OTTAWA -- You can get a haircut, a manicure or a tattoo in Ottawa today for the first time in nearly three months.
As Ottawa and eastern Ontario moves into Stage 2 of Ontario’s reopening plan during the COVID-19 pandemic, barber shops, salons, piercing studios, tanning salons and tattoo studios are allowed to open.
According to the Ontario Government, here is the list of personal care services allowed to open with proper health and safety protocols in place.
- Hair services, including barber shops, hair salons, hairdressers/stylists, colour consulting services, scalp treatment services, hair weaving services, and hair replacement services
- Beauty salons, shops and parlours (including beauticians, estheticians, cosmetology shops or salons, manicure and pedicure salons)
- Hair removal services
- Piercing services
- Day spas
- Tanning salons
- Tattoo studios
The Ontario Government says where physical distancing cannot be maintained, personal care service providers should ensure that patrons wear face coverings at all times and workers wear face coverings and other appropriate personal protective equipment.
Businesses are encouraged to operate by appointment and/or recording each patron’s name and contact information for the purpose of contract tracing.
While barber shops, hair salons and beauty salons are allowed to open, there are still restrictions on operations, including:
- Prohibiting services that tend to a customer’s face, such as facials, facial hair grooming, eyebrow grooming, and makeup, as well as oxygen bars
- Steam rooms, saunas, bath houses must remain closed
- Baths, hot tubs, floating pools and sensory deprivation pods are closed except for therapeutic purposes
