of time crafting a high-support model which is right and meets the needs of optometrists in the Canadian market.
By making eyewear affordable, Specsavers can reduce return cycles and lead to more regular eye exams, improving disease detection for the patient and growing the industry as a whole.
On that note, I’ve been chatting with optometrists across the country. Before I even started doing that, when Specsavers was official or everybody knew Specsavers was coming into the market, I was curious what was the national, as much as I could, feeling or sentiment about Specsavers entering the market? Most of us knew that there was this intent for a long time, but when that initial acquisition of image happened and the first locations opened up.
I did my own little unofficial poll of as many people as I could from across the country in different practice modalities. I texted, emailed, and asked verbally. The question was quite simple. What is your initial sentiment about Specsavers entering the Canadian market positive, negative, or indifferent? I got about 41 responses and the answers were as follows, 1 positive, 26 negative, and 14 indifferent. First, I’d like to get your thoughts on that. Initially, how would you respond to that?
That’s disappointing. It also goes to show how little people potentially know about the Specsavers brand and the work we’ve done in other markets. What we’ve been doing is being as open and as visible as we can be to try and share more about the business and help people understand what we do and what drives us. We’re quite unique as a business in a number of ways. We are privately owned and led by optometrists, which makes us quite unique. We are purpose-led. Doug and Mary, who own the business, still actively lead and run it now and do that with the same level of passion, care and commitment as they always have. That means we don’t need to answer shareholders.
We’re not beholden to a bottom-line profit like a lot of private equity firms are. We’re driven by them because they’re optometrists and improving people’s lives through better sight. That’s our aim. It’s ingrained in our business in everything we do. We’re a customer and partner-led model, so customer-first because we’re a purpose owner with our ownership structure. We truly have a customer-first mindset in everything we do.
That’s from striving for clinical excellence and eyecare to making sure that the high-quality eyewear we have is accessible and affordable. We’re a partnership business. All Specsavers stores remain owner operated under a high support franchise partnership model. It’s called a Joint Venture. Our aim is to make them successful and support them so they can focus on the eye care where needs for their customers in local communities.
That’s what we want to try and bring to Canada. Our goal for Canada is to provide Canadian communities with exceptional clinical care, advanced clinical equipment with dedicated professionals owning their own businesses, and looking at the needs of their patients. We’re being as open and transparent as we can with people giving access to us to find out more about our business so they can get to know us and understand the good that we bring to the business.
We say, “When we went to the Australian market years ago, as a consequence of that, the optical market in Australia has doubled on the back of that.” The detection for patients has practically doubled as well. There are a lot of benefits we bring both to the industry itself and patients and customers within it as well.
If I can expand a little on the poll. When I ask these questions and I get a response, I would usually follow up with, “What’s the reason?” Between the negative and indifferent, some people shifted back and forth. Generally speaking, the optometrists we’re responding with indifferent, we’re looking at it more from a business perspective, “I’m comfortable with where my business is. It’ll be fine. There are always new players in the market. It’s all good.”
They’re not thinking a whole lot about it. The negative, some of them were worried about their business. The majority of the negative was more so concerned about the profession as a whole. Not so much about their business but the optometry profession across the country. Those were the interesting responses that I was looking into.
When I looked into that, the concern about the profession as a whole and these doctors responded with a negative response. Most of them were worried about the profession being devalued or commoditized, and a lot of those feelings were coming from what they had seen in other countries, including Australia being one of them and the UK. What is your thought about those sentiments from optometrists?
Specsavers Canada: Being able to act and develop as professionals while also understanding who they are personally – these are the things that are important to people.
If we look at what we’ve done in other markets and plans here as well, we’re an optometry-owned business, so optometry is very much at the core of who we are. That’s what drives us and leads us. Our aim is to make sure we improve the industry, both for the professionals who work within it as well as the customers and patients who rely on it on a day-to-day basis.
Our aim is to grow the optimal market all in Canada by providing high-quality eyecare and affordable eyewear to encourage more frequent visits, change the market, more frequent visits to optometrists, improve the eye disease detection rates, as well as growing the market as a whole to get better patient care. We share our knowledge from across the globe.
We’ll work with key stakeholders in the market to continue to grow and strengthen the industry too. That’s from working with the colleges, investing in graduates to help grow future optometrists for tomorrow, working with associations across different provinces, and also working with different stakeholder groups across Canada to make sure we’re continually developing and strengthening the industry.
