Guides
Opening a nail salon in Toronto: licensing, health rules and WSIB coverage
What a new Toronto nail salon owner must do: the City personal service settings licence, Toronto Public Health notice and inspections, Ontario health rules and WSIB registration.
What to take away
- A Toronto nail salon answers to three bodiesthe City's Municipal Licensing & Standards (the licence), Toronto Public Health (notice, inspection and infection control) and, if you hire, the WSIB (workplace insurance).
- Toronto Public Health must be told in writing at least 14 days before you open. The same 14 days applies to adding services or renovating.
- The health rules sit in Ontario Regulation 136/18 on personal service settings. They cover sinks, disinfectants, equipment and records, and they apply from the first day of operation.
- WSIB registration is required for most Ontario businesses with employees, within 10 calendar days of hiring the first one. Nail salons are not named on the WSIB list of exempt businesses, so check your status with the WSIB questions before you hire.
- Fees and forms change. Confirm them on toronto.ca before you apply.
The order of work
The nail salon compliance checklist lists the records most owners find missing in the first year. This article covers the Toronto-specific legal steps.
Step 1: The City of Toronto personal service settings licence
Toronto's Municipal Licensing & Standards requires a Personal Service Settings licence for businesses providing services such as nail services, hairstyling, aesthetics and tattooing. The licence is issued under Chapter 545 of the Toronto Municipal Code.
Fees
The City's licensing page lists these amounts:
Amount
- $211.73Application fee, non-refundable, due when a complete application is submitted
- $239.18Licence fee, due on approval
- $450.91Total for a new licence
- $296.45Annual renewal
The licence expires each year on the anniversary of the issue date. The City mails a courtesy renewal notice, but keeping the licence valid is your responsibility, and a licence that is not renewed on time is cancelled and needs a new application. Check the figures on the City page before you budget, because fee schedules are revised.
Documents
Documents depend on how you operate:
- Sole proprietor:photo identification, proof of work status and a Criminal Record and Judicial Matters Check valid for one year.
- Corporation:articles of incorporation or a current Corporate Profile Report issued within one year, photo identification and a criminal record check for each officer and director, and an Annual Return for Corporation Declaration.
- General partnership:identification, proof of work status and criminal record checks for all partners, plus a Controlling Interest Declaration.
- All applicants:a provincial business name registration, an occupancy declaration signed by the property owner or landlord and by you, an operating information questionnaire and a Personal Service Settings owner declaration form.
Applications do not start processing until every required document is in. The online form takes about 10 to 15 minutes and cannot be saved, so prepare everything first. In-person applications at 850 Coxwell Avenue use paper copies only.
Zoning
Zoning approval is required for most new applications, and City staff start the process once the application is received. A home-based business needs zoning approval before applying, and the City offers a paid Zoning Review for that purpose. Zoning approval is not required when you take over an existing business with a valid licence, or one that expired less than three years before your application, in the same licence category. In that case you sign the occupancy declaration.
Step 2: Toronto Public Health notice and inspections
Toronto Public Health runs the BodySafe program, which inspects personal service settings, including manicure and pedicure services.
Notice before opening. Ontario Regulation 136/18 says that every person who intends to operate a personal service setting must give written notice to the medical officer of health at least 14 days before starting operation. The notice must include the name and location of the setting, the operator's name and contact information, and a list of the personal services provided. Toronto Public Health asks for notice in writing at BodySafe@toronto.ca, or by phone at 416-338-7600, and also wants the opening date and expected hours.
Changes. The same 14-day notice applies if you add services or plan a renovation. For changes in services or renovations, notify both Toronto Public Health and Municipal Licensing & Standards.
Inspections. Toronto Public Health says routine inspections are likely once a year for critical and semi-critical establishments, with non-critical establishments inspected on a complaint basis. Re-inspections for infractions are likely within 48 business hours if the service or establishment is not closed. Post the BodySafe inspection notice where it is clearly visible, at or near the entrance, and post your licence conspicuously. Results are published on the BodySafe pages as Pass, Conditional Pass, Service(s) Closed or Establishment Closed.
Step 3: What Ontario Regulation 136/18 requires in the salon
The regulation sets standards you can build against before the inspector arrives.
Setting
- Smooth, impermeable, easily cleanable floors, walls, ceilings, fixtures and furniture in good repair.
- Potable hot and cold running water under pressure.
- At least one sink used only for hand washing, conveniently located to the work area, accessible at all times, with soap in a dispenser and single-service or hot-air hand drying nearby.
- A second sink for reusable equipment that can immerse the largest piece of equipment, is not in a room with a toilet and is separated from the service area.
- Adequate lighting and ventilation, waste receptacles and storage space.
- No animals, except service animals.
Equipment and products
- Reusable equipment must be cleaned and disinfected or sterilized between each use.
- Single-use items, and anything that cannot withstand cleaning and disinfection, are discarded immediately after use.
- Disinfectants must have a Health Canada drug identification number (DIN) or natural product number (NPN), other than chlorine bleach, and be used according to the manufacturer's instructions.
- Manufacturer's instructions for equipment must be kept at the setting where the person providing services can reach them.
People
- Providers must clean their hands at least before and after each service.
- Before providing a service, obtain the client's name and contact information.
- Operators must complete health and safety training when a medical officer of health or inspector requires it.
Records The regulation lists disinfection records, which cover the product name, its concentration, the date it was prepared and the date it must be discarded, along with sterilization records where a sterilizer is used and records of accidental exposures to blood or body fluids. Toronto Public Health says to keep records for three years, with at least one year (365 days) on site.
For the chemical side of the job, including WHMIS and ventilation, see what CCOHS and provincial health authorities expect from Canadian nail salons.
Step 4: WSIB coverage
The WSIB says most Ontario businesses with employees must register, and it counts family members and subcontractors as employees. The deadline is 10 calendar days from the day you hire your first employee.
Its page lists some businesses as not required to register but able to opt in, including barber shops and many hair salons. It does not name nail salons. For that reason, do not assume you are exempt. Answer the questions on the WSIB registration site, which will confirm whether you must register and what to do next.
Owners are treated differently from workers. The WSIB says sole proprietors, partners and executive officers outside construction are not automatically covered, but they can request optional coverage. Independent operators outside construction do not need to register, and a questionnaire can confirm their status if a business that hired them needs proof. If you rent chairs to independent technicians, get that confirmation on file rather than relying on a verbal arrangement.
Payroll tax is a separate matter. The CRA payroll guide for Canadian salons covers it, and the GST/HST guide covers what a Toronto manicure is charged.
A pre-opening checklist
- Zoning confirmed for the address
- Licence application documents gathered
- Application submitted and fee paid
- Written notice sent to Toronto Public Health at least 14 days before opening
- Hand wash sink and reprocessing sink in place
- Disinfectants checked for DIN or NPN
- Disinfection record sheet ready
- Client contact details form ready
- WSIB status confirmed before the first hire
Official sources
- [O. Reg. 136/18Personal Service Settings, e-Laws Ontario](https://www.ontario.ca/laws/regulation/180136)
