A Career in Massage

Working as a Massage Therapist

Massage therapy is an active, caring profession that offers flexible hours and the freedom to be your own boss.

Great massage therapists come from all walks of life, but they’re all self-motivated, hard-working, and care deeply about helping others. They also share an interest in the human body and how it works.

These are the same characteristics that we look for in our students.

Our graduates have gone on to lead exciting, varied careers in this growing field, and are in demand in clinics, wellness centres, and spas. When an employer has one of our grads on staff, they want more! Each year, more than 95% of Vicars graduates report that they are working as much as they want to within a year of finishing the program.

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Should I become a massage therapist?

Beginning a new career is a big decision that requires a lot of thought. Massage therapy is a wonderful profession, but make sure that it’s the right choice for you.

It can be deeply satisfying work; you can offer your clients valuable relief from stress or pain and speed their recovery from injuries. You will be a much-appreciated part of the health care team, but as an independent professional. You won’t do shift work and you can choose the work schedule that suits your life.

Massage therapy might be perfect for you if you’re friendly, outgoing, and energetic, and you want to balance your work and home life (whether that’s raising kids, raising cattle, or just having the flexibility to travel). Massage therapists can often set their own hours, and you’ll never be tied to a desk. On the contrary, massage is a an active, even athletic, profession.

Of course, one person’s advantage may be another’s downside. As you consider whether to pursue a career in massage, you need to be completely honest with yourself about your goals and capabilities. Being a massage therapist does not guarantee fixed working hours, and you will have to work hard to build up a loyal client base. You must want to work closely with other people, and you have to be willing to make your own health and fitness a priority.

If that sounds like you, call 1-866-491-0574 to speak to an admissions advisor today! To learn more about massage therapy as a career, click the button below to download a free career guide!

Download the Career Guide

Many options for satisfying work

Massage therapy is a growing profession and well-trained therapists will always be in demand. The income possibilities for massage therapists vary, with fees ranging from $70 to more than $100 for a 60-minute massage. A sustainable practice will be limited to 4-6 massages per day, and of course overhead varies greatly, depending on location and the need for marketing.

Fully qualified therapists are in great demand in cities and rural areas. Many of our graduates book clients weeks in advance, and many are so busy that they aren’t accepting new clients at all.

A few examples of where an RMT can work:

A dedicated massage clinic, either alone or shared with other therapists
A clinic or health centre shared with other healthcare professionals (e.g., physicians, physical therapists, chiropractors, or sports trainers)
A gym or sports club
Corporate and industrial work sites

Most of our graduates work for themselves in some capacity. They may open their own clinic, work out of their home, or rent a room in a larger clinic environment. To help our students prepare, we cover business topics in the program, including having each student create a complete business plan. Our instructors all have extensive business experience. Several own clinics; all are entrepreneurs and share their experiences with the students throughout the course.

Ready to work right away

When you graduate from Vicars School, you will be fully qualified to work as a massage therapist in Alberta, Saskatchewan, and all other provinces where massage isn’t a government-regulated profession. You will simply need to become a member of one of the professional associations that operates in your province, such as the Massage Therapists Association of Alberta or the Natural Health Practitioners of Canada.

In provinces where massage therapy is regulated, like BC and Ontario, you will need to pass an entry-to-practice exam in order to become a member of the province’s Regulatory College. All of Canada’s massage therapy Regulatory Colleges use the same entry-to-practice standard, but their application processes vary.

Learn more about the national curriculum standard here.