How to Start a Salon or Barbershop in Ontario
Start a salon or barbershop in Ontario: the compulsory Hairstylist trade rule, the 14-day health-unit notice under Ontario Regulation 136/18, and the municipal personal service setting licence.
How to Start a Barbershop Business in Canada
Start a barbershop in Canada: understand how barbering differs from a hair salon, check the trade rule in your province, and build a walk-in shop where chairs, clippers, and the wait list do the work.
Applies in: across Canada
The short answer
A barbershop is a walk-in chair business, and it is not a hair salon with a different sign. The work centres on short cuts, fades, beard work, and shaving, built around clippers, trimmers, and razors, on a rhythm of tens of minutes per chair rather than the salon's longer appointments and colour services. The money is decided by three things: the street, because walk-in trade lives or dies on passing customers; the trade rule, because barber certification is compulsory in Ontario and the people on the floor must meet it; and the wait list, because a walk-in customer who cannot see an honest wait simply leaves. Check the trade rule, count the foot traffic, and clear the municipal and health answers before you sign a lease.
Step 1: Decide the shop: walk-in, appointment, or both
The model decides the premises and the staffing. A walk-in shop needs a visible waiting area, a wait list customers can read, and chairs staffed for the peaks — Saturday mornings and after-work hours — rather than for an average day. An appointment shop needs a booking book and reminder routine, and it trades some passing trade for a predictable day. Most barbershops run both: appointments for regulars who want a set time, walk-ins filling the gaps between them.
Be honest about which one you are when you pick the street. A walk-in shop needs passing trade: a bar or a grocery anchor nearby, a street people already walk, parking they can actually use. An appointment shop can sit on a quieter street, because its customers come for the barber, not for the street. A walk-in shop on a quiet street pays shopfront rent for trade that never arrives.
Step 2: Check the barber trade rule in your province
Barbering sits inside the hairstylists and barbers occupation, but its certification rule is its own. Trade certification for barbers is compulsory in Ontario and available, but voluntary, in the Yukon. Red Seal endorsement is available to barbers as qualified hairstylists upon successful completion of the interprovincial Red Seal examination. Completion of a seven-month to one-year apprenticeship or other barber program is usually required, and on-the-job training may be substituted for formal education. Employers may also require a practical demonstration before hiring.
In practice: in Ontario, the barbers doing the work must be certified or registered apprentices under supervision. Elsewhere, certification is voluntary in law but still the credential customers look for, and many shops require it when hiring. Check your province's apprenticeship authority for the route, the exam, and the fee — certification fees are set by that authority and vary by province, so this guide does not quote them.
Step 3: Clear the municipal and public-health layer
Two local layers sit on top of the trade rule. The municipal layer is the business licence and the zoning for the premises: confirm both in writing for the exact address before you sign a lease, and check the sign rules for the shopfront. The public-health layer treats barbershops as personal service settings, inspected for infection prevention and control — cleaning and disinfection of clippers, blades, combs, and razors between clients, laundry of capes and towels after each client, safe handling of sharps, and hand hygiene before and after each client.
In Ontario, the rule is O. Reg. 136/18, and operators must give the local public health unit written notice at least 14 days before opening, changing ownership, moving to a new location, adding services, or starting construction or renovation. Other provinces run their own personal service rules through their health authorities. Contact your local health unit or health authority before opening and ask what notice and inspection apply in your area.
This guide is general information, not legal advice. Trade, licensing, and health answers are specific to your province and address, and the authorities named here are the ones that give them.
Step 4: Register the business and set up tax accounts
Register the business name in the province where the shop sits: $60 for five years in Ontario, and $40 plus a $30 name request in British Columbia, with other provinces in the same range. Get a Canada Revenue Agency business number, and register for GST/HST when your taxable sales pass the $30,000 threshold — or voluntarily before it, so you can claim input tax credits on chairs, tools, rent, and laundry. If you operate in Quebec, you also deal with QST, and provinces with a separate provincial sales tax need their own registration.
Keep service revenue and retail product sales in separate accounts. A shop that sells pomades, oils, and grooming goods alongside cuts has two income streams, and a single mixed account makes each filing harder than it needs to be.
