The short answer: a full dog groom in Canada costs about $70 to $130 for a small dog, $80 to $215 for a medium dog and $90 to $300 for a large dog in 2026. A bath and brush without the haircut runs $40 to $120, and mobile groomers charge more than salons for coming to the door. Size sets the starting price; coat and condition set the final one. Here's the full rate card, and how to build your price list.
Dog grooming prices in Canada (2026)
Salon prices by service and size, for a dog in normal condition. Matting, behaviour handling and extras are on top:
| Service | Typical price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Bath and brush (any size) | $40–$120 | Wash, dry, brush-out, usually nails; no haircut |
| Full groom, small dog (under about 25–30 lb) | $70–$130 | Shih tzu, Yorkie, bichon, small doodle |
| Full groom, medium dog (up to about 50 lb) | $80–$215 | Cocker spaniel, schnauzer, mid-size doodle |
| Full groom, large or giant dog | $90–$300 | Standard poodle, golden, Bernese; double coats at the top |
| Mobile full groom (van at the door) | $110–$165+ | Travel fee often added outside the service area |
Ranges compiled September 2026 from published Canadian prices, checked as of September 2026: Dogster's Canadian price guide (full groom up to 30 lb: $120–$130+ Toronto, $85+ Vancouver, $70+ Calgary; up to 50 lb: $160–$215+ Toronto, $80+ Calgary; 50+ lb: $260–$300+ Toronto, $140+ Vancouver, $90–$110+ Calgary; bath and tidy $55–$120 Vancouver, and $100–$260+ at one Toronto salon), PawBasic (Ontario: small $70–$110, medium $90–$140, large and double-coated $120–$200+; small bath and tidy $50–$80), Dog Grooming Calgary (full groom $80–$145, bath and brush $40–$90), ATD Clubhouse (Montreal: full groom $100–$300 by size, bath $50–$90) and The K-9 Unit (Calgary mobile: full groom $110–$165). Large-dog ranges vary most by city: Calgary salons charge about half of Toronto's top rates.
What should you charge?
Two picks and a slider — your range, your projected income.
That's the plan — Biller is how it actually lands in your account.
Book it, groom it, get paidEstimates from this guide's market ranges — your market decides the rest.
Charging $120 a groom? Get paid before the dog goes home.
Biller gives your clients a booking link for their next appointment, turns each groom into an invoice in one tap, and records card and Autodeposit e-Transfer payments as they land.
Start free — no credit cardPricing by size and coat
Size sets the base; coat decides the time. Almost every Canadian groomer publishes prices by weight band (small, medium, large, giant) because a bigger dog takes longer to wash, dry and trim. But two 50-pound dogs can be very different jobs: a short-coated Lab is a bath and a blow-out, while a doodle needs a full scissor or clipper haircut. That's why price lists split out coat types. The K-9 Unit in Calgary charges $130 for a large short-haired dog and $145 for a long-haired one, and Dog Grooming Calgary prices a standard poodle separately.
- Bath and brush vs full groom: the bath and brush (or "bath and tidy") is wash, dry, brush-out and nails, sometimes with a face, feet and sanitary tidy. The full groom adds the haircut. Price the gap by the time the haircut takes, not by a flat markup.
- Double coats: huskies, shepherds and Bernese don't get a haircut, but the de-shedding takes as long as one. Charge it as an add-on; The K-9 Unit prices de-shedding from $25 for a small dog to $65 for a giant long-haired dog.
- Doodles and poodle crosses: the most profitable and the most time-consuming dogs on most books. Price them at the top of their size band, and require a regular schedule so the coat never mats.
Nails, de-matting and other add-ons
- Nail trims: $15 to $30 on their own (Dogster lists $15 in Calgary, $20 in Vancouver and $30 in Toronto). Most groomers include nails in every bath and groom.
