In Ontario, hairstyling is a compulsory trade: anyone cutting hair for pay needs a Certificate of Qualification or a registered apprenticeship. A salon passing $30,000 in sales must charge GST/HST, and more than half of all payments are now contactless. Salongram, a free Android app, keeps the diary, staff hours and payment records, but it does not file taxes or take card payments.
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A working copy of the app's screens with a sample salon in Toronto: local staff, services and prices in CAD.
Salongram is a free salon booking app for Canadian salons and barbershops: appointments, clients, staff hours and WhatsApp reminders in one Android app.
Rules vary by province, and this guide uses Ontario where a provincial rule is needed. There, hairstyling is a regulated trade, public holidays come with set pay rules, and sales tax registration starts at a modest $30,000 threshold set federally. At the till, Canadians mostly tap: cash is now a small share of payments.
Skilled Trades Ontario lists hairstylist as a compulsory trade. To work in it you must hold a Certificate of Qualification, a Provisional Certificate of Qualification or a Registered Training Agreement as an apprentice, appear on the Public Register and renew the certificate every year. A salon hiring a stylist can check the register.
The Ontario hairstylist apprenticeship takes about 3,500 hours: 3,020 hours of on-the-job work and 480 hours of in-school training. Hairstylist is an interprovincial Red Seal trade, but Ontario does not currently offer a Red Seal endorsement, so stylists qualified there hold a provincial certificate.
Ontario's nine public holidays are New Year's Day, Family Day, Good Friday, Victoria Day, Canada Day, Labour Day, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day and Boxing Day. Public holiday pay is generally the employee's regular wages from the four work weeks before the holiday week, plus vacation pay in some cases, divided by 20.
An employee who agrees in writing or electronically to work a public holiday chooses either public holiday pay plus premium pay of 1.5 times the regular rate for each hour worked, or regular wages plus a paid substitute day off. Employees usually qualify by working their last scheduled shift before the holiday and their first one after it.
The Canada Revenue Agency's small supplier limit for most businesses is $30,000 of taxable revenue over four consecutive calendar quarters. A business that passes it in a single quarter must start charging GST/HST on the sale that took it over. Small suppliers may also register voluntarily.
Payments Canada counted 14 billion contactless payments worth $632 billion in 2025, 53% of total payment volume, with an average contactless payment of $44. Tap is now the normal way to pay at a salon terminal.
Cash made up 9% of total payment volume in 2025 and 11% of point-of-sale volume, and the average cash payment was $24. That was still 2.1 billion cash payments at the point of sale, so a salon needs a quick way to record one.
Hairstyling is a compulsory trade in Ontario, and an apprenticeship takes about 3,500 hours. Link each service to the staff who may perform it, so an apprentice is booked only for work they are trained for.
Ontario has nine public holidays, and an employee who agrees to work one earns premium pay or a substitute day. Add time off for the others, and only the people who agreed are bookable.
A business must start charging GST/HST once taxable sales pass $30,000 over four quarters. The monthly report shows what came in, a figure to note while you watch that limit; the app does not file tax.
Contactless made up 53% of Canadian payment volume in 2025, at $44 on average. Your terminal handles the tap; in Salongram you tick card on the appointment, so the daily report shows card and cash totals separately.
Cash still averaged $24 a payment. The Quick Payment keypad records a cash walk-in without a booking, so a quick trim is counted in the day's takings.
We found no official survey of how Canadians book salon visits, so we will not quote one. Salongram keeps the appointment book, each stylist's working days and every client's history in one place on a phone or tablet, and takes requests outside opening hours through a booking link.
Each staff member has her own working days, hours, breaks and the services she is trained for, so an apprentice can be booked only for what she does. A booking outside someone's hours or skills shows a warning first.
Staff and servicesMark the public holidays you close as closed days, or give the staff who take a substitute day their time off, so nobody books into them by mistake.
The scheduleServices can carry a rebook interval, so the app lists who is due back for a cut or colour, and a regular can be booked before they leave.
Client history and rebookingClients who think of booking after you close can use your booking link or QR code, choose services and a real free time, and send a request you accept or change.
The booking linkAn illustrative day, not research: a four-chair salon in Toronto, open Tuesday to Saturday, with two certified stylists, a registered apprentice and a barber. The demo on this page uses a similar salon, with prices in Canadian dollars.
The owner opens the staff columns: the apprentice is booked for blow-dries only, so colour requests go to the senior stylist.
A regular calls about a balayage; typing 2 lists every time from two o'clock with her usual stylist's free slots.
A walk-in wants a men's cut and pays cash; it goes on the Quick Payment screen without creating a client.
A cancellation frees a slot; the waiting list shows a client who asked for any Saturday afternoon, and she is booked in.
The sales report splits card and cash for the day, ready to check against the terminal before closing.
Most clients tap a card or phone at the terminal, and a minority pay cash. Salongram records each payment as card or cash, plus deposits and refunds, so the day's totals match your terminal and till. It does not take payments, charge GST/HST or file returns.
Contactless was 53% of payment volume in 2025. Mark the booking as paid by card after the terminal approves it.
Cash was 11% of point-of-sale volume in 2025. A cash payment from a walk-in can be saved in seconds on the Quick Payment screen.
If you take a deposit for colour or a bridal booking, record it on the booking so the balance due shows on the day.
Type in your own numbers. A no-show is a slot nobody else could take; reminders and a waiting list are how most salons win part of it back.
An estimate from the numbers you enter (a month counted as 4.33 weeks). Nothing is sent or stored. Salongram is free to download.
Download Salongram free from Google Play, choose Canadian dollars and add your services and prices, from cut and blow-dry to balayage and men's cuts.
Add each staff member with her working days, hours, breaks and the services she is trained for, and mark the public holidays you close.
Create the optional account to back up the diary, get your booking link and QR code, and add the link to your website or Instagram profile.
Yes, in effect. Hairstylist is a compulsory trade in Ontario, so a stylist needs a Certificate of Qualification, a provisional certificate or a registered training agreement as an apprentice. Salongram does not check this; you can look stylists up on the Skilled Trades Ontario Public Register.
No. Salongram records the prices and payments you enter but does not calculate, charge or file GST/HST. If your sales pass the $30,000 small supplier limit, set your prices and invoices to include the tax as the Canada Revenue Agency requires.
Not yet. Salongram runs in English, Arabic and Spanish, with prices in Canadian dollars. If your team or clients work in French, check that English screens and messages suit them before you switch.
Yes. Each staff member has a list of services she is trained to do, and booking an untrained service shows a warning before you confirm it, so an apprentice is not booked for colour by mistake.
No. Clients tap their card or phone on your own terminal, and you mark the booking as paid by card. Salongram never handles the money; it records card and cash so the day's totals match your terminal and till.
Yes. Salongram is free on Android and keeps the schedule, clients, staff hours, payments and WhatsApp reminders. It has no French interface yet, it does not process cards or calculate GST/HST.
Any salon app that links services to the staff allowed to perform them. In Salongram you choose who performs each service, so apprentices only appear for the work they are trained for. It does not check certificates of qualification or count apprenticeship hours.
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