Contact Lenses in Edmonton: Ordering, Reordering and Direct Billing
Contact Lenses in Edmonton: Ordering, Reordering and Direct Billing
At Charm Optical in south Edmonton, a contact lens order is filled against a current contact lens specification, not a glasses prescription. A reorder starts with one phone call to (780) 490-0090. Where your plan allows it, Charm direct bills, so you cover only the balance. The contact lens exam and fitting is $135, by appointment.
One thing to settle first: the contact lens exam and fitting is $135, and it is not part of the $99 comprehensive eye exam. That fitting is a separate appointment, explained end to end on our contact lens fitting page. This post starts the moment your file exists, and covers what nothing else does: the order, the reorder, the billing and the change.
What does Charm need before your first contact lens order?
Two things: a current contact lens specification, and a way to reach you. The specification is doing more work than most people realise.
A glasses prescription is not a contact lens prescription. Corrective contact lenses are regulated in Canada as Class II medical devices (Canada Gazette, SOR/2015-193), and a device sits on your eye, so the order needs fit numbers as well as power: brand, base curve, diameter, power, plus cylinder and axis for astigmatism.
Those numbers are yours. The Alberta College of Optometrists tells its members that once contact lens dispensing is complete they "must offer the patient a written copy of the specifications of the contact lenses." It also leaves the expiry date to the optometrist's professional discretion, which is why there is no single Alberta-wide answer for how long a contact lens prescription lasts. Check the expiry on your copy.
Coming from another clinic
Holding a current, complete specification from another optometrist? Call (780) 490-0090 and ask whether it can be filled as written. What nobody can do is guess a base curve from a glasses prescription.
Charm Optical is appointment only. Exams and fittings are booked through see.charmoptical.ca. For an order or a reorder, start with a phone call — ask what your order needs and when to come in.
How does a first contact lens order get placed against your file?
Five steps, and four of them happen in the same conversation.
The order loop, start to finish
The same five run for a first order and every reorder after it. Step 1 prevents almost every problem.
Ask for your specification read back
Brand, power, base curve, diameter, pack size, both eyes — out loud, before anything is ordered.
Decide how much supply to buy
Six or twelve months. The planner below works out the box count for your wear pattern.
Ask what your plan leaves you
Whether it allows direct billing on contact lenses, and how much vision benefit is left. Ask for the balance before you agree to it.
Ask for the timing as it is placed
Whether your exact brand and power is here or comes from the supplier depends on the prescription, so ask then rather than assume in advance.
Ask how you will hear it has landed
Or check it yourself on the order tracking form, any hour.
Don't wait until your last lens
Boxes are ordered against a specific prescription, so never assume your exact brand, power and base curve is sitting on a shelf waiting. Call (780) 490-0090 first and ask what your order needs.
How many boxes of contact lenses do you actually need?
The answer splits cleanly in two. Daily disposables are priced by your wear days: wear them five days a week instead of seven and you buy roughly a third fewer boxes. Monthly lenses are priced by the calendar. Once opened, a monthly lens is replaced on schedule whether you wore it twenty times or four.
Part-time wearer? Dailies get cheaper. Monthlies don't. That single distinction is the most useful thing on this page.
Supply and reorder planner
Set your schedule and how often you actually wear lenses. The box count and reorder cue update as you go, entirely in your browser.
You need
10 boxes
5 boxes per eye, both eyes, 12 months
Your box count is driven by wear days. Wearing them less often means buying fewer boxes.
Dailies Total1 30 Pack$55 a box, listed price
Dailies Total1 90 Pack$112 a box, listed price
CooperVision Biofinity$60 a box, listed price
Counts round up to whole boxes over a full 52-week year; four 90-packs per eye covers 360 of those days. Prices are that product's listed price at charmoptical.ca, July 2026. Other brands are priced differently, so ask for your exact total when the order is placed.
| Schedule | Example at Charm | Per box | Box covers | Boxes/eye at 7 days | Boxes/eye at 5 days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daily disposable, 30-pack | Dailies Total1 30 Pack | $55 | 30 wear days | 13 | 9 |
| Daily disposable, 90-pack | Dailies Total1 90 Pack | $112 | 90 wear days | 5 | 3 |
| Daily disposable for astigmatism, 30-pack | Acuvue Oasys 1-Day for Astigmatism 30 pack | $65 | 30 wear days | 13 | 9 |
| Monthly replacement, 6-pack | CooperVision Biofinity | $60 | 6 months | 2 | 2 |
Swipe the table sideways to see every column.
Those are listed prices, so once the planner has given you a box count you can price the year yourself. Every box in that table — the 30-pack, the 90-pack, the astigmatism daily and the monthly — is listed at the same price on our contact lens collection, and a reorder is that identical box again. Ordering one still needs a current contact lens prescription on file; what a product page cannot do is confirm your base curve for you.
How does a reorder run once you're on file?
Short version: you do not have to recite your own numbers — ask to hear them.
- By phone. Call (780) 490-0090 and say "same as last time." Ask for the specification to be read back and the box count confirmed before it goes in.
- In person. The same conversation at 5035 Ellerslie Rd SW — call ahead so it is ready when you arrive. Where to find us.
