Different Paths to Becoming a Nail Educator in Alberta, Canada

There are different ways to become a Nail educator in Alberta, depending on your final goal. Ask yourself a few questions to help you clarify your goal. For example, do you visualize one-on-one training or large classes? Do you want to be self-employed? Or would you prefer to work for a school?

Working at an existing school is a good path for those that want to mentor future service providers without worrying too much about administrative details . This pathway follows a student-centered approach where the focus is the development of your students.

Schools have their own criteria when hiring these positions. Leadership and organizational skills are important qualifications for instructors.

Smaller classes

On the other hand, smaller classes or one-on-one training, also known as private trainers or private vocational training, is the path for entrepreneurs.

Private trainers develop their own curriculum. In addition, they are often responsible for student recruitment and procurement of goods. One-on-one training is a good way to start as it allows for low delivery costs with little financial risk. 

Certainly regulations exist at most levels of government to ensure private trainers meet minimum licensing requirements in their fields. Consequently, there are many requirements to meet to achieve a training license. For instance, private trainers must show that they have consulted industry leaders in approving their curriculum.

Are there teaching requirements?

Nail technicians are not regulated in Alberta, Canada. However, industry guidelines exist to help Nail Technicians reach their goal of becoming effective nail educators. We recommend that Nail Techs have at minimum 2-3 years of experience in their field before taking the next step into education.

Will I need a teaching license?

If you are visualizing larger classes or courses that will cost students over $1,000 in tuition fees, you will need a teaching license. This license is different than a business license issued by your municipality. 

Not all private educators have curriculums that require a teaching license. There a few exemptions to licensing revolving around the price and purpose of your course amongst other factors.

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EXECUTIVE SPA GROUP 
Beauty Industry Resource Centre 
(780) 604-2772 
info@executivespagroup.com

Occupations and Regulations by Province

The path you need to take to become an accredited beauty trainer in Canada depends on your province of residence and your beauty occupation. Canadian provinces differ in their regulation of certain occupations in the beauty industry.

Start by informing yourself of the regulations (if any) mandated by the designated regulatory bodies of your chosen occupation.

For example, trade certification for hairstylists is compulsory in Nova Scotia, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta, and available, but voluntary, in Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, Quebec, British Columbia, the Yukon, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut (Work BC, 2024).

On the other hand, only Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and New Brunswick regulate esthetics (Government of Canada, Job Bank, Labour Market Information, 2024).

Accreditation by province

In addition, Canadian provinces differ in their requirements when it comes to granting accreditation status to beauty training providers.

For example, Alberta has no shortage of beauty trainers in occupations within esthetics. Examples include nail instructors, PMU instructors, lash extension instructors, etc. This may be due to the fact that esthetics is not regulated in Alberta. However, in a sea of instructors few of them are accredited.

What does accreditation mean?

Accreditation provides you with the ability to offer your students government student loans. In addition, it gives you the ability as a trainer to accept international students. Providing students with government loan options opens up your training possibilities.

Beyond offering student loans, it means that your curriculum has been reviewed by industry peers and has received a “stamp of approval” that potential students can trust. It also means that your students have dispute resolution opportunities with your accreditation body. This is an added-bonus to students.

To become an accredited beauty trainer in your province in Canada, contact your provincial government and associated regulatory bodies for your occupation to know the specific requirements. For beauty trainers in Alberta, Canada, we offer a short online course outlining the requirements and exemptions to accreditation.

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LIST OF REFERENCES

Work BC 2024, accessed 25 April 2024, <https://www.workbc.ca/career-profiles/hairstylists-and-barbers#:~:text=Trade%20certification%20for%20hairstylists%20is,the%20Northwest%20Territories%20and%20Nunavut>.

Canada Job Bank, 2024, accessed 25 April 2024, <https://www.jobbank.gc.ca/marketreport/requirements/14034/ca;jsessionid=EADE65F4F88B3AF81DB8AA6A54DD6092.jobsearch76>.

