Tanning salon booking software for Canada, with the age rules in view
Ten-minute bed sessions, fifteen-minute spray tans, and provincial laws, in Ontario and B.C. among others, about who may lie down in a UV bed. Slotora books the beds and booths by the minute, sells session packs, and puts an 18-and-over line in front of the services that need one — while the ID check stays with you. 14 days to try it.
Open a 14-day trialWhat the provinces say about minors and UV tanning
Federally, the warning label Health Canada announced for tanning equipment in 2013 tells users it is not recommended for anyone under 18. The bans themselves are provincial.
In Ontario, tanning services cannot be sold or provided to anyone under 18, with no exceptions. The operator must ask for photo identification with a date of birth from anyone who appears to be under 25, a trained attendant must be present for every session, tanning cannot be advertised or marketed to under-18s, and the business must tell its local medical officer of health that it operates. Signs are required at the till, beside each bed and at the entrance.
In British Columbia, minors may not use tanning equipment unless they hold a prescription from a B.C. medical practitioner or nurse practitioner, and the operator must post the government's sign where customers pay. The province lists a fine of $345 per offence. Health Canada's 2013 summary also recorded Nova Scotia's minimum age as 19 and Manitoba's requirement of parental consent under 18. Check your own province's current rule before you open.
These rules are written about ultraviolet equipment. B.C.'s sign, for instance, refers to UV tanning equipment. How a province treats spray tanning is a separate question, so ask before you sell a spray tan to a teenager for prom.
What Slotora's age line does, and what it does not
Said exactly, because an inspector may ask.
- It asks
- Mark a service 18 and over, and a client booking it online must tick that they are. The time they ticked is saved on the booking.
- It does not check
- Slotora does not read a date of birth, scan ID or verify anyone's age. In Ontario the law expects your attendant to see photo ID from anyone who looks under 25; that happens at the desk, every time.
- It does not replace your signs, notices or attendant
- The signs, the public health notice and the trained attendant are your obligations whatever booking system you use.
Setting up beds, booths and packs
01
One service per bed type and session length
Stand-up booth 8 minutes, lay-down bed 12 minutes, spray tan 15 minutes: each is its own service with its own price.
02
Each bed is a resource
Tell Slotora you have four lay-down beds and one booth. It will never sell a fifth lay-down session at the same minute.
03
A cleaning buffer after each session
Add the minutes it takes to wipe down the bed or the booth after every client, so the next one does not wait.
04
Packs that count down
Sell five, ten or twenty sessions as a pass with an expiry date you choose. Each booking takes one off.
For spray tan artists
Prep questions at booking
Ask whether they have exfoliated, shaved and come without moisturiser, and whether this is for an event, at the moment they book.
Aftercare by email
Switch on an aftercare email for the spray tan service, in your own words, and it goes out when the visit is closed.
Home and event visits
A service can take place at the client's address — a bridal party at a hotel, a client's living room — with the address captured when they book.
Friday slots refilled
When a Friday spray tan cancels, the waitlist emails up to 25 people waiting, and the first to book takes it.
The rest of the small print
- No tanning category
- You register as a beauty business. The age line and every booking tool are available to you; there is simply no word tanning in our trade list.
- No texts
- Bed and booth reminders go out by email, with no texts to Canadian phones for now.
- No unlimited monthly tanning
- A monthly membership charged automatically is not offered in Canada yet. A pass with many sessions and a 30-day expiry is the nearest thing.
- Québec
- A tanning business in Québec has to wait for our French version.
Other software tanning salons use
Vagaro lists tanning software among the business types on its own site. General tools such as Square Appointments work for spray tan artists too. Slotora's difference for a tanning salon is that bed limits, cleaning buffers and session packs come in the one Canadian plan, billed in Canadian dollars with no commission.
Tanning questions
Does Slotora stop under-18s booking a tanning bed?
It makes them tick that they are 18 or over before booking the service online. It cannot verify the tick, so your attendant still checks ID at the desk.
Can I make every bed its own resource?
Yes. Beds and booths are resources with a count, and the diary books no more sessions at once than you have equipment.
Can clients buy a pack of sessions online?
Yes, with a card through your own Stripe account, or they can ask for it online and pay at the counter.
Is the 18+ tick enough for Ontario's law?
No. Ontario's rules call for photo ID from anyone who appears under 25, an attendant, signs and a notice to public health. The tick is a record that you asked, not compliance on its own.
Do you take a commission on packs?
No. The monthly subscription is the only Slotora charge.
Sources
Government pages and the competitor's own site, read on the date shown.
- Government of Ontario — Skin Cancer Prevention Act (Tanning Beds), 2013 — https://www.ontario.ca/page/skin-cancer-prevention-act-tanning-beds-2013 · read
- Government of British Columbia — B.C. tanning bed ban — https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/health/keeping-bc-healthy-safe/pses-mpes/tanning-beds/bc-tanning-bed-ban · read
- Health Canada — health warning messages on tanning beds (2013) — https://www.canada.ca/en/news/archive/2013/02/information-health-warning-messages-tanning-beds.html · read A 2013 summary; provincial rules may have changed since.
- Vagaro — pricing and business types — https://www.vagaro.com/pro/pricing · read
Count your beds, then try it
Enter your beds and booths, two session lengths and one pack, and book a session as a client would — tick box and all.