Massage Services - business guide
Businesses and practitioners who manipulate the soft tissues of a customer require a municipal licence.
Businesses that do require a municipal licence:
Do
- Massage clinics
- Massage therapists
- Mobile massage
- Spas
- Wellness centres
Businesses that do not require municipal licensing are:
Don't
- Acupuncture
- Holistic health therapies
- Medical or therapeutic massage given by chiropractors, physiotherapists or medical doctors
- Reiki practitioners
- Students registered in a provincially licenced massage school, observing and performing massages or body rubs with an instructor
- Facial massages performed alongside dental work
To speed up the business licence approvals process, customers with a myID business account can receive a digital copy of their business licence via email. Customers applying for a new business licence or renewing an existing licence can use this service. To learn more about the benefits of a myID business account, please visit myID business account (calgary.ca).
There is no change to persons who need an ID card for their licence (body rub practitioner). We are working on a digital option and will notify when this service is available.
Rules and regulations
Practitioners
Massage practitioner
Persons paid to perform massages in Calgary are required to have a massage practitioner's licence. They do not require a licence if they are part of a provincially-regulated group allowed to perform massage under a professional designation (e.g. Chiropractors or physiotherapists). A massage practitioner is a member in good standing with one of the recognized massage associations and must provide proof upon application. The City recognizes the following massage associations:
- Alberta Association of Therapeutic Masseurs (AATM)
- Certified Registered Massage Therapist Association (CRMTA)
- Massage Therapist Association of Alberta (MTAA)
- Natural Health Practitioners of Canada (NHPC)
- Canadian Massage & Manual Osteopathic Therapists Association (CMMOTA)
- Alberta Regional Massage Therapy Association (ARMTA)
Stand-alone or self-employed practitioners must also obtain a licence for a massage office or centre.
Students in a provincially-licensed massage school do not require a practitioner's licence if being observed by an instructor or licenced practitioner. Students performing massages not in the presence of a licenced practitioner require a practitioner's licence.
Body rub practitioner
Body rub practitioners are persons that:
- have a minimum of 250 hours of training from an approved school of massage
- are not a member of the recognized massage associations.
To apply for a licence, all body rub practitioners must:
- provide proof of employment from a licenced body rub centre upon application.
- present an original certificate of proficiency proving 250 hours of massage training from a recognized school or institute.
Centres
Massage centre
A business licence is required when:
- Businesses offer and perform massages in a location to the public for a fee
A massage centre or business office can only employ licenced massage practitioners. All massage centres must be within Calgary, however, the owner may live elsewhere.
Alternatively, a massage office is a business where a person books and maintains the records of a massage business at home, but the massages are performed elsewhere.
Body rub centre
If a business does not hire only licensed massage practitioners, then a body rub centre licence is required. Body rub centres may also hire massage practitioners.
A body rub centre cannot:
- operate as a home-based business
- offer mobile massage services.
A body rub centre cannot be within 300 metres of another body rub centre. It also cannot operate from the same premises as a massage centre. Centres must be within Calgary, but the owner may live elsewhere.
Body rub centres applying for new licences are required to complete both a compliance and ownership statutory declaration upon application.
Licence combinations
| Business activites | Personal service licence | Retailer dealer licence | Food service licence |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Massage centres that offer other services such as hair and aesthetics, manicures, pedicures or physical fitness conditioning |
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Massage centres selling products |
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Massage centres selling food or edible products including herbs, vitamins, supplements, non-alcoholic beverages or related products |
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Massage combo licence
Home-based massage practitioners that meet the eligibility criteria may apply for a combo licence. The ownership of the business must be a sole proprietorship and no other category of licensing is allowed on the licence (e.g. retail dealer or personal service).
-
Massage office
A massage office cannot have any employees or perform massages at the massage office location. This licence is for a single person operation who books their own appointments and goes to a client's location. Persons wishing to book appointments for other massage practitioners would be licenced as a massage centre.
Additional licences
- Acupuncture treatment is regulated by the Health Disciplines Act with Alberta Health - 1-780-427-3276.
- Massage and body rub practitioners must be a minimum of 18 years of age.
