How Much Does a Men’s Haircut Cost in Canada?

For most men, there are few things are regular as the need for a haircut. Unless you are unfortunate enough to go bald, and even then there is considerably less stigma than in the past, you hair will keep growing throughout your life, and regular cuts will be necessary to keep it looking in top shape.

The price of a haircut then is one of those lifelong costs that most men will be looking at paying around half a dozen times or more per year over the length of their life. Men will normally pay less than women for their haircuts, partly because the services required for men’s hair usually take less time and involve less hair, meaning that prices can be kept lower.

Even a conservative estimate would then indicate that most adult males may have somewhere in the region of 350+ haircuts during their life. Knowing where to get the best haircut at the best value, or being able to for that special high quality trim is an important part of negotiating adult life as a male.

Factors

The price of a haircut for men will vary for a number of reasons, which may include:

• The location. Some parts of the country may be more expensive or cheaper than others due to the general costs of living in that town, city or province.
• The experience. Some businesses will position themselves in different parts of the market, perhaps as a low-end or no-frills barber, whereas some will position themselves in a more high-end part of the market with extra features (free food or drink during a haircut for example).
• The competition. In busier areas where there are many barbers or hairdressers prices may be driven down somewhat by competition, which may enable patrons to get a cheaper haircut as rival barbers compete for custom.
• The skill. Some barbers who have received higher training will be able to charge higher prices due to the premium that their skills and experience provide.
• The economy. Inflation is a natural economic event, and prices will generally go up over time, usually as a result of rents, materials and labour costs for barbers. The main factor that tends to determine the price of haircuts in a particular area tends to be the average gross salaries of that area. Areas with more higher wage earning men will tend to have more expensive prices and areas with lower wage wearing men will have lower prices.

All of these factors mean that it is not easy to pin down with ease exactly how much a haircut will cost in various parts of Canada at any one time as prices are always subject to change. However, it is possible to look at the general trends for prices and make some comparisons.

Prices

Some of the best recent research on this has come from the analysts at UBS, who are experienced data collectors and analysts who gather data on a wide range of social metrics from around the world for comparison.

By visiting a number of barbers and hair salons through key worldwide cities they have been able to gather a wide range of different prices and come up with average haircut prices for 2 major cities in Canada, and have published the following: (source: UBS)

Montreal – $23.14, Toronto – $14.84

These are by no means the most expensive cities in the world for a haircut. Montreal is roughly comparative to the prices of a haircut for men in the fashion capitals of London and Milan, and is cheaper than a number of U.S. cities, including New York, Los Angeles and Chicago.

Toronto’s prices on average are obviously considerably cheaper than those of Montreal and is roughly comparative to Warsaw and Athens and Rio de Janeiro. Although Toronto is considerably cheaper than Montreal, you obviously wouldn’t travel the 540 kilometres in order to save $9!

It should also be considered that these prices are comparing like for like cuts and offering an overall average. Across even men’s hair there are a range of different styles for haircuts, and barbers and salons will offer a range of different prices for different services, so the requirements of an individual (and therefore the prices) will vary according to need.

There is also considerable variation in even those two cities between downtown and suburb prices, for many of the reasons given above.

Limited data is available for many of the other Canadian cities such as Vancouver and Calgary, and data for towns across the country is even harder to obtain. However, anecdotal data suggests that prices in cities will typically vary between about $20-35 depending on the location of the barber, the services provided and the quality of the cut.

In small local barber shops in towns, these prices may go down to as low as about $10 for the more old-fashioned style shop with limited size and features, all the way to about $80 for the very high-end barber salons with beer and large-screen TVs and other services such as hot towels.

Another factor to consider is the role of the tip, which is not considered in the data given above. As in many countries around the world, tipping the barber is considered de rigueur in most establishments and is an important social convention.

This may be particularly important in the cheaper establishments, who may charge lower prices to draw customers in and where the tip is a large part of the income of the barbers due to the low prices, as these businesses will run on slim profit margins. A tip of 10-20% is typical for a haircut and is considered part of the experience.

Conclusion

It can be seen then that there are number of factors that can affect the price of a haircut in Canada, which can range anywhere from $10-$80 but which are typically in the $20-$35 price range. Shopping around, being aware of what services and type of haircut you need can help you to find the right service at the right price.