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Council on Advocacy

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Mission Statement

The mission of the Canadian Ophthalmological Society (COS) is to strive toward the provision of optimal medical and surgical eye care for all Canadians by promoting excellence in ophthalmology and providing services to support its members in practice.

COS is the Advocate for vision health for all Canadians.

COS advances vision health by improving Canadian eye care standards through the work of its Board of Directors, Councils and Committees, as well as ties with national and international ophthalmological and eye care organizations.

Message from the Chair of the Council on Advocacy, Dr. Phil Hooper

Representing eye physicians and surgeons from coast to coast, COS strategically collaborates with governments, industry partners and healthcare allies on a wide range of advocacy issues, including stronger vision standards, improved federal regulations, and shorter wait times for speciality eye surgeries. The Council on Advocacy’s overarching objectives are:

  • To implement a strategy to establish ophthalmology as the most effective advocate for quality eye care with federal and provincial governments.
  • To increase public awareness of the role of ophthalmology as the medical and surgical leader of the “eye care team”.
  • To increase the perception of the value of ophthalmologist’s services and skill amongst the public, physicians, the media, government and health policy makers.

We have had overwhelming support from the COS membership for our many ongoing initiatives to fulfill these objectives. Our annual requests for a voluntary donation from each member of $700 have been met with high levels of giving. Please know that these contributions are being put to good use by supporting our See The Possibilities campaign (to increase public understanding of the many positive contributions ophthalmologists make), by providing practical tools to support our provinces and subspecialty societies in their own media and government relations work, and by ensuring better communication amongst stakeholders on critical pan-Canadian issues, to cite just a few initiatives.

As a COS member, you lend your voice to COS to our advocacy and communications work on behalf all of all ophthalmologists. And when we stand united, we have a powerful voice on issues that affect our profession and our patients.