May 10, 2022

A pilot project involving Seneca and Essilor Canada has helped improve the vision of more than 100 students, with more to come.

The I-Care project aims to prioritize vision health over five years by making vision screening and eye exams accessible to all Seneca students while educating the community on how to prevent sight loss.

President David Agnew; Dean Hughes, Executive Director, Advancement & Alumni; Marianne Marando, Vice-President Academic; and Rick Gadd, President of Wholesale EssilorLuxottica Canada, were among the individuals virtually gathered on Monday, May 2 to hear the results of the first phase of the pilot.

In total, 110 students received new glasses and 37 booked vision screenings, and more than 77 per cent of them required a new prescription.

“Access to basic health care needs, such as eye care, is crucial for our students to do well in their studies,” said Nelson Rodrigues, Chair, Faculty of Applied Arts & Health Sciences. “If our Opticianry students aren’t aware of their vision needs, then imagine what that means for the rest of the Seneca community.”

More than 2.7 billion people worldwide do not have the visual correction they need. As Tatiana Mighiu, a professor in the Opticianry diploma program, explains to her students, “If you pinch yourself, it immediately hurts. But your eyes won’t hurt, they just slowly deteriorate. And you may not know you need a vision correction until after you have had one.​”

The program will be rolled out to students at Yorkgate Campus this fall, and eventually to all Seneca students. In addition to benefiting students, it provides Opticianry students with work-integrated learning opportunities to support the program.

The I-Care Project is growing. To support this transformative program or to learn more, please contact advancement@senecapolytechnic.ca.