Generally speaking, making eyewear less expensive is one thing, but making eyecare more accessible. Does that also mean making it less expensive?
As I say, our optometrists are independent, so they have their own autonomy to run their practice, but that’s not our aim. When we’ve talked to customers, research tells us it’s the cost of eyewear and, often, the prohibited cost of eyewear stops customers from visiting their optometrist. We aim to use our scale to bring high-quality but affordable eyewear to customers and encourage them to visit their optometrist more often. As a consequence of that, they receive the eyecare they need. We don’t see any value in discounting the cost of eye care. It’s not our place to do that either because we have independent optometrists who take these decisions.
Is it the optometrist who sets the price of the eye exam?
That’s correct. We would try and always have optometrists that are like-minded to us. We want to have a cost structure and pricing structure that’s accessible to customers. Ultimately, it’s the optometrist’s independent practice.
You’ve already touched on the long-term goal for Specsavers in Canada.
Ultimately, we’d like to grow the Specsavers business so we can provide improved access, as I said, to high-quality eyecare and affordable eyewear to benefit more customers and patients. That’s the aim. We said we’re investing in rolling out 200 locally owned clinics, and they’ll be quick for the latest technology. They’ll be rolling out across Canada over the next couple of years, and we’ll cover and invest.
That’s a big investment play for us to cover 100% of every clinic's startup costs. Each optometrist and optician owner partner will have no costs to go into business. That will cover all the design, construction, displays, etc. We’re empowering the independence of optometrists by reducing some of the common barriers to ownership. By doing that, we aim to provide better levels of eyecare to patients. As I said, we encourage more regular visits to optometrists from Canadians as well as creating stronger career and business ownership opportunities for optometrists and opticians.
The key things that Specsavers brings to the market are a focus on affordable eyewear and high access to high-quality eye care, as well as the needs of partners and local communities.
With the current practice modality for an optometrist in Canada, the way we practice and the way our regulations are, does that align with that growth that Specsavers is planning to have over the next couple of years, or do you feel that it might need to change for that growth to happen?
I don’t believe it needs to change. There’s got to happen. The model we’ve got in the stores we’ve already got is operating successfully, so there’s no need to change in order for us to meet our mission. However, we would certainly be working with the industry to constantly see how we can involve, improve, and develop the way we work as an industry. We’re providing continued development and opportunities for optometrists as well as continually trying to improve what we do and how we do it to provide better patient care.
When you say industry, are there specific entities that you’re referring to?
Across the board, all the professional associations and colleges that deal with optometry and opticians across Canada.
When I put that initial invitation out there, the core question I’m asking every guest that’s coming on here is, what is your organization doing to support the growth and strength of the profession of optometry in the future?
Our aim is to make sure we improve the industry for both the professionals who work in it as well as the customers and patients who rely on it. We’re very partner focus and patient customer focus. We want to do that by providing high-quality eye care and affordable eyewear. It’s all about encouraging more frequent visits to an optometrist to improve eye disease detection rates as well as growing market share as a whole and giving better patient care. We found from research that people visit their car mechanics more frequently than do their optometrists. There’s something fundamentally wrong about that in the industry.
They’re driving the wrong cars, Bill.
Maybe they are, but they should be worrying more about the sight than the car. Over 1/3 of Canadians haven’t had an exam in the last 2 or 3 years. That’s what we’re going to try. That’s what we would like to try and change. We’re making it a considerable investment in our clinical proposition to make sure we deliver the best care, everything from the equipment which is available at our clinics to the development programs.
With the opportunities, we’ll be creating independent optometrists to work in them. We’ll share our knowledge across the globe of the work and work with key stakeholders to continually grow and strengthen the industry, so we’re working with the colleges, associations, and other stakeholder groups across Canada. We’re also interested in investing in research and continuing education as well. We run big clinical conferences in other regions to bring together professionals to try and continuously develop and grow our learning.
Do you think it’s important for the scope of practice in Canada to continue to grow?
Specsavers Canada: Research tells us it's the cost of eyewear and the often prohibitive cost that stops customers from visiting their optometrist.
