Shawn Curtis, owner of The Ink Spot, stands outside his Bank Street business. Under an Ottawa Public Health plan to tighten regulation of personal service businesses, tattoo parlours will have to register with the city and obtain a permit to operate, or be fined. Kelsey Curtis, Centretown NewsOttawa city council has approved plans requiring personal service businesses to obtain a permit of registration before opening.
Ottawa Public Health and the appropriate city departments will work together to bring a formal bylaw for approval by a committee and then city council.
OPH is pushing for more stringent regulation of salons, spas and tattoo parlours. If approved, the bylaw would require all such businesses to pay a one-time-only permit fee of $55 to cover administration fees to register with the city. According to Dr. Vera Etches, deputy medical officer of health for the City of Ottawa, most people think the place they get a tattoo or their nails painted is already registered with the city. But this is not always the case, she said.
“Currently, there is no legal licensing or registration requirement. Any service can open up shop, no requirement to tell Ottawa Public Health that they exist,” said Daniel Osterer, OPH program and project management officer.
While public health officers inspect and regulate personal service settings on a regular basis, it is up to those inspectors to monitor businesses as they open and close, which can be difficult. The new plan is to ensure no businesses slip through the cracks.
“The idea is that we want all businesses to be able to draw on Ottawa Public Health expertise to maintain good practices to prevent infection,” said Etches. “When we aren’t aware of them, they don’t have our support.”
A report released by OPH says that businesses that offer tattoos, piercings and aesthetics such as waxing, manicures and pedicures have been associated with the transmission of infection and disease. The bylaw is another step towards strengthening poor infection prevention and control practices.
Etches said that with the implementation of a registration process, businesses will immediately be connected to OPH, where education and discussion of infection and disease prevention can occur.
Shawn Carrier, tattoo artist and owner of The Ink Spot, located at Bank Street and Gladstone Avenue, said that with the growing popularity of tattoos there are more and more parlours opening.
“Fifteen years ago there was probably half a dozen shops in Ottawa, where now there is probably closer to 75 or 100, if you count the surrounding areas,” Carrier said.
Carrier said he is split about the plan to formally regulate personal service businesses. If the bylaw is more than “a cash grab,” and permits are distributed only to businesses with experienced and professional services, this is a step forward for the industry.
“The rise of unqualified or (in)experienced people is a problem occurring more and more with many personal service settings,” said Carrier. “If there are strict guidelines, rules, regulations and minimum requirements to get a permit, then I’m all for it and do believe that it is long overdue.”