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EXECUTIVE SPA GROUP 
Beauty Industry Resource Centre 
(780) 604-2772 
info@executivespagroup.com

Who are we?

We are Career and Employment Consultants who specialize in the Beauty and Personal Care Services industry in Alberta, Canada. Our mission is to cultivate the Personal Care Services industry and increase the standard in employment practices and occupational health and safety.

We help people overcome barriers to employment and develop skills, knowledge, and work experience needed to participate in the labour market either directly through employment or self-employment

Our free online resources can help your answer questions regarding training & education, employment, self employment, and hiring staff.

Years of experience

Our Career and Employment Consultants have teamed up with Beauty Service Professionals to truly understand the needs of the beauty industry in Alberta. As a result, we have created a repertoire of online service to help Albertans find beauty industry resources.

Combined, we have 40+ years of experience to help you address many beauty industry career and employment matters.

Resources to overcome barriers

We have the expertise to work with people from diverse backgrounds. Employment barriers come in all shapes and sizes, therefore, we have networks of people who specialize in all types of barriers.

The main goal of Executive Spa Group is to create an environment where Albertans can pursue their passion in light of employability issues that could potentially derail them from achieving their goals.

Service Providers

Online resources for Service Providers include our online job bank. Beauty job seekers can use our job bank to help them find employment opportunities in Alberta, Canada. It is updated multiple times per week to help you connect with employers in a timely fashion. Plus, find resume and cover letter templates online to help advance your job search.

On the other hand, if you are not a job seeker, and instead are a “course-seeker”, we have resources for that as well! We have compiled a list of beauty industry training providers in Alberta (and Canada wide for online learning) called 411 Training Directory.

In addition, our online blog is full of articles to answer questions regarding employment disputes, starting a beauty business, becoming a beauty educator, plus more!

Entrepreneurs

Small business owners make up a large piece of the beauty industry ‘pie’ in Alberta, Canada. Many people find it an attractive option when it comes to their livelihoods. It is common to see people grow a successful beauty business from a single, short technical training course.

Online beauty industry resources for entrepreneurs can be found in our blog articles. These include articles on how to plan and execute your business idea, plus information on licenses and permits required for your new beauty business.

Employers

For some people, the next step after opening their own salon or spa is hiring staff. While this is a great achievement that deserves recognition, it does come with unenviable challenges. Picking the right people for your team and keeping them happy requires mental effort and a bit of luck!

Online resources for employers include our beauty job bank to help you find the ideal candidate. Because we specialize in beauty jobs, our job bank is attentive to the specific needs of Alberta’s beauty industry employers.

In addition, our online articles provide guidance on accessing any available grants to train new employees. On that note, here’s hoping you are able to create a great team! However, we also share resources with employers for when the work environment isn’t doing very well.

Beauty Educators

Some people are teachers at heart. If training others is your passion, our online resources include our free online 411 Training Directory to help you fill your classes. This directory is available to all Albertans searching for beauty courses in hair, esthetics, and massage therapy. Contact us by email to add your course to our directory.

Also, our online Beauty Educator courses help you prepare a curriculum that meets industry standards plus ensure that you meet any licensing requirements and permits.

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EXECUTIVE SPA GROUP
(780) 604-2772
info@executivespagroup.com

Service Providers who wish to start a beauty school or teach esthetics, hairstyling, or massage therapy in Alberta have different ways of becoming a beauty educator. It comes down to what one’s teaching goals are. While your field of expertise plays a large role in your career path, there are certain steps that you will need to take in order to start offering beauty training courses.

Step 1- Creating a business plan

Even though educating and empowering others is at the core of your business idea, it’s nevertheless a business and must be treated as such from the start. Make sure to develop the not-so-sexy parts of your business plan as well, such as industry research.