It’s important for any industry to grow, develop, and adapt to the needs of customers as they change. That’s fundamental. That’s true of the eyecare industry as well as anything else. One of the concerns I suppose I have is that the consolidation that’s happening in the eyecare industry at the moment, it means many clinics will essentially be swallowed by private equity own businesses. Without the focus, primarily, it often becomes about the pairing companies’ bottom line rather than the quality of eyecare for their customers.
That means that through these providers, often the cost of an eye can increase and become more expensive. That increases the time between purchasing new frames and visiting the optometrist, meaning that Canadians don’t get their eye exams as frequently as they do for their health. We know that from the research we’ve done. That’s the thing we are trying to solve and reverse by launching our brand with independent optometrists in the market.
I understand the concept of lower-priced eyewear results in more frequent visits back to the optometrist. How does that patient, either before they come in or after they leave, say perceive that as a high-value, high-quality eye exam?
There are probably a couple of things that are key. In reality, it’s two things. It’s about the clinical experience, and absolutely, it’s also about the patient experience. Our compassion and expertise to help people feel good, cared for, and smart is what we’re trying to do. We want people to receive the right care for them, give them self-confidence, and help them see better, but they need to have a trusted expert.
Part of that is around the experience they get in-store, the journey, how they’re led to do that, and the actual clinical experience they get. Hence, every customer who comes in, as part of their standard eye exam, would have an OCT. We know from other markets we’ve done that in that it massively improves disease detection. Also, from a customer feeling point of view, customers can see the value in that. They can understand the technology that’s being used. They can see that and have a greater trust in their eyecare professional because they’re receiving the right level of clinical care.
How much does it cost for an eye exam at Specsavers in Australia?
Australia is different and quite a unique market where the government pays for eye exams. It’s a very different model in Australia than it works over here.
In our case, that would be the same as here in BC. We have MSP in Ontario and whatnot. Would it be the equivalent of that pain for the eye exam with no additional charge?
It’s a more significant contribution the government makes. MSP is more of a top-up in BC. That’s how it works in Australia. Typically the clinics we have in BC charge $99 for an eye exam for customers, which is pretty much in line with the competitors across the market.
Is that how much you feel about a high-quality, comprehensive eye exam? Would you say, in your opinion, $99 is the appropriate price?
Technology will continue to provide better insights and diagnostic information to the optometrist.
The important thing for customers is to make sure we encourage them to visit their optometrist more often. For me, it’s not about Specsavers or maximizing the revenue from every single visit, but it’s about making sure our customers are getting a great experience and high-quality clinical care so that they return to the optometrists on a regular basis. That’s the key thing. From a customer’s point of view, they’re receiving better clinical care. From an optometrist and an industry point of view, you can argue we’re getting better lifetime value as well.
Would you agree that if, across the board and the country, an entity such as Specsavers, it could be any company, but if they have a larger footprint, is charging a set price, which is significantly lower or noticeably lower than most other private practice or other entities that it changes the perception of the value of the eye exam, and that specifically the service? I’m not talking about the eyewear, but the eye exam service, is the perception of the value of that service then if X company is setting it at a significantly lower price, then, generally speaking, the service is not valued as much as if it was set at a higher price?
Possibly. The way the market and the industry in Canada work in terms of how optometrists are rewarded actually encourages that to a degree. It encourages more of a status quo in the market, in particular, businesses wanted to go and significantly reduce the revenue that was charged to customers from eye exams. We probably struggled to get optometrists wanting to come and work for them. If I’m being honest, the industry selfs to a degree on what customers are to be charged and what a fair price is for an eye exam. The ways to grow are to grow the degrees of clinical care that are given, but generally, the market is quite self-regulating.
In BC, a few years ago now, I can’t believe it’s been that long. We had a pretty significant legislative or regulatory change where a large eCommerce player clearly contacts basically infiltrated the government and managed to change regulations to their benefit. What I’m asking all the guests is like, “Do you foresee potential regulatory changes, whether in BC or across the country, by any given player to improve their outcomes versus specifically the benefit of optometry?”
I wouldn’t want to predict what changes could be made to the regulations in the future. Clearly, the case was quite a significant change a number of years ago. Our aim, as we said, is actually to provide better access to eyecare and more affordable eyewear to Canadians. By doing that, it is to encourage people to visit their optometrist more often than we do now.