- Body rub practitioners require a photo identification card that must be renewed annually.
- Photo identification cards are optional for massage practitioners and can be provided on request.
Fees
For business licence fees, see the Business Licence Fee Schedule. The business licence fee schedule is broken down by licence type. If your business requires multiple licence types, the highest category fee will be charged.
These fees do not include:
- the costs related to required permits to meet land use approval
- any third-party approvals/inspections that may be required to obtain your licence.
- Business Activities
- Location of Business
- Fee payment at the time of application*
- Ownership
- Name of Business
- Contact information for the business and owner
- If you are applying online, a myID account
- Two pieces of government issued identification
You will be contacted by a file manager to review your application and provide you with next steps.
Required
| Licence type | Land use | Police | Fire | AHS / Health | Provincial | AMVIC | ID card |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Body rub centre | |||||||
| Body rub practitioner | |||||||
| Massage centre / office | |||||||
| Massage practitioner | |||||||
| Personal service | |||||||
| Retail detailer - no premises |
If your business requires multiple licence types, approval processes are only generated once per licence. For example, only one fire inspection is required even if multiple licence types require that inspection.
Land use approval
All businesses in Calgary require land use approval. Each space in a building has its own specified, approved use that cannot be changed without an approval, permit or both.
To view the allowable uses within a land use district, refer to the Land Use Bylaw. To determine the land use district of a property, visit myProperty.
You can also refer to Commercial, industrial and mulit-residential for more information. Or, contact our Planning Services Centre at 403-268-5311 to investigate land use approval for your business.
Calgary Police Services approval
This licence type requires recommendation and completion by the Calgary Police Service through the Police Information Checks unit. Approval is initiated on your behalf through your business licence application. Please note that previous police checks cannot be used as a substitute for this approval process.
You are required to provide two pieces of valid, government issued ID, one of which must contain photo ID.
You can show your ID:
- In person at the Planning Services Centre:
3rd floor
800 Macleod Trail S.E.
Calgary, AB
- By email: licencedivisionteam@calgary.ca
- By fax: 403-537-3034
Please reference your Business ID (BID) in the email or fax.
Please note: for licenses requiring a statutory declaration or a City-issued ID card, proof of identification must be shown in person.
This approval generally takes about two weeks.
Acceptable forms of government issued photo identification include:
- driver’s license
- passport
- Alberta photo identification card (issued through registry offices)
- firearms license
- Nexus card
- permanent resident card
- Secure Certificate of Indian Status card (federally issued)
- aviation document booklet
- certified refugee protection claimant document
(For youth between the ages of 12 to 15 years old who cannot provide any of the listed photo identification options, a student photo ID will be considered).
Acceptable forms of government issued identification include:
- provincial health care card
- birth certificate
- marriage certificate
- immigration documentation (includes valid document issued by Immigration and Citizenship Canada)
- citizenship card
- citizenship certificate
Fire Prevention Bureau approval
Alberta Health Services (AHS) approval
An Alberta Health Services (AHS) location inspection is required to ensure public safety. Any business involving the sale, preparation, manufacturing or storage of food products requires this inspection. Any business involved in personal service such as aesthetics or massage is also required to have this inspection. Contact AHS at 1-833-476-4743 for more information and to book a date.
Inspection results can be submitted:
- In person at the Planning Services Centre:
3rd floor, Municipal building, 800 Macleod Trail S.E. - By email: licencedivisionteam@calgary.ca
If AHS advised you that your business type does not require a health inspection, please forward the email confirmation as proof to The City’s Planning Services Centre.
Please be aware of all current provincial public health restrictions for in-person dining.
| Business Licence approval type | Timeline |
|---|---|
| Alberta Health Services | Contact AHS at 403-943-2288 for timelines |
Photo identification (ID) cards
If your business type requires an ID card, you must apply in person at the Planning Services Centre:
- Planning Services Centre:
3rd floor
800 Macleod Trail S.E.
Calgary, AB
Two (2) pieces of valid, government issued ID are required, one of which must include photo identification. The Calgary Police Service outlines acceptable forms of identification. Be prepared to have your photograph taken at the Planning Services Centre, where your municipal photo ID card will be created.