The Registered (or licensed) Optician is part of Canada’s health-care industry and its members have expertise, training, and formal education in determining a patient’s ophthalmic needs. Simply, an optician is to the optical industry as a pharmacist is to the medical field — opticians make recommendations, offer advice, problem solve where needed, and in general consult with the patient regarding their visual requirements. Spectacle or contact lens dispensing may be based on.