EXHIBIT 99.1




[QLT LOGO]
QLT INC.                887 Great Northern Way                    t 604.707.7000
                        Vancouver, BC Canada V5R 4T5              f 604.707.7001
                                                                  www.qltinc.com


news release


     QLT ANNOUNCES TSX APPROVAL OF US $50 MILLION SHARE REPURCHASE PROGRAM


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                MAY 2, 2005

VANCOUVER, CANADA -- QLT Inc. (NASDAQ: QLTI; TSX: QLT) announced that the
Toronto Stock Exchange has accepted notice of QLT's intention to make a normal
course issuer bid in the open market through the facilities of the Toronto Stock
Exchange and/or the NASDAQ Stock Market announced on April 28, 2005.

The notice provides that QLT may, during the period commencing May 4, 2005 and
ending May 3, 2006, purchase for cancellation up to a maximum of 4,690,752
common shares, being 5% of the number of common shares outstanding, subject to a
maximum aggregate expenditure by QLT of US$50 million. The actual number of
common shares which may be purchased and the timing of any such purchases will
be determined by QLT. The price which QLT will pay for any such shares will be
the market price at the time of acquisition. QLT has not purchased any of its
common shares in the prior 12 months. There were 93,816,148 common shares
outstanding as at April 28, 2005.



ABOUT QLT INC.

QLT Inc. is a global biopharmaceutical company specializing in developing
treatments for cancer, eye diseases and dermatological and urological
conditions.

We have combined our expertise in the discovery, development, commercialization
and manufacture of innovative drug therapies with our unique technology
platforms to create highly successful products such as Visudyne(R) and
Eligard(R).

For more information, visit our web site at www.qltinc.com.



                                      -30-



                                                                     Page 1 of 2



QLT INC.:
Vancouver, Canada
Tamara Hicks
Telephone: 604-707-7000 or 1-800-663-5486
Fax: 604-707-7001

Visudyne is a registered trademark of Novartis AG.
Eligard is a registered trademark of Sanofi-aventis.


QLT Inc. is listed on the NASDAQ Stock Market under the trading symbol "QLTI"
and on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the trading symbol "QLT."


The statements in this press release regarding QLT's intention to commence a
share repurchase program are "forward-looking statements" of QLT within the
meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, which involve
known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our
actual results to be materially different from any future results, performance
or achievements expressed or implied by such statements. These statements are
only predictions and there are a number of risks, uncertainties and other
factors which could cause actual events to differ materially, including but not
limited to the factor that our intention to purchase our common shares may be
impacted by market factors and our operating results, and by other factors
described in detail in QLT's Annual Information Form and Annual Report on Form
10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and other filings with the U.S. Securities
and Exchange Commission and Canadian securities regulatory authorities.
Forward-looking statements are based on our current expectations and QLT assumes
no obligation to update such information to reflect later events or
developments, except as required by law.







                                                                     Page 2 of 2