Baffin Optical now offers eye exams in Nunavut

Optometrist Kathy Bourget shows off Baffin Optical’s new eye exam equipment. (PHOTO COURTESY OF NUNASI)

Nunavummiut should be able to see a little more clearly, now that Iqaluit has its own one-stop shop for eye exams.

Iqaluit’s Baffin Optical has expanded its services and now offers eye exams, along with prescriptions for eye glasses and contact lenses.

“Previously it was not uncommon to wait months to see an eye doctor in Iqaluit,” said Okalik Eegeesiak, chair of Nunasi Corporation, in a March 4 release. “Now with Baffin Optical you can make an appointment to see our resident eye doctor [Dr. Kathy Bourget].”

Baffin Optical is part of Polar Vision Centres Ltd. Nunasi established Polar Vision in Yellowknife in 1986 and opened Baffin Optical in Iqaluit a few years later.

As subsidiaries of Nunasi, Polar Vision and Baffin Optical are 100 per cent Inuit-owned.

Polar Vision operates optical outlets in Yellowknife and Iqaluit (Baffin Optical,) with the opticians at Polar Vision traveling to other communities all across the NWT and Nunavut.

“When we consider opportunities to grow our businesses, we take into account the sustainability of the opportunity and the impact it will have on our communities,” Eegeesiak said. “This new service Baffin Optical provides will greatly improve access in Iqaluit and across the Qikiqtaaluk region.”

Nunavummiut may call them at 867-979-4300 or toll-free at 1-888-244-0084.