I am currently a Waterloo optometry student (1st year) and I have to agree the application process is a bit of a lottery, but what professional program in canada isn't? (anyone here whose applied to an Ontario med school knows what I mean) Anyways, there are currently some international optometrists in our school going through the bridging program, essentially I believe its just showing that you can do a few of the major techniques. I am not sure how long it is, but I guess that will depend on what country you're coming from, for the UK I can't imagine it being that long. Uk and Canadian optometry are pretty similar, as a matter of fact most of the profs in waterloo are from the UK so its almost like going to a UK school in Canada lol. Sorry, I'm getting a bit off track, bottom line: US = graduate after 4 years write your canadian board. UK = graduate then go through the bridging program, write your canadian boards.