Massage Therapy has come up as a preferred career choice over the last few years.
Being a Registered Massage Therapist (RMT) can be a rewarding profession, provided you graduate from a recognized massage therapy school with practical knowledge. The question that interests individuals before enrolling in a course is, “What is the salary of a massage therapist?” Multiple massage jobs offer a massage therapist salary that’s worth it, making more people select massage therapy as a dream career.
However, the salary of an RMT differs depending upon the province you are in, the type of work environment, your experience, and office settings. After successful completion of the therapy course, you can easily apply for jobs at massage clinics, physiotherapy clinics, fitness centers, chiropractic practices, spas, sports injury clinics, and wellness centers.
In this blog, we’ll explore various aspects related to the vocation of a massage therapist and the salary offered.
So, How Much Does A Massage Therapist Make?
The salary range is quite varied. It is impacted by the place you work at, whether you own a massage clinic or the city that you live in. The average estimated massage therapist salary in Alberta is $62,000 per year. If you are an experienced massage therapist, the estimated average salary is estimated to be $82,000 per year.
Different job platforms state salaries as per their calculations. Ca.talent.com portrays the average registered massage therapist salary in Canada at $75,000 per year or $38.46 per hour.
What Factors Affect A Massage Therapist Salary?
Some factors determine how much money you are going to earn as an RMT. Let’s take a look at them:
Massage Therapist Salary Per Province
It matters which province you work in as a massage therapist because every region has different salary norms. It is important to know what it takes to practice being a Massage Therapist in your province because the rules and regulations may differ. It is also good to note whether the profession is a regulated one in that province or not.
In Alberta, massage therapy is not a regulated field yet it has gained importance with its increased usage in rehabilitation processes. Being aware of your reasons for taking up a therapy course, you can start working as a registered massage therapist upon graduation. Although you must fulfill the mandatory hours of practice during the program.
Owning A Massage Clinic
Whether you work independently or in a massage clinic, it can be a deciding factor of how much you will make as a massage therapist. If you own a clinic, you can have the independence to be your boss.
You can fix charges what you deem fit per hour, grow your business, and build your clientele. You’ll have to manage the finances to run the clinic efficiently. You’ll deal with losses as well as gains.
The skills that you acquired while studying the massage therapy diploma program will be put to use when you operate a business. So, it all depends upon how you run the business.
You can choose whether to open a massage clinic in a commercial space, at home, or keep it mobile by offering home massage services. It lets you expand your horizon of work and explore sources of income.
These days it’s very easy to advertise your business through social media and paid advertising. You can explore these platforms for creating brand awareness, enhancing reach, and getting more leads from different places.
Working In An Office Setting
Working for someone in a massage clinic as a professional masseuse/masseur can offer you an assured income along with some other benefits. The type of business setting you intend to work in can impact your salary.
There are various places to work as a massage therapist. These include working in a medical clinic, sports injury clinic, or chiropractic clinic, or you can work in a wellness center, spa, or a rehabilitation center. You may earn extra money through tips that customers give. Though there are no fixed norms for tipping massage therapists in Canada, usually, the happy customers will tip up to 15-20% of the service cost.
A hospital or other medical clinics allow you to provide optimal care to patients with different needs. You can be managing and specializing in therapies like pregnancy and maternity, pediatrics, geriatric, sports, or chronic pain.
The kind of therapy you deal with can affect your salary. You can charge more for some therapies and massage techniques and may not get paid that well for other techniques.
Hence, it helps to master massage techniques so you can cater to a wide spectrum of clients.
Massage Therapist Experience
You must complete a massage therapy course with a minimum education level of 2200 hours of massage to start working as a registered massage therapist.
In Alberta, you can register yourself with the Massage Therapist Association of Alberta (MTAA) and begin your journey of a rewarding career as a healthcare professional.
The starting salary as a massage therapist will give you the confidence to establish yourself in the field. The more experienced you get, the more you’ll start earning and the perks are likely to increase too.
As per the figures stated by talent.com, the massage therapist salary at entry-level positions starts at $54,000 per year whereas experienced workers make up to $117,000 per year.
It pays to keep honing your skills as a massage therapist. Be it in your massage clinic or while you are working at some other place.
You must take care of the needs of the clients and provide optimum massage therapy services. This way you can build your rapport and the customers can bring in new customers too if they are satisfied with your services.
The ABM Advantage
ABM College’s 112 weeks dynamic Massage Therapy Diploma Program equips students with the in-demand health sciences skills and knowledge necessary to be Registered Massage Therapists.
Through our massage therapy program, we offer a vigorous learning module, implemented through a detailed academic study and practical hands-on experience (at our very own student massage clinic) to make you job-ready. You are trained by industry professionals as instructors.
You gain the advantage of becoming a 2200-hours Registered Massage Therapist in Alberta once you graduate from ABM college’s massage therapy diploma. You can start working right after completion of the program.
Want to start earning a good salary as a massage therapist?
Get the required education and experience with ABM College.
Contact us to enroll now!
About The Author
Content Writer
Preeti Parashar is a published author and creative writer with extensive experience in content development, copy editing, journalism, marketing, and communications across diverse industries. She holds a Master’s Degree in Mass Communication and has a passion for crafting compelling content that resonates with audiences. Preeti’s interests include blogging, writing poetry, traveling, and reading fiction. She is currently working as a Content Writer at ABM College, where she brings her expertise and creativity to every project.