Step 5: Fit out for chairs, clippers, and shaving
The working core of a barbershop is the chair, the clipper station, and the shaving setup. Barber chairs need room to move around them and to recline for shaving. Clipper stations need power, light, and a place for guards, blades, and disinfectant that keeps clean tools separate from used ones. A hot-towel setup — a towel warmer and a laundry flow that keeps clean towels separate from soiled ones — is part of the shaving service, not an extra. Wash stations matter less than in a salon, but at least one is needed for washes and for hand hygiene.
Build the cleaning routine into the fit-out. Labelled disinfectant mixed to the manufacturer's directions, a sharps container near the work area, and a flow that sends every used blade to disposal and every used cape to laundry are cheaper to build in than to retrofit after an inspection. Clients in a barbershop sit close, watch the tools, and notice clean ones — and notice the opposite faster.
Step 6: Open with a wait list, pricing, and a rebooking routine
The wait list is the barbershop's front desk. Make it visible, honest, and updated: a customer who can see three names ahead of them will wait, and a customer told "about twenty minutes" for an hour will not come back. If you take appointments alongside walk-ins, show both on the same list so a walk-in is never surprised by a booked chair jumping the queue.
Price by service, not by the salon down the street: a cut, a cut and beard, a hot-towel shave, and a child's cut are different chair times with different tool costs, and a single flat price either overcharges the quick cut or undercharges the shave. Rebook at the chair before the client leaves, and send a reminder before the appointment. A barbershop's regulars are its rent: the client who comes every three weeks without thinking about it is worth more than any advertising, and the rebooking habit is what keeps that client regular.
Related guides: How to Register a Sole Proprietorship and GST/HST in Canada, How to Incorporate Federally vs Provincially in Canada, Do Freelancers Need a Business Licence in Canada, and Best Business Bank Accounts for New Businesses in Canada.
Starting a barbershop in Canada, in six steps
- Decide the shop: walk-in, appointment, or bothWalk-in shops live on passing trade and a visible wait list. Appointment shops live on a booking book. Most barbershops run both, with walk-ins filling the gaps between bookings.
- Check the barber trade rule in your provinceTrade certification for barbers is compulsory in Ontario and available, but voluntary, in the Yukon. A seven-month to one-year barber program is usually required, and on-the-job training may substitute for formal education.
- Clear the municipal and public-health layerConfirm the municipal business licence and zoning, and notify the local public health unit before opening — in Ontario, written notice at least 14 days in advance.
- Register the business and set up tax accountsRegister the business name provincially, get a Canada Revenue Agency business number, and register for GST/HST once taxable sales pass $30,000, or voluntarily before that.
- Fit out for chairs, clippers, and shavingBarber chairs, clipper stations, a hot-towel setup, and a cleaning routine for clippers, blades, and combs are the core. A barbershop's tools touch skin, so cleaning is a daily discipline.
- Open with a wait list, pricing, and a rebooking routineA visible wait list, a price list by service, and rebooking at the chair keep chairs full. A shop whose wait list lives only in a barber's head loses walk-ins.
What a barbershop costs to enter, in verified figures
| Ontario business name registration | $60 for 5 years |
|---|---|
| British Columbia business name registration | $40 plus a $30 name request |
These are registration fees only, not a start-up total. Rent, barber chairs, clippers and blades, hot-towel equipment, and a municipal business licence — whose fee varies by city — are the larger lines. Trade certification and exam fees vary by province and are charged by the provincial apprenticeship authority.
Questions people ask
Is a barbershop the same business as a hair salon?
No, and the difference is the work, the customer, and the rhythm. A barbershop centres on short cuts, fades, beard work, and shaving — services built around clippers, trimmers, and razors, usually for male clients, usually on a walk-in or short-appointment rhythm, with a chair time measured in tens of minutes. A hair salon centres on a wider range — longer cuts, colour, styling, and chemical services — usually by appointment, with longer chair times and a larger product range. The premises differ too: a barbershop needs fewer wash stations and no colour processing area, but it needs a wait list that walk-in customers can see and trust. The two trades overlap — both fall under the hairstylists and barbers occupation — but a barbershop is not a salon with a different sign, and pricing, staffing, and stock bought for one will not fit the other.