We don’t need or want changes in regulations in order to achieve that. We are happy to work within the regulations that exist in the market at the moment. It supports our model because we’re supporting independent optometrists and setting them up in their own businesses to serve the needs of their local community. It works very well with us.
In fact, what we’re trying to do is remove some of the barriers for customers visiting their optometrists. There are types of barriers that would encourage people to look at alternative channels to purchase such as online for example. What we are trying to do is make sure people visit their optometrist for their eyewear and eyecare needs so that they can receive good quality eyecare when they do.
With advancements in technology and so on, one of the topics that come up quite frequently now is remote services or virtual. How do you see remote, whether it’s refraction or an overall eye exam? How do you see that playing into optometry as a whole and Specsavers specifically?
There are different aspects of that. We operate tele-optometry services in some of our other markets. That’s an interesting proposition. It is an emerging service. It can offer flexibility, choice, and accessibility for patients. It’s an important area for us. As I said, we’re offering it in some of our other areas, but the starting point for this need to be patient care.
In ensuring this can be successfully upheld, we need to be able to successfully have health standard care that is set up by the colleges. We tell things like tele-optometry can be a valuable service for patients, particularly in remote communities. It needs to go hand in hand with the option to be referred to a doctor for face-to-face examination if needed.
Specsavers Canada: We need to remove some of the barriers for customers visiting their optometrists.
I would never advocate it almost as a pure remote service. It can be a useful addition to help patients in remote communities get much-needed access to eyecare, but it needs to be done in conjunction and, in my view, in a store environment, and with professional handhold customers through that. The ultimate option is to see optometrists face-to-face if needed.
With all of those potential, the technologies being available to us is difficult to predict exactly which way it’s going, but I’m sure someone like yourself and others that I’m speaking to have some access to some information that might help guide you a little bit. Where do you see the optometrist and what do you perceive the optometrist’s role being 10 years or even 20 years from now?
There’s always going to be a real technology continually improving. Technology will continue to provide better insights and diagnostic information to an optometrist. We’ve done a lot of work in the sphere of AI and understand how that can get involved, but we still continue to see it as a useful suite of tools of technology for optometrists as opposed to replacing optometrists. In our point of view, we’re using levels of AI with the OCT machines we have in-store now. They provide a custom dashboard for our optometrists, so they can more easily detect issues with patients if need to. We’re constantly working on developing these things, but they are primarily tools for optometrists.
Of course, we know that AI is a big part of healthcare, but some concern that that’s going to then essentially move the optometrist out, and the technician can take that role and read a chart and say, “It’s red, you should be referred. It’s green, you’re okay.” How do you respond to that concern?
We’re an optometrist-led business. In our view, we would always see an optometrist as being a core part of the customer journey. As I said before, clinical diagnosis is key, but also patient care. It’s having that balance key. I still think I’ve trained an optometrist is going to be a core part of the journey for a while to come.
We touched on the educational system a little bit here and the level of education. The number of graduates is very different in North America, especially in Canada. I should focus on Canada here. We only have two schools and only one of them is English speaking. In the UK, it’s very different. There’s been quite an expansion in the number of schools in the UK. Of course, that means that there’s been a larger number of optometry graduates in the UK over the last decade or two.
That growth of the optometry graduates is exceeding the growth of the actual population. This question is twofold. Do you feel in the UK that there’s an oversaturation of optometrists in the market? Is that leading to a devaluation of their position? The second part is, do you foresee that growth in optometry schools and graduates happening here in Canada? Do you think it’s necessary?
I don’t know the numbers specifically enough to comment on the UK. In Australia, though, I can share some of the work we’ve done, where we saw a market a few years ago, which was under service. An optometrist undersupplied it and there weren’t enough optometrists to service patient needs. Consequently, that resulted in long waiting times for optometry clinics. It was a barrier to rolling out clinics to remote areas.
It resulted in less frequent visits to optometrists and a bigger strain on the healthcare business because eye disease wasn’t detected promptly. We actively got involved to improve that position. We worked with the industry to increase the supply of optometrists in the country. I see a similar position here from being honest. I see a real shortage of optometry graduates coming through and some real barriers to optometrists being able to practice in Canada. That is driving some of the same traits here and it’s resulting in the Canadian industry not being able to actively serve the needs of customers, particularly in some remote areas. It’s one of the barriers to giving patients accessible eye care.
