Salon & Spa Buildout in Toronto

200A 120/208V 3-phase is generally enough for 10 styling stations + 3 shampoo bowls + reception/back of house. Add a med-spa with 3 treatment rooms and laser equipment and you're at 400A. Older plaza spaces often have 100-150A service to a unit and a service upgrade ($25-$50K through Toronto Hydro / Alectra) is the single biggest cost surprise.

Not for general hair styling, but yes for color-mixing dispensary if peroxide or ammonia volumes exceed thresholds, and yes for any chemical relaxer/perm services. Wax rooms always need dedicated exhaust per public health expectations. Most modern salons just exhaust the color bar area to be safe — $4-8K for the ventilation upgrade pays back in customer comfort and equipment life.

Three reasons: (1) Treatment rooms with negative-pressure exhaust and CSA Z317-aligned ventilation are essentially small medical exam rooms in cost; (2) Med-spa licensing and ESA/IPAC requirements drive higher finish quality (no carpet, antimicrobial surfaces, dedicated sterilization); (3) Equipment package (laser, microneedling, body sculpting, IPL) is often 30-40% of project cost on top of construction.

Yes but Toronto Public Health does a full plan review and inspection before opening. Allow 4-6 weeks from final construction to license issuance. Pre-application meetings with TPH highly recommended at the design phase — they'll flag layout issues (sterilization workflow, station spacing, accessibility) before drawings are finalized.

Sola Salon Studios and similar franchise the master lease and sub-divide into 90-160 sf private studios with door, mirror, station, sink, and lockable storage. Construction is much heavier on demising walls (1-hr fire-rated between each suite) and per-suite MEP (each suite needs its own electrical and plumbing rough-ins). Per-suite cost runs $25-$50K, vs $8-$15K per station in open-plan. Justified by sub-tenant rental income $200-$400/wk per suite.