Do I need a licence to open a barbershop in Canada?
There is no single national barbershop licence, but three layers apply. First, the trade layer: trade certification for barbers is compulsory in Ontario and available, but voluntary, in the Yukon, and Red Seal endorsement is available to barbers as qualified hairstylists upon successful completion of the interprovincial Red Seal examination. A seven-month to one-year apprenticeship or other barber program is usually required, and on-the-job training may be substituted for formal education. Second, the municipal layer: most cities require a business licence and commercial zoning for the premises. Third, the public-health layer: barbershops are personal service settings, inspected for infection prevention and control. In Ontario, personal service settings fall under O. Reg. 136/18, and operators must give the local public health unit written notice at least 14 days before opening, changing ownership, moving, adding services, or renovating. Check all three layers for your province and city before you sign a lease. This guide is general information, not legal advice.
Do I need to be a certified barber to own a barbershop?
Owning the shop and cutting hair are two different things. In Ontario, where barber certification is compulsory, the people doing the barbering work must hold the certification, and a shop whose barbers are uncertified cannot legally offer the trade's services there. An owner who does not cut hair can still own the shop, but every barber on the floor must meet the province's rule, and apprentices must be registered and supervised under the province's apprenticeship system. Where certification is voluntary, customers still treat it as a mark of competence, and many shops require it when hiring even where the law does not. Check your province's apprenticeship authority for the exact rule before you hire.
How much does it cost to start a barbershop in Canada?
This guide gives verified fees, not a total, because a two-chair shop and a six-chair shop are different businesses. Business name registration costs $60 for five years in Ontario and $40 plus a $30 name request in British Columbia. The real money is the lease deposit and first months of rent, barber chairs, clippers, trimmers, razors and blades, a hot-towel setup, capes and laundry, and a municipal business licence whose fee varies by city. A barbershop's stock is lighter than a salon's — no colour range to carry — but its tool cost is not: clippers, blades, and guards wear out and must be replaced, and cheap tools show in the cut. Budget for tool replacement as a running cost, not a one-time purchase.
Do I need GST/HST registration for a barbershop?
Barbering services are taxable supplies, so once your taxable sales pass $30,000 over four consecutive calendar quarters, or $30,000 in a single calendar quarter, you must register for GST/HST and charge it on your services. You have 29 days from the day you pass the threshold to register. Many shops register voluntarily before the threshold so they can claim input tax credits on chairs, tools, rent, and laundry costs. If you operate in Quebec, you also deal with QST, and provinces with a separate provincial sales tax require their own registration. Keep service revenue and retail product sales — pomades, oils, and grooming goods — in separate accounts so each is reported correctly.
What are the biggest risks in a barbershop business?
Empty chairs first: a barbershop pays rent whether the chairs fill or not, so a walk-in shop on a street with no passing trade is a slow failure. Pick the street on the foot traffic you counted, not on the rent you liked. Barber turnover second: clients follow barbers, so a shop built on one barber's book loses that book when the barber leaves — build the shop's name, and keep client records as a business asset. Hygiene third: clippers, blades, and razors touch skin, and a public-health inspection failure or a client complaint about cleaning travels fast in a neighbourhood trade. And the wait list fourth: a walk-in shop whose wait is unclear loses the walk-in, who simply goes to the next shop. A visible, honest wait list is a retention tool, not a courtesy.
Sources
- Government of New Brunswick, Hairstylists and barbers occupational profile — trade certification for barbers compulsory in Ontario, voluntary in the Yukon; seven-month to one-year program usually required; Red Seal endorsement available —
- Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health, Personal Service Settings — operators must notify public health in writing at least 14 days before opening, changing services, renovating, or changing ownership —
- Ontario, O. Reg. 136/18, Personal Service Settings
- Canada Revenue Agency, General Information for GST/HST Registrants — small supplier threshold of $30,000 in a single calendar quarter or over the last four consecutive calendar quarters —
- FedDev Ontario, Starting a business — Getting started — Ontario business name registration costs $60 and is valid for five years —