When you say that Specsavers got involved in that, how can you elaborate on what that exactly involved?
We need to keep the levels of clinical practice and standards high in Canada.
We worked with the government, local colleges, and associations to grow the intake levels of optometrists across the country. We helped to fund and invest additional places in optometry courses, which relieved some of the shortages and stress in the industry.
Were there investments made in schools? Is that correct? Were there new schools opened or have these current schools increased their capacity? What did that look like?
It’s a combination of both. We helped to support them. As I say, they aren’t run by us. They’re independent colleges and university’s decisions, but we helped support where we could.
Do you feel that there’s a bit of a conflict when an organization is involved at the educational level?
We helped support as a market leader in the industry. It was something that wasn’t unique to us. All the players in the optometry industry were encouraged to follow that lead.
As you mentioned, you feel there’s a need for that in Canada to increase the intake of students, then the output of optometry graduates. In your mind, it’d be a similar setup. If you were to see it happen, it would be industry organizations, entities like Specsavers, FYi, or whoever is contributing to schools opening up and more students entering.
As a country, Canada has a shortage of optometrists. It’s as simple as that. There’s a need for us to develop more future optometrists coming through. As you said yourself, there’s only one college that has a relatively small intake every year. If you look at the growth of the population, there aren’t near enough optometrists coming through to satisfy that growth. That’s going to put a continued strain on the industry and the optometrist who currently work in the industry now. It’s going to result in the eyecare needs of many customers and many Canadians not being met.
From a professional standpoint, as the first part of that question, I know you weren’t able to comment on the UK market, but if there’s a larger influx of optometrists in the market looking for jobs, then it’s perceivable that their value will then decrease. There are a lot more optometrists. What they’re going to get paid or what their perception of their value? Is that going to decrease? Would you agree?
We’re all in this industry for the same reason: we want to provide good eye care to patients and detect eye disease if needed. That’s fundamentally why we’re all here. We’d all agree that the right thing to do is make sure we’ve got the right level of cover for an optometrist for customers' needs in Canada.
One of the unique things we have here in Canada is that we have the US neighboring us, and there are a whole bunch of schools in the US and there’s fairly open access. I went to school in Boston for us to come back to Canada from the US. The transition is fairly straightforward. That’s allowed the number of optometrists to stay at a reasonable level.
Specsavers Canada: As a core part of the customer journey, the optometrist is key.
It’s not the one school that’s putting out their 80/90 waterloo. I can’t remember what their number is per year. The program in the US is essentially the same waterloo in New England college where I went to school and others have the same academic program, graduation four years, and the fourth year is all clinical, standardized exams, and all of that thing.
For optometrists in other countries, it’s not the same program. As you know, here we have the Doctor of Optometry degree and in other countries, it’s a Bachelor’s. If I understand, in the UK, it’s now a Master’s. What is your feeling about optometrists from other countries coming in? It’s a fairly rigorous program that they have to go through right now at 2 or 3-year program and exams that they have to go through. Do you feel like that process of those optometrists coming to Canada needs to change or is it okay the way it is as far as you’re aware?
It’s a shame for Canadian graduates who want to pursue a career in optometry that they have to go to the US often to get it. I’m sure you can also advocate it’s an expensive route to go down. That’s a barrier to many people entering our industry, which is a shame. It’s absolutely right that there are high levels and high standards for optometry caps in Canada.
That should maintain and that’s great, but we do need to also find a way to encourage more people into the industry and have more opportunities. It’s very prohibitive for people to go to the US to qualify who may then lose to the US for a number of years and may never return to Canada. I’m a big advocate of keeping the levels of clinical practice and standards at high in Canada.
Staying on the conversation about schools and graduates. These days, it’s quite a different market than it was a few years ago, where new grads now seem to be in very high demand. There are different organizations, whether it’s Specsavers, FYi, or others offering various incentives for these new grads or young optometrists high salaries, signing bonuses, or forgivable loans.
On the surface, that sounds pretty glamorous for a new optometrist to have all of these incentives put in front of you. I’m curious to hear your thoughts on whether you think it’s the optometrist who’s at an advantage or has the leverage here or is it possible that the incentives are potentially clouding their perception in their decision-making for the long-term of their career?