- Online. Reorder the identical product from our contact lens range. Code CHARMCONTACTS takes $5 off; shipping is free across Canada over $100.
Whichever route you take, the check is the same: the specification on file has to be current. Once it has passed the expiry your optometrist set, it cannot be filled, and you will need an appointment before boxes can be ordered.
The reorder cue in the planner is the practical part. When you open your last box, count the wear days it holds and order then — at seven days a week a 90-pack gives about thirteen weeks of warning, a 30-pack about four. Order status sits at the order tracking form.
How is direct billing applied to a contact lens order?
Direct billing means the claim goes to your insurer before you pay, so you cover the balance instead of the whole invoice. Charm direct bills Alberta Blue Cross, Canada Life, Desjardins, AISH and Alberta Works, among others. Whether it applies to contact lenses is a plan-by-plan question, so ask before the order goes in.
| Your situation | What you bring | What to ask for | What you pay that day |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plan allows direct billing on contacts | Plan and member details | That the claim is submitted before you pay | Only the balance your plan leaves |
| Plan reimburses you instead | Plan and member details | An itemised receipt with product, quantity and Rx details | Full amount, then your plan pays you back |
| Vision benefit already spent on glasses | Plan and member details | What is left on the benefit before ordering | Whatever the remainder does not cover |
| No vision coverage | Nothing | Brands and pack sizes at different price points | The full amount |
Swipe the table sideways to see every column.
One trap worth knowing: on many Alberta plans, glasses and contact lenses draw from the same vision benefit. A pair of glasses bought in March can leave very little for a twelve-month lens supply in August. Planning both in one benefit year? Say so when you call, and ask how the two purchases can be sequenced.
What happens when your prescription or parameters change?
A specification is four numbers plus a brand, and changing any one of them makes it a different device. Three cases, not equally simple.
Your power changes, same brand
The easiest case. The file is updated and the next order goes out in the new power. Base curve and diameter usually stay put, because they belong to the lens design rather than the prescription.
Your brand or base curve changes
This one needs the optometrist. Base curve and diameter are set by the manufacturer for each lens model, so a different brand is a different fit on your cornea — not a like-for-like swap on a reorder. Book through see.charmoptical.ca or call us.
You still have unopened boxes
Call us before you open the next one. Options depend on the brand, the pack and how long ago it was ordered. Opening a box you no longer need closes off choices that were open five minutes earlier.
And if it has just been a while since anyone looked at your eyes, that is the exam, not the fitting — see the Edmonton eye exam page. The full service sits on our contact lenses in Edmonton page.
FAQ
Do I need an appointment to order contact lenses in Edmonton?
Charm Optical is appointment only, and eye exams and contact lens fittings are booked at see.charmoptical.ca. To place or reorder boxes, start with a phone call to (780) 490-0090 or order the same product online, and ask what your order needs and when to come in. If your contact lens specification has expired, book an appointment before you order.
How much is a contact lens exam and fitting at Charm Optical?
The contact lens exam and fitting is $135. It is not part of the $99 comprehensive eye exam. The fitting is what puts a brand, base curve, diameter and power on your file, and without those a contact lens order cannot be filled.
How do I reorder contact lenses I have already bought?
Call (780) 490-0090 and ask for the same specification as last time, or order the same product online. Ask for the brand, power, base curve, diameter and pack size to be read back before the order goes in, so nothing is guessed. Online orders take $5 off with the code CHARMCONTACTS, and shipping is free across Canada on orders over $100.
Does Charm Optical direct bill for contact lenses?
Where your plan allows it, yes. Charm direct bills Alberta Blue Cross, Canada Life, Desjardins, AISH and Alberta Works. Direct billing means the claim is submitted before you pay, so you only cover the balance. Not every plan allows it on contact lenses, so ask before the order goes in, and if yours does not, ask for an itemised receipt to submit yourself.
How many boxes of contact lenses do I need for a year?
Worn seven days a week, one eye uses about 364 daily disposable lenses a year. That is 13 boxes of 30 or 5 boxes of 90 per eye, so double it for two eyes. Monthly lenses work differently: a 6-pack covers six months per eye, so two boxes per eye covers a year no matter how often you wear them.
What happens if my prescription changes after I order?
Call us before you open the next box. A power change, a brand change or a base curve change makes a new specification, so ask about your options while the boxes you have left are still sealed. Do not swap to a different brand on your own, because base curve and diameter are set by the manufacturer and are not interchangeable between brands.
How do I check where my contact lens order is?
Use the order tracking form on charmoptical.ca or call (780) 490-0090 with your name and the date you ordered. Whether your brand and power is here or has to come in from the supplier depends on the prescription, so ask for the timing when the order is placed.
Two ways to place the order
Start with a phone call
Have your specification to hand. We'll place the order and tell you when to come in.
Ask for your numbers to be read back, ask what your plan leaves you, and ask when the boxes will land. New to us? Have the written copy of your specification ready, or the name of the clinic that holds it.
Charm Optical — 5035 Ellerslie Rd SW, Edmonton, AB
Placing or reordering? Call (780) 490-0090
Exams and fittings are by appointment. Due for one? Book online or call us. Hours, parking and directions.