LAC LA BICHE - Portage College is soon to be the home of the first Barber Certificate program in Alberta.
Apprenticeship and Industry Training approved the 16-week program certificate program last week. The program will start in the coming fall at the Lac la Biche campus. Applications are currently being accepted.
Nadia Houle, the college's Hairstyling Program Coordinator, says the program will be styled into two categories.
“It’s basically breaking the training in half – there's a period one and a period two,” she said, explaining that students completing the first period would be qualified to do haircuts and styling in a barber setting or in a hair salon. More advanced teaching— joining the Hairstyling program's classes — can continue after the first component is finished.
"For the full hair styling, we offer chemical services and things like that, and more into her styling and extensions," she said.
Houle further explained that students will learn skills such as learning basic to advanced cuts, which include fades, shaves, styling, bear design, learning skills for salon operations and more.
When students complete the Barber Certificate program, they will be able to continue training for another semester within Portage College’s Hairstyling program. There, students will learn about hair colour, chemical texturizing, hairstyling and specialty services. Students will then need to complete 1,450 hours of job training under a licensed Journeyperson and pass their Alberta Apprenticeship and Industry Training (AIT) exams to become a fully-certified barber. All Hairstyling Program students have to complete 2,800 hours of apprentice training.
“We just wanted to jump on it and, and be one of the first ones to offer it, seeing as there would be a high demand,” said Houle.
COVID has affected many businesses across the world – some struggled to stay open, and some closed forever due to the pandemic. For a lot of people, their professions have changed drastically due to regulations. Barbers and hairstylists are no exception. Many have faced work stoppages due to person-to-person contact restrictions. Despite the challenges, the profession is very much in demand, as hair follicles don't stop for COVID.
“Well ... people's hair still grows, not just when we can offer the services according to the government,” said Houle, explaining the hair-raising frustrations experienced over the last year by hair-care workers. “We’ll have a month worth of work prior to shut down and a month worth of work after shutdown – usually we get done within a week. So, it's made [hairstylists] work hard.”
Program registration can be found at the Portage College website at www.portagecollege.ca.
In the latest round of pandemic measures announced by provincial health officials, post-secondary classes are expected to go back to the classroom starting in September.