It’s interesting because optometrists are highly skilled professionals and it’s a competitive job market. We spoke to optometrists and we’ve had a number of focus groups to understand what’s important to them. Student incentives, the ones you mentioned, are important to them. Could they graduate with substantial loans, particularly if you have to go to the US to qualify? That can be a heavyweight for students, but what’s interesting in the work we’ve done is that we find there are other things that are actually as important to them.
Culture is absolutely key to having an alignment of values and maintaining their independence. The environment they’re going to go into, who they work with as a peer or mentor, having that in place, and the location of the clinic as well, plus ongoing development programs and growth, will be for them both professionally. Also, as their careers and earnings over time.
It’s not one thing that’s important to graduates. Focusing on some of these big financial incentives up as a standalone probably is not. It’s offering people a wider suite of things that they’re interested in. These are all the things we focused on. Things like the culture and the environment you work in are absolutely critical. We’ve been ranked as the great place to work in Europe for a number of years in a row as a pride ourselves in the right culture and environment for optometrists and not focusing on the financial aspect of what we do.
We’re demanding people as optometrists. We want the money, the location, and the culture. It’s not wrong to ask for it. What would you say if you had a young student in front of you considering going to optometry school? Would you encourage it or put a disclaimer on there? What would you say to that person?
Of course, I would encourage it. It’s a great opportunity for them. As I said, the reason why we’re all in it is to improve life for a better sight. That’s the reason why Specsavers was here. If we got an opportunity to focus on that, help their patients, and wake up every morning helping patients in their local community, that’s what they do. It is a very filling direction to go into.
Thanks for doing this, Bill. I appreciate it. Is there anything else or any other message you’d like to share before we wrap up?
No. I’d like to thank you for the opportunity and for having us tell a bit more about our story. We’re excited about being here in Canada and the journey that we are planning for the next few years. The people who are joining us on a daily basis help deliver high-quality eyecare and affordable eyewear to Canadian customers. Thank you for the opportunity.
Thanks for coming on, bill. I appreciate it. Thank you, everybody, who’s been following along with the show, Canada’s number one optometry show, and this special, The Future of a Canadian Optometry, conversation that we’ve been having. Make sure you share it with your friends and let all of your fellow Canadian colleagues know that we’re having this conversation. There’s been a lot of amazing insight and important information being shared here by the guests that I’ve had that is going to be very relevant to all of us going forward as we’re all hoping to grow the profession. Thanks for reading. Make sure you share it. Take a screenshot and put it on Instagram, LinkedIn, and everywhere that you are. Shoot me a message and let me know what you think. Thanks again, guys. Take care.
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There it was. That was episode number three of The Future of Canadian Optometry Series presented by Aequus Pharma here on the show, Canada’s number one optometry show. This interview was with Mr. Bill Moir, GM of Specsavers Canada. There was a lot of good insight in there. If you were reading, you’re picking up some of the cues and some of those reading between the lines about what Bill was saying and the plans for Specsavers in Canada.
Let me know what you guys thought. Please send me some messages and leave some comments. Make sure you stay tuned. There are three more interviews to go. The next interview is with Mr. Rick Gadd, who is the President of Essilor Canada. After that, the next one is with Mr. Alfonso Cerullo, who is the President of Lenscrafters in North America.
Finally, we’re going to cap it off with a fantastic interview with Dr. Kerry Salsberg to give us the perspective of a successful independent OD from his perspective about what we need to do as optometrists to make sure our profession thrives in the future. Thanks again for tuning in and sharing this with our colleagues across the country to make sure all of us are hearing these conversations here on the show. I’ll see you again in the next episode, which is the interview with Mr. Rick Gadd from Essilor. Take care, guys.
Important Links
Dr. Alan Ulsifer – Previous Episode
About Bill Moir
With over 20 years of executive board experience, Bill Moir has always been passionate about people and outcomes. He has been implementing customer-led and store-focused solutions with companies including Comet, Google, Dell, and Coles across the UK, Europe and Australia.
Since joining Specsavers Australia and New Zealand in 2017, Bill has driven significant growth in the optometric industry and pioneered customer initiatives to advance eye health. He was also instrumental in advancing access to eyecare and eye health services during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Bill now lives in Vancouver and as General Manager of Specsavers Canada, he is keen to transform eye health and deliver high-quality and accessible eyecare to Canadians.