- De-matting: charge by time. Dog Grooming Calgary charges $20 per 15 minutes; Montreal's ATD Clubhouse starts de-matting at $20. Badly matted coats usually get shaved down instead, which is kinder to the dog. Get the owner's agreement, and the price, before the clippers go on.
- Behaviour handling: a dog that needs two people or extra breaks costs you time. Some salons add a handling fee (ATD Clubhouse's starts at $10).
- Extras: teeth brushing, ear cleaning, facials and paw balm run about $10 each. They're small tickets, but they add up across a full day.
The mobile premium
Mobile grooming costs more, and it should. Compare two Calgary price lists: The K-9 Unit, a mobile groomer, charges $110 for a small dog and $120 for a medium dog, plus a $20 to $30 travel fee outside city limits; the Dog Grooming Calgary salon charges $80 and $90 to $100. That's roughly $20 to $30 more a groom for coming to the door. In the GTA, Mobile Pet Spa starts its full groom at $125 and puts most mobile grooms at $90 to $150+.
The premium pays for real costs: the van and its build-out, water and power on board, fuel, and the drive between clients. You can also groom fewer dogs a day than a salon with bathers. Price so that four or five mobile grooms a day pays as well as a salon groomer's day, and group clients by neighbourhood so the drives stay short.
Setting your own rate
The market range tells you what's plausible. Your time per dog tells you what's survivable:
- Time your grooms by coat type. A small-dog bath and tidy might be an hour; a doodle full groom can be two to three hours. Divide your price by the real time, including drying and clean-up, to see your hourly rate.
- Add your costs per dog. Shampoo and products, blade sharpening, towels and laundry, rent or van costs, and insurance that covers the animals in your care. A standard liability policy often excludes animals in your care, custody and control, so ask your broker about animal bailee cover; our small business insurance guide explains it.
- Protect your rebooking rate. A client who books every six weeks is worth far more than one who comes twice a year with a matted dog. Book the next appointment before the dog leaves, and price matted, overdue coats higher.
Then position inside your local range. Clean before-and-after photos, reviews, a calm handling reputation and easy online booking let you charge in the top third. If you're booked a month out, raise prices for new clients first.
Are you undercharging?
Five quick questions. Be honest — nobody's watching.
Are you booked solid more than two weeks out?
A full calendar is the market telling you your price is too low.
Have you raised your rates in the last 12 months?
Costs went up this year. If your rate didn't, you took a pay cut.
When you quote a price, does anyone ever say no?
If nobody ever pushes back, you're leaving room on the table.
Do you charge for travel time — or build it into your price?
Unpaid driving between grooms quietly eats your real hourly rate.
Do you drop your price whenever someone asks for a deal?
Discounting on request trains clients to always ask.
Priced about right
You're showing the classic signs of healthy pricing — price pushback now and then, regular raises, travel accounted for. Your next win isn't the rate, it's the time you lose to admin between grooms.
You're leaving money on the table
A couple of undercharging signals showed up. The fix is usually one honest raise for new clients — $5 more per groom on a full week is thousands a year you're currently donating.
You're seriously undercharging
Almost every signal fired. Booked solid, never raising, never hearing no — that's not luck, that's a price well below what your market would pay. Raise your rate for every new client starting this week; your regulars can follow later.
Rebook the next groom before the leash goes back on.
Clients book from your link, every groom lands on your schedule, and the invoice goes out in one tap — with reminders for the ones still unpaid.
Start free — no credit cardFree plan · Pro $99/year · Built for Canada — e-Transfer and card payments
Not ready? Try the free invoice generatorWhen GST/HST starts to apply
Pet grooming is a taxable service in Canada, but you don't have to charge GST/HST until your revenue crosses $30,000 in a single calendar quarter or over four consecutive calendar quarters, the CRA's small-supplier threshold. At $110 a groom that's about 270 grooms, which a full-time groomer passes within a year. Once you're over, you register, add tax to every invoice, and remit it. Our plain-English GST/HST guide explains the rest.
