MONTREAL -- The Quebec government is set to reopen private health care services as well as beauty and other personal grooming businesses.

Private health care services such as dental care, optometry, physiotherapy and family counselling will be available throughout the province as of June 1. Animal grooming services can also resume on this date.

Beauty services including hair salons, nails salons, estheticians and tattoo parlours will also reopen on June 1 for businesses outside the Montreal region and Joliette. These services are expected to reopen in the Montreal area and Joliette at a later date following public health recommendations, government officials said.

Those businesses and services are heavily reliant on in-person interactions, have been closed for some two months in order to comply with public health orders aimed at slowing the spread of COVID-19.

When they reopen, they will have to follow strict health care guidelines to prevent the spread of the illness, including physical distancing, wearing a mask and frequent handwashing.

Anyone displaying symptoms of COVID-19 should not use any of these businesses, said Health Minister Danielle McCann on Wednesday afternoon.

“I think it’s true that it’s not going to be the same as before, but we will adapt,” said McCann. “We’re stressing how important it is to follow the instructions for themselves, the workers, and the clients.”

For the businesses to be eligible to reopen, they must have a private door to allow clients inside, so businesses and services inside malls without an external door, for example, can not reopen.

Due to the nature of the care provided by dental professionals, additional preventive measures will be implemented in that sector. For example, patients should rinse their mouths with an antiseptic mouthwash before their treatment, officials said.


McCann, Labour, Employment and Social Solidarity Minister Jean Boulet and Richard Masse, a strategic medical advisor for public health and Quebec's department of health and social services, announced the plan, and said more details are available on the labour board (CNESST) website, including downloadable posters and virtual toolkits for businesses.

“The guide that they are proposing is a very complete one, very thorough, and we think they are ready,” said Masse.

“We don’t intend to make any compromise in terms of health and safety,” said Boulet. "Rigorous prevention measures will have to be put in place, especially since these are sectors where there is greater physical proximity. I know this announcement will do a lot of good for many people, but we must keep working hard and continue to follow public health guidelines."

Detailed list of sectors concerned:

As of June 1 across Quebec:

  • Oral care clinics and dental centres (all dental care)
  • Companies in the therapeutic care sector (physiotherapy, osteopathy, occupational therapy, chiropractic, massage therapy, psychology, optometry, acupuncture, naturopathy, homeopathy, career counselling clinics, social work, marital and family therapy, sexology, other forms of therapy, nutrition, speech therapy and audiology, podiatry, other forms of alternative or alternative medicine, etc.
  • Grooming care for animals

As of June 1 in Quebec, except for the Montreal area and Joliette:

  • Companies in the personal care and aesthetics sector (hair salon, barber, beauty services, manicure and pedicure services, hair removal services, skincare, tattooing, piercing, etc.

Quebec has in recent weeks reopened elementary schools, daycares and non-essential stores (except for those in shopping malls that do not have street-facing entrances) outside of the Montreal area. Non-essential stores in the Montreal area are to re-open May 25, while daycares in the region are to reopen June 1.

The construction, manufacturing and real-estate sectors across Quebec have reopened as well.