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Design & creative · Helping & Teaching

Hairstylist: what the job actually is

Cutting, colouring and styling hair for a client who is sitting in front of a mirror and watching you.

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Hairstylist: quick facts

Hairstylist salary in Ontario: the median pay is $18.00 an hour, according to Job Bank (reference period 2023-2024). Its three-year outlook in Ontario is moderate. The job usually needs a shorter college programme or apprenticeship, or over six months of on-the-job training.

Median pay in Ontario
$18.00 an hour
Pay range (low to high)
$17.95 to $28.57 an hour
Job outlook, 2025-2027
Moderate
People working in it in Ontario
29,200
Usually needs
Usually a shorter college programme or apprenticeship, or over six months of on-the-job training

Source: Job Bank wages (updated 19 November 2025) and job prospects (updated 10 December 2025), NOC 63210. Pay varies by region and experience.

The work

What this job actually is

  • Cutting, colouring, perming, relaxing and styling hair, and advising clients on what will suit them and what they can keep up at home.
  • Skilled Trades Ontario describes the trade as covering cutting, designing, colouring, permanent waving, relaxing and straightening, along with scalp treatment, chemical treatments, and work with wigs and hairpieces.
  • Hairstylist is a compulsory trade in Ontario, trade code 332A. Skilled Trades Ontario says to practise you must hold a Registered Training Agreement, a Provisional Certificate of Qualification or a Certificate of Qualification, appear on the Public Register, and renew annually.
  • Job Bank reports one group for "Hairstylists and barbers", and lists self-employment as one of the main employment types, alongside the personal care services industry.
  • It is a service business. Your clients see your work on their own head, and they come back or they do not.

A Tuesday

What a normal day looks like

Not a good day or a bad one. The ordinary version, which is what you would actually be living.

  1. 8:45 — In. Sweep, sanitise your tools, set up your station and look at the day's book.
  2. 9:00 — First client: a cut. You consult first, so you know what they want before the scissors come out.
  3. 10:15 — A colour. You mix, apply, set the timer and move on to someone else while it develops.
  4. 11:30 — A client brings a photo of a cut that will not work on their hair. You say so, kindly, and offer another idea.
  5. 12:30 — Lunch, if the appointments did not run late. They usually did.
  6. 13:15 — Rinse the colour, cut, dry, style. Standing, with your arms up for most of an hour.
  7. 15:00 — A walk-in who wants it fixed. Someone else cut it badly, and you try to be diplomatic about it.
  8. 16:30 — Rebook the people leaving, because that is where your next week comes from.
  9. 17:45 — Clean down, wash the towels, put away the colours and write up the formulas for each client.
  10. 18:30 — Home. Your hands smell of products and your feet are tired.

Honestly

Who loves this, and who should not do it

The second list is the useful one. Nearly every careers page leaves it out, which is why nearly every careers page reads like an advert.

You may like this if
  • You like making a visible change in someone's appearance, and you do not mind when they are watching you do it.
  • You enjoy talking to people one at a time for an hour, and remembering what they told you last time.
  • You like to practise a craft until it is precise, with your hands and your eye.
  • You want to work for yourself one day, perhaps renting a chair or running your own salon.
  • You want a trade with a defined route and a certificate at the end.
You may hate this if
  • You do not like touching other people's heads and hair, or the products you work with.
  • Standing for hours with your arms raised sounds hard. Your shoulders, wrists and feet take the strain.
  • You hate being judged on how someone looks in a mirror. Clients do not always like what they asked for.
  • You want fixed pay. If you rent a chair or work on commission, your income depends on how many clients you keep.
  • You dislike chatting. Part of the job is being pleasant for the whole appointment.
  • You want to be sure of a growing market. Job Bank's Ontario outlook for the group is Moderate, and the outlook text says employment decline will lead to the loss of some positions.

The route in

How you actually get there in Ontario

  1. Know it is a compulsory trade

    Skilled Trades Ontario lists Hairstylist as trade code 332A, a compulsory trade in Ontario. To work as one, you must hold a Registered Training Agreement, a Provisional Certificate of Qualification or a Certificate of Qualification, appear on the Public Register and renew annually.

  2. Register as an apprentice

    Skilled Trades Ontario gives the apprenticeship as 3,500 hours: 3,020 hours of on-the-job work experience and 480 hours of in-school training. It lists two levels of in-school training, delivered in formats such as block release or day release.

  3. Write the certification exam

    Skilled Trades Ontario says candidates who complete the apprenticeship, or qualify through its Trade Equivalency Assessment, and pass the Certificate of Qualification exam receive a provincial Certificate of Qualification. It notes that Hairstylist is an interprovincial Red Seal trade, but Ontario does not currently offer a Red Seal Endorsement.

  4. Find an employer or salon to sponsor you

    As with any trade, an employer has to take you on and sign off your hours. Visit salons you would like to work in, and ask about apprentices before you ask about a job.

Where this comes from: Skilled Trades Ontario — Hairstylist (332A) · Job Bank — Hairstylists and barbers requirements (Ontario) · Ontario — Start an apprenticeship · Ontario — Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program

The money

Hairstylist salary in Ontario

Job Bank's own figures, quoted rather than summarised, with the period they describe — so you can tell how old they are and go and check them.

$17.95
Low (hourly)
$18.00
Median (hourly)
$28.57
High (hourly)

Ontario, NOC 63210. Reference period 2023-2024, last updated by Job Bank on 19 November 2025. Wages vary a lot by region inside Ontario and by how long you have been doing it — the low figure is roughly where you start, not what the job is worth.

