CACO Registration

The CACO schedule including deadlines is here.

October 2016 CACO Registration – Registration will open in June 2016

Important – Read HERE about changes to CACO Skills effective spring 2015

Read this website in its entirety to understand the CACO and CEO-ECO’s policies and procedures and to determine if you are eligible to take the CACO. The following administration policies and procedures are upheld to allow for appropriate security, bilingual administration, manageable numbers at each location, and optimum efficiency of administration.

Please do NOT send cheques or other application documents (e.g. Identity Form) to CEO-ECO before registration opens. CEO-ECO will not accept application documents or payments prior to the registration start date and any forms or funds received will be returned or destroyed without notice.

Please note that applications are accepted by mail or courier only. Exam application forms cannot be delivered in person at the CEO-ECO office.

Please read below for information on how to register for the CACO.

Registration Steps

  1. Download and complete the CACO Application Checklist
  2. Download and complete the Identity Verification Form NOTE: You may have the Photo ID form completed in advance of the CACO registration date. Your photo cannot be more than 6 months old and a new photo is required for each administration.
  3. Download and complete the 2-page CACO Registration Form.

CACO Location and Schedule

The CACO administration schedule is here

  • The CACO will be administered in English-only at the Waterloo site for both Spring administrations, while offered in both French and English at the Montréal site. Fall administrations for Skills alternate between Waterloo and Montreal. Fall administrations for Written are held in both locations.
  • An orientation to the Clinical Skills components is held on the day immediately prior to the start of the Clinical Skills components. Attendance at the orientation session is highly encouraged. This session provides an opportunity for candidates to become familiar with the CACO procedures as well as to participate in a question and answer forum specific to these components. If you are registered for written component(s) only, you do not need to attend the orientation seminar.

CACO Registration Procedures

  • Eligibility to take the CACO is based on the CACO Eligibility Policy. Refer to this policy for detailed information about eligibility to attempt the exam.
  • The spring ‘April skills-only’ administration is available to individuals in eligibility categories 1 & 4 (i.e. who have taken the written components of the CACO in advance) and to candidates undergoing reassessment of a clinical skills component. Candidates in eligibility categories 3 & 4 may register for the CACO fall (October) administration only.
  • Eligibility for the CACO is based on program completion/graduation lists provided annually by optometry educators. Acceptance of registration applications for the CACO is based on these eligibility lists.
  • Registrations from all eligible individuals are handled on a first received, first processed basis.
  • Space for clinical skills is limited at each location due to exam site size constraints. Capacity at all exam sites is 76 candidates. Once an exam has reached capacity, no further applications will be processed.
  • Individuals may register for only one exam date at a time.
  • There is NO extension of registration deadline dates. A deadline will not be extended to accommodate late applications. Ensure that CEO-ECO receives your completed application form on or before the deadline date.
  • Individuals registering for the fall and spring administrations of the CACO must state preferred exam date and location however CEO-ECO has the responsibility and right to make all exam scheduling decisions. If no date/location is specified, CEO-ECO will determine the individual’s exam date and location.
  • The only time a candidate may take the written and clinical exams at two different administrations is when the written components have been completed in advance.
  • Candidates who are graduating from an optometry degree program who forego the advance written option have an opportunity to take the (entire) CACO in May of their graduating year.
  • All failed components must be completed at the same exam administration.
  • Applicants who apply to take their written components in advance (fourth year) must apply again to register for the clinical skills components. In other words, candidates who register for the written components in their final year of an OD program are not automatically registered for the clinical skills components.

Information & Materials candidates will receive

IMPORTANT: Please ensure you provide your current mail and email addresses to CEO-ECO. CEO-ECO is not responsible for any miscommunication as a result of you not providing a change of address notice, in writing, with complete details of all changes.

  • Confirmation of your candidacy will be emailed to you upon processing of your complete application and verification of registration. Allow 3 weeks for receipt of your confirmation email. Please keep in mind that during the CACO application period, CEO-ECO staff are busy processing applications and will take longer to respond to inquiries. To ensure applications are processed in a timely manner, you are asked to not contact CEO-ECO to inquire about your application status within 3 weeks of mailing your application. If you have not received your confirmation email within 3 weeks, please email CEO-ECO
  • A personal schedule indicating specific times and locations for the assessment components will be mailed to you approximately two weeks in advance of the assessment date, along with an identification badge.
  • Results will be mailed 8 weeks after the last day of the written administration, or the last day of the clinical administration if there is no written administration. Please allow additional 2-3 weeks within Canada and 3-4 weeks outside Canada to receive results in the mail. See Candidate Results Reporting.

Registering from outside Canada: If you are sending CACO registration documents via courier from outside Canada, you are advised NOT to assign a declared value. Declared values are subject to duties and taxes for which CEO-ECO will not be responsible. As a result your delivery may be declined at point of clearing.

Provincial jurisprudence exams: You must contact the regulator to register and/or to obtain further information regarding the jurisprudence process.