Short answer: to start a mobile dog grooming business in Alberta, choose your setup (a van, grooming in clients' homes, or a home salon), register your business name and check your city's licence rules, get insurance that covers the animals in your care, set prices by size and coat, and take deposits at booking. Alberta doesn't license groomers provincially, so your training and reputation are what clients judge you on.
This guide walks through each step, with links to the details.
1. Choose how you'll groom
There are three ways to run a mobile or small grooming business, and the choice affects your costs, your prices and your paperwork:
- A grooming van. The dog is groomed in your van in the owner's driveway. The highest start-up cost, and the highest prices — Calgary mobile groomers publish full grooms from $110 to $125 for a small dog, against $90 at a salon.
- Grooming in the client's home. Lower start-up cost, but you work with whatever space and water the client has, and some owners won't want you inside.
- A home salon. Owners drop dogs off at your home. No van, but it counts as a home-based business with animals on site, which is where city licensing rules bite.
2. Get the training
There's no provincial licence for dog groomers in Alberta, and certification is voluntary. That makes experience the real credential. Most groomers learn at a grooming school or working under an experienced groomer before going out on their own — and owners will ask where you trained before they trust you with a nervous dog.
3. Register the business and check licences
- Business name. If you trade under any name other than your own, register it as a trade name through an Alberta registry agent.
- Calgary. The City requires a business licence for groomers who keep animals at their place of business, whether commercial or home-based. It says no licence is needed when grooming takes place at the animal owner's premises — confirm with the City how that applies to a van in a driveway. You still need a Business ID and land use approval either way.
- Edmonton. A home-based grooming salon needs a development permit and a business licence, which you can apply for together. Mobile groomers should confirm their licence category with the City.
- Everywhere else. Airdrie, St. Albert, Red Deer and other municipalities set their own rules. Check each city you plan to work in.
Our city pages for Calgary and Edmonton go into more detail.
4. Get insured
General liability covers injury to people and damage to property. A groomer also needs cover for the animals in your care — often called care, custody and control or animal bailee coverage — because that's the claim you're most likely to face. If you have a van, it needs commercial auto insurance; your personal policy won't cover a business vehicle. Talk to a broker who insures pet businesses.
5. Equip the van (or your space)
A mobile setup needs a tub, a water supply and a way to heat it, power for your dryers and clippers, a table with a restraint, and storage for tools, towels and products. Plan how you'll handle wastewater before you buy — ask the city where you'll work what it expects.
6. Set your prices
Price from your time. Work out what an hour of grooming needs to earn after the van, fuel, products, insurance and GST, then price each service by how long it really takes. Alberta groomers commonly price by size and coat type — a curly-coated doodle takes longer than a smooth-coated dog of the same size — and charge extra for de-matting, de-shedding and travel outside the city.
See what groomers actually charge in Calgary and Edmonton.
7. Sort out GST
Grooming is a taxable service. You must register for GST once your revenue passes $30,000 in a single calendar quarter or over four consecutive calendar quarters, and many groomers register earlier to claim back the GST on their van and equipment. GST for dog groomers in Alberta explains when and how.
8. Protect your calendar
A full groom is 90 minutes or more, and a mobile groomer adds the drive. A single no-show is most of a morning. Take a deposit when owners book, send reminders, and write a cancellation policy you're comfortable enforcing — our template is a good starting point.
Ask for a photo of the coat when owners book, too. It's the easiest way to price de-matting before the dog is on the table.
9. Find your first clients
- A Google Business Profile. Set it up as a service-area business so you show up in local searches without listing a home address.
- Before-and-after photos. Post every groom (with the owner's permission). They sell better than anything you can write.
- Local partners. Vets, pet stores, dog walkers and daycares refer grooming work — and a daycare without a groomer is a natural partner.
- Referrals. Ask every happy owner to pass your name on, and make rebooking easy before you leave.
Tools that help
You'll need a way to take bookings and deposits, keep each dog's details, send reminders and invoice with GST. PayDash does all of that for solo groomers and small salons, with a free business website — and our roundup of grooming software in Canada compares it honestly with the alternatives.
See how PayDash works for groomers →
This is general information, not legal, tax or insurance advice. Check current requirements with your municipality, the CRA and your broker.