A salon cancellation policy for Canada that clients accept and you can enforce
A cancellation policy exists to protect an hour somebody else could have booked. In Canada it also has to sit comfortably beside your province's consumer protection law, which is why the wording, the place it appears and the deposit behind it all matter as much as the number of hours.
Try it free for 14 daysThree policies to adapt
Write them in your own voice. The structure matters more than the exact words.
Gentle — for a new business
“You can cancel or move your appointment at no charge up to 24 hours before it starts. If something comes up on the day, cancel through the link in your reminder e-mail so we can offer the time to someone else.” While you are still building a client list, goodwill is worth more than the odd fee.
Standard — for most salons
“Cancellations less than 24 hours before your appointment, and missed appointments, are charged 50% of the service price to the card you booked with.” Firm and simple, and the number is known to the client before she confirms.
Deposit — for long or high-demand work
“A deposit secures your appointment and comes off the final price. Cancel at least 48 hours ahead and it is refunded in full; inside 48 hours it is kept.” Suits colour corrections, full lash sets, extensions and anything that blocks a morning.
What Canadian consumer law expects, in outline
There is no single national rule for salon cancellations. Consumer protection is provincial, so a studio in Calgary, one in Winnipeg and one in Moncton each answer to a different statute and a different consumer office. What follows uses Ontario as the example because its rules are published in detail; check your own province's consumer protection office before you rely on any of it.
Ontario's Consumer Protection Act, 2002 prohibits false, misleading or deceptive representations, and the province's own business guide says a consumer can walk away from an agreement made because of an unfair practice. In practice that means the policy a client sees before booking has to match what you actually do: if you keep a deposit, say so; if a late cancellation costs something, say how much.
The same Act has a section on internet agreements. Before a consumer enters one, the supplier must disclose prescribed information and give an express opportunity to accept or decline it and to correct errors; the supplier must also deliver a copy within a prescribed period. If those steps are missed, the Act gives the consumer a right to cancel. Whether a particular online booking with a deposit is caught depends on the amount and the facts, which is a question for a lawyer rather than for a template.
Ontario has also passed a newer Consumer Protection Act, 2023. The 2002 Act's own consolidation says it is to be repealed on a day still to be named by proclamation, so the older Act is the one Ontario businesses work under today. Watch for the change.
How deposits and fees work in Slotora
Every amount is taken in Canadian dollars through your own Stripe account, so the money lands with you and Slotora takes no share of it.
A deposit at booking
A fixed amount or a percentage of the price, asked of every client or only of clients who have never visited you. A regular you trust can be exempted on her client card.
When a deposit is kept
Out of the box a deposit is always refunded when a client cancels. It is kept only inside a window you type in yourself — 48 hours, say — so the software never starts keeping clients' money unless you decided it should.
Late-cancellation and no-show fees
Set a fee for cancelling late, with up to two windows (for example half the price inside 48 hours, all of it inside 24), and a separate fee for not turning up. Fees can be charged automatically to the saved card, or only when you press the button on the booking.
Your policy where it is needed
Your booking policy wording goes into the confirmation e-mail and the reminder, so the client has it in writing before the appointment, and you can point to it if she disputes a charge.
Cancelling stays open
A client can always cancel online up to the start time; inside your window the screen tells her it counts as late and what it may cost. Moving the appointment online closes at your cutoff, because a reschedule at the last minute blocks the slot twice.
The freed hour goes to the waitlist
When a slot frees up, everyone on the waitlist for it gets an e-mail at once, and the first to book takes it.
Enforcing it without an argument
Most disputes over cancellation fees are not about the fee; they are about surprise. A client who agreed to a written policy, received it again in her reminder and was told on the cancel screen what it would cost is unlikely to argue. A client who hears about the fee for the first time from a card statement will.
Keep the policy short enough to read on a phone, put the numbers first, and use the same wording on your booking page, in your Instagram highlights and at the front desk. Write down the exceptions you are willing to make — illness with a doctor's note, a snowstorm that closed the highway — and apply them evenly, because the client who was charged will compare notes with the one who was not.
When you do waive a fee, say so in the client's notes. The second time the same person cancels late, you will want to know it was the second time.
Limits worth knowing
What neither this guide nor the software decides for you.
- This is not legal advice
- The provincial rules are summarized from the governments' own pages. For a policy that keeps large deposits, or for a dispute that has already started, ask a lawyer or your province's consumer protection office.
- Reminders arrive by e-mail and in the app
- In Canada Slotora does not send text messages yet, so a client who never opens e-mail may miss the reminder that repeats your policy. Say the policy out loud at booking too.
- A fee needs a card behind it
- A fee can only be charged automatically when the client left a card when she booked. Appointments you type in from a phone call carry no card unless you ask for a deposit or a payment before the visit.
Cancellation questions from Canadian salons
Can I keep a deposit if a client cancels late?
Many salons do, and Slotora lets you set the window inside which a deposit is kept. What matters under provincial consumer law is that the client was told clearly before she booked; Ontario's Act prohibits misleading representations. If in doubt about your own province, ask its consumer protection office.
How many hours' notice is normal?
Twenty-four hours is the most common window for short services. Forty-eight is usual for long appointments such as colour corrections or lash sets, where a gap is hard to fill on short notice.
Will clients see the policy before they pay?
Your house rules sit on your booking page, and your booking policy wording goes into the confirmation and reminder e-mails. Put the key numbers in both places.
What happens if a client never shows up?
If you set a no-show fee and the client booked with a card, Slotora can charge the fee automatically when the appointment is marked as a no-show, or you can charge it yourself from the booking. No-shows are counted on her client card.
Can I ask for part of the price before the visit instead?
Yes. Slotora can e-mail a payment link for a share of the price a set number of days before the appointment, including appointments you entered yourself after a phone call or a direct message.
Sources
The provincial rules summarized above come from the Government of Ontario's own pages, read on the day shown.
- Ontario e-Laws: Consumer Protection Act, 2002 — https://www.ontario.ca/laws/statute/02c30 · Read on Sections 37 to 40 on internet agreements; the consolidation notes the Act is to be repealed on a day named by proclamation.
- Ontario: consumer protection business guide — https://www.ontario.ca/document/business-guide-consumer-protection/key-consumer-protection-concepts · Read on
- Ontario e-Laws: Consumer Protection Act, 2023 — https://www.ontario.ca/laws/statute/23c23 · Read on
Set your policy once and let the booking page carry it
Write your wording, choose a deposit and a late window, and every confirmation and reminder carries it from then on. Commission on bookings is zero, and card money goes straight to your own Stripe account.