Practising on models in Canada: the provincial rules that still apply
A practice sitting feels informal — a friend of a friend, a towel on the table, a product bought for the course. The province does not see it that way. Public health rules, trade law and privacy law reach a sitting whether or not money changes hands. Here is what four provinces' own regulations say, and what the model finder does about consent and photographs.
Public health: where the work happens matters
Two provinces' rules on personal services, in their own regulations' words.
Ontario: personal service settings
O. Reg. 136/18 under the Health Protection and Promotion Act covers premises where services such as nails, esthetics and hair are offered. The operator gives the local medical officer of health notice at least 14 days before opening, and the operator or the person providing the service takes the client's name and contact information beforehand.
Alberta: the Personal Services Regulation
Alberta Regulation 1/2020 under the Public Health Act defines a personal service broadly — cutting, styling, exfoliating, removing hair, attaching objects, applying cosmetic products and more — and Alberta Health Services' checklist says operators must notify it of existing or new personal services, as of 1 July 2020.
Trade law: Nova Scotia, and hair in five provinces
Nova Scotia regulates the beauty trades directly. Under its Cosmetology Act, a person practises cosmetology when doing it for fee, gain, or expectation of reward or remuneration, and may not do so unless licensed. The Act's cosmetology takes in hair care, affixing eyelashes, non-permanent make-up, nail care, waxing and other hair removal, and skin care; a room in a school where practical instruction is given counts as a salon. A sitting priced at the cost of materials is a question to put to the Cosmetology Association of Nova Scotia before the advert goes up, not after.
Hairstyling is a compulsory trade in Nova Scotia, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta, according to the Government of Canada's Job Bank. In Ontario, practising legally takes a Registered Training Agreement, a Provisional Certificate of Qualification or a Certificate of Qualification. A hair sitting posted by someone with none of those, in those provinces, is worth checking against the rules first.
Eighteen is not the age of majority everywhere
The model finder asks each person to declare that they are 18 or older, and records when they did. Nobody checks a document, and we say so on every page that mentions it.
In British Columbia the age of majority is 19 under its Age of Majority Act, and some other provinces and the territories set 19 too. An 18-year-old there can join the finder, but is a minor in provincial law. If you are asking a model to agree to photographs for your website or your teaching, ask yourself whether her agreement is one she can give on her own in your province.
Photographs, and the consent behind them
Canada's private-sector privacy law is PIPEDA, and Alberta and British Columbia each have their own Personal Information Protection Act, recognised as substantially similar. A photo of a model's face or hands is personal information either way. This is how the product handles it.
A separate agreement, never a condition
An advert that wants photos says so before anyone applies. Saying no to photos never costs the model her place, and no application asks her for a picture of herself.
Uses, ticked one by one
The model agrees to named uses — a portfolio, social media, a website, teaching material — and not to photography in general. A use she did not tick is a use nobody has.
The words she agreed to, kept
The exact wording is stored with her agreement as it stood that day, so an advert edited later cannot change what she said yes to.
Her own link to withdraw
She gets a link that withdraws the agreement at any time. In an academy, a model signs her statement on the educator's phone in the room and is given her own address to withdraw it later.
Where the product stops and your responsibility starts
The model finder makes some things impossible. It does not make the rest of the law go away.
- No client record for your health unit
- The finder does not hand you the model's phone number or e-mail address. If your premises are a personal service setting in Ontario, take her name and contact details yourself, on your own client record.
- No licence or insurance checks
- We do not check a poster's licence, certificate, trade status or insurance. The rules above apply to the person doing the work, not to Slotora.
- Reports are read, without a promised time
- You can report an advert or a person and block someone in both directions. Nobody is on a rota, so we do not promise how fast a report is read.
- Not legal advice
- This page summarises official documents we read on 10 November 2026. Your public health unit, your provincial regulator or a lawyer is where a firm answer comes from.
Questions about the rules
Does a sitting that costs the model nothing still fall under public health rules?
The rules described here attach to the premises and the service, not to a price. Ontario's regulation is about premises where personal services are offered; ask your local public health unit whether your room counts.
Can a student in Nova Scotia practise on models?
Nova Scotia's Cosmetology Act has membership and permits for students enrolled in a school, and defines practising as working for fee, gain or reward. A student outside a school's program should ask the Cosmetology Association of Nova Scotia before posting.
Can a model take back her consent to photos after they are posted?
She can withdraw the agreement at any time from her own link, and the photos stop being shown wherever that agreement was what allowed them. Copies someone made elsewhere are outside what Slotora can reach.
Does Slotora check that a model is over 18?
No. Each person declares it and the declaration is recorded. Nobody's identity or age document is seen.
Why are model reminders not sent by text?
The model finder was built without any text sending at all. Reminders go by e-mail and by notification 24 hours before the sitting.
The documents this page summarises
Official pages and statutes, on the day we read them. Where a summary and the text disagree, the text wins.
- Government of Ontario, e-Laws — O. Reg. 136/18, Personal Service Settings — https://www.ontario.ca/laws/regulation/180136 · read on
- Ontario Ministry of Health, letter to personal service setting operators on O. Reg. 136/18 (July 2018), hosted by Toronto Public Health — https://www.toronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/9713-tph-pss-operators-legislation-mohltc-July-2018.pdf · read on
- Alberta King's Printer — Personal Services Regulation, Alta Reg 1/2020 — https://kings-printer.alberta.ca/documents/Regs/2020_001.pdf · read on
- Alberta Health Services — Opening a Personal Services Business Checklist — https://www.albertahealthservices.ca/assets/wf/eph/wf-eph-opening-personal-services-business-checklist.pdf · read on
- Nova Scotia Legislature — Cosmetology Act — https://www.nslegislature.ca/sites/default/files/legc/statutes/cosmetology.pdf · read on
- Government of Canada, Job Bank — Hairstylist job requirements — https://www.jobbank.gc.ca/marketreport/requirements/16452/ca · read on
- Skilled Trades Ontario — Hairstylist trade — https://www.skilledtradesontario.ca/trade-information/hairstylist/ · read on
- British Columbia — Age of Majority Act, section 1 — https://free.bcpublications.ca/civix/document/id/complete/statreg/96007_01 · read on
- Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada — Provincial laws that may apply instead of PIPEDA — https://www.priv.gc.ca/en/privacy-topics/privacy-laws-in-canada/the-personal-information-protection-and-electronic-documents-act-pipeda/legislation-related-to-pipeda/provincial-legislation-deemed-substantially-similar-to-pipeda/ · read on
Write the photo question into the advert
When you post a sitting, say whether photos are wanted and for which uses. A model who reads that before applying is a model who turns up.