How to start a dog grooming business
Grooming has a low paperwork barrier and a high skill barrier. What to sort out first:
- Training, not a licence. Job Bank lists pet grooming as an occupation that is "not regulated in Canada", so no province requires a grooming licence or certification. Employers usually expect training courses in grooming and animal handling, and clients expect proof you know what you're doing. The National Groomer Association of Canada offers voluntary certification through written and practical exams, and many groomers start with a college or private grooming program, then an apprenticeship in a salon.
- Pick your model. Home-based (check your municipality's zoning and licence rules first), a rented salon chair or room, your own salon, or mobile. Mobile and home-based are the cheapest to start; a salon lets you add bathers and groom more dogs a day.
- Starting a mobile dog grooming business. The van is the big purchase: a converted van or trailer with a tub, table, dryer, water tanks and power. Plan where you'll fill fresh water and empty grey water, since many municipalities don't allow it to go down a storm drain, and set a service area so you're not driving an hour between dogs.
- Insurance before the first dog. General liability plus animal bailee (care, custody and control) cover, and commercial auto for a mobile van. See our small business insurance guide.
- The business basics. Register a business name if you use one (our guides cover Ontario, B.C. and Alberta), and get a business number when you register for GST/HST.
On earnings: Job Bank puts employed pet groomers at $15.00 to $25.50 an hour, with a median of $18.00 (updated November 2025). Owners earn by the dog instead. Five grooms a day at $100, four days a week, is $2,000 a week gross before products, rent or van costs, and insurance.
Prices are market ranges compiled from the Canadian sources linked above in September 2026 and will vary by city, breed and coat condition.
Common questions
How much does dog grooming cost in Canada?
A full groom (bath, haircut, nails) costs roughly $70 to $130 for a small dog, $80 to $215 for a medium dog and $90 to $300 for a large dog in 2026. Toronto and Vancouver sit at the top of those ranges; Calgary and smaller cities toward the bottom. A bath and brush without a haircut runs about $40 to $120.
What's the difference between a bath and brush and a full groom?
A bath and brush (or bath and tidy) covers washing, drying, brushing out and usually nails, with a light tidy of the face, feet and sanitary areas. A full groom adds a full-body haircut or breed trim. For coated breeds like poodles and doodles, the haircut is most of the time on the table, so a full groom costs far more.
How much should I charge for a nail trim?
Walk-in nail trims are commonly $15 to $30 in Canada; one Calgary salon charges $15 to $25 by size, and Toronto salons around $30. Many groomers include nails in every bath and full groom, and some trim nails free for regular clients between appointments to keep them booking.
How much do groomers charge for de-matting?
De-matting is usually charged by time, not by the dog: $20 per 15 minutes is a common Canadian rate, and some salons quote severe cases individually. Heavily matted dogs are often shaved down instead, because brushing out tight mats is painful for the dog. Tell the owner the price before you start.
Does mobile dog grooming cost more?
Yes, usually. In Calgary, one mobile groomer charges $110 to $165 for a full groom by size, against $80 to $145 at a local salon, plus a $20 to $30 travel fee outside city limits. The premium pays for the van, water, power and drive time, and for the owner not having to drop off and pick up.
Do you need a licence or certification to be a dog groomer in Canada?
No. Job Bank lists pet grooming as an occupation that is not regulated in Canada, so no province requires a grooming licence or certification. Training courses are usually expected by employers, and voluntary certification is available through the National Groomer Association of Canada. You may still need a municipal business licence, especially for a salon.
Do I need to charge GST/HST on dog grooming?
Not until your business revenue passes $30,000 in a single calendar quarter or over four consecutive calendar quarters, the CRA small-supplier threshold. At $110 a groom, that's about 270 grooms, which a full-time groomer doing five or six dogs a day reaches within a year.
Grooming clients also need walks and care while they're away. See what Canadians charge for dog walking, pet sitting and dog sitting and boarding, and our dog training cost guide.