LAVAL, Quebec—A new, first-ever survey of Canada’s eyecare professionals provides a detailed portrait of the demographics of the Canadian market and the composition of professionals, according to Breton Communications, a leading publisher and communications group in Canada’s optical market.

The findings of the 2012 Survey of Canadian Eyecare Professionals reflects a greying industry, the company noted, with 67.2 percent of respondents aged 40 or older, a mix of 66 percent independent retailers and 30 percent chain stores and the majority located in Ontario and Quebec. Also, in spite of recent economic uncertainties, a section of the survey reflected a fairly positive trend, with 33.9 percent of professionals indicating that sales were slightly higher in 2011 compared to 2010.

The 2012 was launched in May 2012 and conducted over a period of three months. E-mail invitations to participate were sent to approximately 4,900 optical professionals and retailers. More than 960 professionals responded by starting the questionnaire and over 530 completed it, giving it a 57 percent completion rate. “We were thrilled with number of eyecare professionals who responded,” said Martine Breton, president of Breton Communications, which has launched Opti-Stats, a web-based data gathering tool. “With over 100 questions in eight different categories, we really appreciate that so many ECPs took their valuable time to provide us with answers,” she added.

The survey included questions on demographics, sales, Internet usage, marketing, purchasing, human resources, eco-responsibility and an overview of the industry. Breton also noted, “The high level of participation really provided us with reliable data. Using an approximate population of 12,000 Canadian ECPs, the survey demonstrates a 4.135 percent margin of error and a 95 percent confidence level. With the major changes that have taken place in Canadian vision care over the last few years, this type of accurate information has never been more vital.”

The new survey is available for purchase as a PDF online. More information can be found at www.envisionmagazine.ca or www.envuemagazine.ca.