Step 2- Creating a syllabus

Once you have developed your business plan, you can focus on creating your syllabus. Your syllabus is the outlined plan of all the topics you will include in your course/program. If you are creating a syllabus for technical skills that falls under the supervision of a governing body, such as hairstyling, you will have to meet their specific requirements in your program.

However, not all beauty industry occupations have a governing body in Alberta, Canada. When this is the case, it is up to the beauty educator to ensure they are including all necessary topics in their training courses to maintain industry standards, or perhaps elevate standards.

Step 3- Filling in the details

Once you have your ‘skeleton’, you can zoom into the nitty gritty of your daily lesson plans. Filling your entire day every day for the length of your course or program is a monumental challenge. Further still is the challenge of keeping them engaged all day long. Plus, to be an excellent beauty educator you must be able to recognize different learning styles in order to adapt your lesson plans to benefit each individual.

Not only do students absorb theory components of a curriculum differently, they have different fine motor capabilities. This makes keeping the flow of the technical component burdensome. However, having the ability to design a practicum curriculum that promotes skill development can help reduce inefficiencies during this high value portion of your training course.

Step 4- Licenses and Permits

For many, figuring out which licenses and permits are needed to start a beauty school or training course in Alberta, Canada can send them into a tizzy! In all fairness, the information is overwhelming and not everyone has to follow the same rules. As a result, service providers who wish to teach esthetics, hairstyling, or massage therapy in Alberta have different paths to follow in reaching their goal of opening their own beauty school.

Follow the recommendations above and you will be closer to starting your own beauty school, or teach esthetics, hairstyling, or massage therapy in Alberta.

EXECUTIVE SPA GROUP

Is there a difference in the terminology?

Over the years government branches, such as Alberta Education, change their names and their program names to encompass changes within their organizational missions and goals.

Student aid has been known as student finance in the past, but within this umbrella term of “student aid” falls multiple methods of financial assistance for students such as loans and grants.

Government assistance to pay for your beauty studies

In Canada, both provincial and federal governments work together to help people access post high school education. Beauty studies is one of the many fields supported by government student aid. However, relatively few training providers offer student loans. The reason for this ultimately comes down to esthetics not being a regulated industry in Alberta.

Is regulation a good thing?

This depends on who you ask. Not being regulated means that there is no governing body to guide us as a whole. It means freedom, but can there be too much freedom?

On the other hand, cosmetology is a regulated industry in Alberta. They have a governing body that oversees all hairstylists, salons, and training providers in Alberta. If you’re looking for student loans to pay for cosmetology school, you’re in luck! Because cosmetology is regulated, many training providers in Alberta will be regulated. This often means that they will be able to offer government loans to students in full time and part time programs. It also means that there won’t be too many trainers to choose from, because becoming a cosmetology trainer is a long process due to regulation.

Unlike cosmetology, esthetics training providers do not have rules to follow. As a result, it’s very easy to become an esthetics trainer and the selection becomes overwhelming. In cosmetology, a governing body determines you have met the requirements to call yourself a trainer. In esthetics, the trainer themselves determines that they have met any requirements to call themselves a trainer.

Loans, grants, and repayment

As mentioned earlier, if hairstyling is your dream career, there is definitely government student aid available to you. However, if you want to learn an esthetics skill, such as skincare or microblading, student financial aid will be hard to come by. Federal government assistance is available for full time esthetics programs only, while provincial funds are available for some part time studies. You must be at least 18 years of age to be eligible.

Loans

Loans are available for programs that will result in a certificate at participating beauty educators. Loans must be paid back after completion. If you do not finish your studies you’re still responsible for paying the loan you accepted thus far.

Grants

Grants are often given as a supplement to the loan to students that meet certain criteria, amongst them, low income students or students with disabilities. Usually grants do not have to be repaid. However, you should be advised that grants are repayable if you drop out of your program or if your eligibility changes in the middle of the training program. So don’t be a beauty school dropout!

EXECUTIVE SPA GROUP