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In December, I used Montreal-based New Look Vision Group Inc. as an example of the sort of confidence that could explain the unexpected surge in business investment during the third quarter.

But I didn’t mention why chief executive Antoine Amiel was feeling so good.

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Unlike, say, the automobile industry, the future burns bright for optometry. Almost everyone acquires presbyopia (farsightedness) by middle age and the population is quickly aging. There’s also a “worldwide crisis of myopia,” Amiel said, because youngsters are spending more time indoors, reducing their exposure to natural light. “Those are fundamentally positive trends for the industry.”

Canada really is the shining star in the demographic game Antoine Amiel

New Look in November reported its 21st consecutive quarter of comparable store sales growth and its stock price has increased about 40 per cent in five years, more than double the gain achieved by the S&P/TSX Composite Index during the same period.