Source: Job Bank — Hairstylist wages in Ontario

Where it is heading

The outlook for the next three years

Job Bank publishes a three-year outlook for every job in every province. It is the closest thing to an honest forecast, and it moves, so read it as a weather report rather than a verdict.

Ontario, 2025-2027

Moderate3 out of 5 stars

  • Employment decline will lead to the loss of some positions.
  • A moderate number of positions will become available due to retirements.
  • There are a small number of unemployed workers with recent experience in this occupation.

What that rating means: how many openings Job Bank expects in Ontario for this kind of work against how many people are likely to be looking — not whether it is a good job. A “limited” rating means more competition for each opening; it does not close the door, and it can change before you are ready to walk through it.

What is changing in this work

  • Population growth in many areas of the province should add to the customer base
  • Opportunities to provide services in residential care facilities, or to niche markets, such as in-home services for the increasing number of seniors
  • The ability to meet the hair-service needs of the province's growing diverse population

Who hires for it

  • The majority are in the personal care services industry
  • Self employment
29,200
people work in this job in Ontario
80%
are women (48% across all jobs)
52%
are self-employed (15% across all jobs)

Source: Job Bank — Hairstylists and barbers job prospects in Ontario (NOC 63210). Outlook updated by Job Bank on 10 December 2025; read by us on 5 October 2026.

Before you leave school

Things you can do now

  • Ask your guidance office about OYAP. It lets you start working toward an apprenticeship while you are still in high school.
  • Ask about co-op in a salon or barbershop. It is the best way to see the work and the people before you commit.
  • Practise on a mannequin or on your own hair only if you have a safe, simple task like a braid. Do not try cutting or chemicals on a person without training.
  • Look at the Skilled Trades Ontario hairstylist page to see the full list of what the trade covers.

Test it

Do this before you decide anything

Reading about a job tells you almost nothing. This is designed to be done alone, this week, for free.

Spend an hour watching a stylist work

About 60 minutes
  1. Phone or visit a local salon or barbershop during a quiet time. Ask whether they take apprentices and what they look for.
  2. Ask if you could sit in the waiting area during a busy hour to watch. If they say no, thank them and try another.
  3. Watch the stylist with one client. Write down what the stylist asked first, how much of the time was talking, and how long they stood.
  4. At home, practise a simple braid or hairstyle on a willing family member, with no scissors or chemicals. Notice whether you can stay focused with your arms up for 20 minutes.

What it tells you. If you were drawn in by the combination of conversation and craft, and the standing did not bother you, look for a salon willing to sponsor an apprentice. If the talking and the standing felt like work, the trade will feel like that for years, so look at a quieter craft.

Better than any article

Questions for somebody who does this job

Most people say yes to a teenager who asks good questions. These are the ones that get real answers rather than encouragement.

  1. “How did you find your first employer as an apprentice?”
  2. “What does a good week look like for your income, and what does a slow one look like?”
  3. “Do you rent a chair, work on commission or get paid by the hour?”
  4. “What does it do to your body, and what do you do about it?”
  5. “How do you handle a client who is unhappy with the result?”
  6. “What do you wish you had known before you started your apprenticeship?”

Could you own one of these?

The part other career sites never mention

Yes, and it is one of the more common routes. Job Bank lists self-employment as an employment type for this group. Many stylists rent a chair in a salon or open their own. You need your Certificate of Qualification or to be a registered apprentice, a place to work and the discipline to build a client list, which is slow at first.

Business 101 is free and teaches that part

Quick answers

Questions people ask about this job

How much does a hairstylist make in Ontario?

The median pay for a hairstylist in Ontario is $18.00 an hour, according to Job Bank (reference period 2023-2024, updated 19 November 2025). The range Job Bank publishes runs from $17.95 to $28.57 an hour. Pay varies by region, employer and experience.

What is the job outlook for a hairstylist in Ontario?

Job Bank rates the employment outlook for this work in Ontario as moderate for 2025-2027 (updated 10 December 2025). Employment decline will lead to the loss of some positions. A moderate number of positions will become available due to retirements. There are a small number of unemployed workers with recent experience in this occupation. A lower rating means more competition for each opening, not that no one is hiring.

What do you need to become a hairstylist in Ontario?

Job Bank says this work usually needs a shorter college programme or apprenticeship, or over six months of on-the-job training. The usual route in Ontario, in order: Know it is a compulsory trade; Register as an apprentice; Write the certification exam.

Where does a hairstylist work in Ontario?

The majority are in the personal care services industry. Self employment. (Job Bank.)

How many people work as a hairstylist in Ontario, and how many are women?

Job Bank counts about 29,200 people working in this job in Ontario. 80% of them are women, compared with 48% across all jobs. That describes who does the work today, not who can.

Where people come from

Which programs lead here?

In the 2021 Census, this job is one of the 12 most common for graduates of these programs. Each page shows what else they do, and which of those jobs have openings.

What can you do with your degree?

Not sure this is the right list to be reading

Start from yourself, not from the job.

Future Finder is free, takes about ten minutes, needs no account and stores nothing. It will tell you which kinds of work you lean toward, and which of these pages are worth your time.

Try Future Finder — freeAll jobs

Parent of a teenager weighing this up? Career coaching for teens gets them talking to people who do the work, anywhere in Ontario.

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Wages and training requirements change. Every figure on this page is linked to the body that publishes it, and the review date above says when we last checked. If you find something out of date, tell us and we will fix it.