About CVC

Canadian Vision Care (CVC) is a registered charity dedicated to provide eyecare to those who don't have access to or cannot afford that care.  CVC volunteers have since 1981 provided primary eyecare (eye exams and glasses) and surgical care to hundreds of thousands of individuals around the world.  CVC is proud to have created a structure where the 3 O's (Optometry, Ophthalmology, and Opticianry) work together to deliver integrated care in the developing world.

Who Started CVC?

Gerry Leinweber, Gord Hensel, Andy Patterson and Brad Almond graduated together from the University of Waterloo School of Optometry in 1980.  Andy and Gerry had interned in Jamaica in May of 1979, so were aware of the need and Lions Sight Conservation. Due to government funding cuts in 1981, the U of W project was cancelled. The group of four offered to fill in and conduct a project in 1981 at the request of the Lions Club of Montego Bay.  The rest is history, hundreds of volunteers, thousands of hours of fund raising, and hundreds of thousands of patients later, CVC has performed services valued at more than $50,000,000 since 1981.