2022/2023 Continuing Education Fund Application Form

PLEASE READ INSTRUCTIONS BEFORE COMPLETING THIS FORM.

Purpose of the Fund
The purpose of the Fund is to encourage optometrists to maintain and enhance their skills through continuing education by financially assisting optometrists with the cost of continuing education. The Fund provides financial assistance for courses and events which have a continuing optometric education purpose, and which have been approved by the Association.

Eligibility Criteria
To be eligible to apply for funding support, an optometrist must:

• Be a full registrant of the College of Optometrists of British Columbia in good standing in the year in which the application is made.
• Be enrolled in the Medical Services Plan (MSP); have an active MSP billing number and be receiving payment for services from MSP

Eligible Education Programs
Educational programs which will qualify for reimbursement are Canadian-based optometric educational courses and events which are accepted by the Association. A Canadian-based optometric education course is defined as an educational program offered by an organization that is located and funded within Canada. Education programs must be approved in accordance with policy established by the College of Optometrists of British Columbia.
**The SECO University and Optocase fees through the BCDO partnerships are eligible for the BCDO CE Fund reimbursement.

Educational programs organized and offered by the Association will be eligible for 100% reimbursement. All other eligible education programs will qualify for 75% reimbursement. 2023 BCDO Conference attendees will have their conference registration fees automatically applied to the CE Fund reimbursement.

Application Criteria

• Applications for disbursement from the Fund must be received on or before October 31, 2023. Educational programs attended after October 31 will be eligible for the next year.
• There is no carry-over of an optometrist’s annual CE Fund eligible amount.
• Optometrists must provide supporting documentation that they have attended and successfully completed the educational program. For SECO University and Optocase, please provide proof of completion of at least 1 CE course.
• Reimbursement will be paid according to the amount submitted to a maximum of $600.00 CAD. The amount of the Fund reimbursement will be set annually by the Association. All CE Fund disbursements will be paid via cheque.
  • For payments made in USD, applicants will need to provide proof of payment for the CAD amount claimed, otherwise BCDO will provide reimbursement for the CAD amount at the exchange rate at the time that the application is processed.  
• No administration fee for BCDO Members.

***Please note, CE subscriptions of any kind are not excepted without providing proof of completion for at least 1 course.