Frequently Asked Questions
If you have questions about Vicars School, being a massage therapy student, or working as an RMT, you’re in the right place! Here are some of the most popular questions from future Vicars students. You can also email our admissions team or explore our website for more information. We’re here to help!
Questions About An RMT Career
Yes it is! Our graduates tell us they love being able to make a difference in their clients’ lives. It combines the satisfaction of a well-paid career in health care with the freedom and flexibility of working when and where you choose.
- Steady job growth: Federal and provincial data tells us that job prospects for RMTs are “good” or “very good,” in Canada. There is a growing public and medical interest in complementary health care, and within that field, massage therapy is valued for its benefits for both physical and mental health.
- Flexible settings and schedules: Massage therapists can… balance options. The Vicars School diploma program prepares our graduates for success in any of these settings.
- Opportunities for self-employment: As many as two thirds of Vicars graduates are entrepreneurs, working for themselves and, often, hiring other graduates as their business grows.
- It’s an active career: Massage therapy is a career that engages the body as well as the mind. Self-care and ergonomics are an important part of our curriculum, helping to ensure our graduates can have a long and healthy career.
A massage career is not right for everyone, but if you know you are empathetic, a good listener, and genuinely interested in health and wellness, that’s a start.
Good client records are essential. You will note the client’s history, record the results of your assessment and develop a treatment plan, adding to the file and noting your progress over time. You are part of the client’s heath care team.
You will also need to be prepared to be moving throughout the day. Many RMTs appreciate this aspect of the career—it’s not a desk job!
And to be an RMT is to be a lifelong learner! Continuing education is a requirement, but it also keeps things interesting to stay on top of new research and changing best practices in the profession.
Yes, if you graduate from a good school!
The income possibilities for massage therapists vary, with fees ranging from $90 to more than $120 for a 60-minute massage. A sustainable practice will be limited to 4-6 massages per day.
But your income is not guaranteed. You will need to fill and refill your booking calendar with clients all year long, and the best way to do that is to do consistently good work. Your clients will re-book and recommend you to their friends and family. Vicars graduates tend to be fully booked within their first year and many are not accepting new clients.
Choosing an accredited college or university program with a full range of supervised clinical experiences and research-based coursework is the first step to a sustainable career.
Employers know (and tell us!) that Vicars grads are knowledgeable, skilled, and fully prepared to succeed as soon as they start work. But many massage therapists prefer to work for themselves – most Vicars graduates, for example, go on to be self-employed or employ others.
They may choose to 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; and all are entrepreneurs and share their experiences with the students throughout the course.
Yes! The first step after you graduate with your Vicars School of Massage Therapy diploma is to take the board exams in one of the regulated provinces (BC, ON, NB, PEI, and NL).
Massage therapy graduates from Alberta are generally not welcome to challenge the BC entrance exam, because of the variation in quality among the programs here. Each applicant has to prove their qualification through an expensive and lengthy process.
But CMTCA accreditation changed all that for Vicars grads. Because the Vicars program has the same accreditation as the best of the BC programs have, our graduates can now apply directly to write the registration exams in BC. This is an important acknowledgement of the quality of our curriculum and the way it is delivered.
Once registered in one regulated province, you can practice in any of them. This career mobility is the main reason Vicars School has always supported regulation of the massage industry in Alberta.
Questions About Massage School
Yes! Vicars School of Massage Therapy is accredited by the Canadian Massage Therapy Council for Accreditation (CMTCA). We were the second school in the province to receive full accreditation and the first private one to do so. CMTCA accreditation is only granted to programs that meet the highest massage therapy education standards in Canada. We hold ourselves to this high standard voluntarily, for the sake of our students, as the province of Alberta does not currently regulate the massage profession or the education standards of massage schools.
This means that when you choose Vicars for your professional training, you can be confident that you’re getting the best massage education that Canada has to offer—and that you’ll be trained to the same level as therapists in regulated provinces.
We are also licensed by the Private Career Colleges branch of Alberta Advanced Education (PCC). This helps safeguard your tuition investment. But when you are considering career education, it is important to look beyond consumer protection to judge how well a program will prepare you to succeed in the career itself.
As you research massage therapy programs, make sure to check if they’re accredited by the CMTCA as well as licensed with PCC. The CMTCA is the only nationally-recognized accreditation organization evaluating schools in Alberta!
The Vicars program is a two-year, 2200-hour diploma program that will prepare you for a successful career as an RMT. New classes start in Edmonton and Calgary in September and March each year. We do not have part-time or one-year programs, but we do have an advanced placement option if you have completed training that is equivalent to our Year 1 program.
Vicars school only offers one program: a two-year, full-time diploma that will prepare you for a successful career as a professional massage therapist. While some schools do offer a certificate or one-year course (sometimes called relaxation, spa, or bodywork training), this type of training will not prepare you to be a professional massage therapist.
Massage therapy is a health care profession and it serves the public better if all massage professionals have the academic and skills training to assess and understand a range of conditions, and to create and safely carry out effective treatment, including relaxation techniques. Our schedules are designed to help students manage their other life commitments.
We do have an advanced placement option that is available to students who have already completed a portion of their training. For more information about direct entry into the second year of our program, visit our Advanced Placement page.
Not completely! Students are in class four days a month for hands-on instruction. When you’re not in class, you’ll access your schoolwork, including our core science courses, on our online platform, Moodle. As well as resource material and assignments, access to Moodle also gives you access to instructors and to your classmates when you’re not on campus.
Yes, the Vicars School massage therapy program is full-time. Our RMT program combines a limited amount of on-campus training with work you do from home. Expect to put in 30-35 hours a week. While your schedule will be flexible, it does take dedication. This approach is called blended learning, and it works. It’s a full-time commitment, and you get all the benefits of being a full-time student (like access to more financial aid), but you’ll still be in control of your schedule!
You will be in class four days a month. If you are in a weekly class, you come to school the same day each week. If you are in a weekend class, you attend every other weekend, on Saturday and Sunday. If you are in a monthly class, you are on campus four days in a row, over a weekend. Learn more about our schedule options here. Beginning midway during Year One, you will also work in our supervised student clinics, and will need to budget on-campus time for those.
Tuition at Vicars School of Massage Therapy is $29,800 for the whole two-year program. You will also need to buy textbooks, a massage table, and other supplies. For more information on budgeting and costs, check out the Tuition and Financial Aid page. You can also find out what financial aid options are available here.
Yes! Vicars School is a full-time licensed program, which means that most of our students qualify for provincial and federal student loans and scholarships and grants from other sources. As well, we have our own no-fee, no-interest, tuition installment plan available for everyone, and a limited number of in-house grants and bursaries.
Vicars School is recognized by all major professional associations in Western Canada, including:
- Massage Therapist Association of Alberta
- Massage Therapist Association of Saskatchewan
- Natural Health Practitioners of Canada
- Canadian Massage and Manual Osteopathic Therapists Association
- Certified Registered Massage Therapist Association
Professional associations provide many services to massage therapists, including liability insurance and professional development. The associations provide member therapists with a billing number that verifies the RMT is qualified, so clients can be reimbursed through private or work-related extended health insurance plans.
Wonderful! Filling in the Let’s Connect form below is the fastest way to reach us. If your request comes in after hours or when we are meeting with a student, we will get back to you as soon as we can.
We don’t have a call centre or admissions reps on commission, just friendly and knowledgeable admissions advisors who will help you decide for yourself if Vicars school is a good fit for you. They will answer your curriculum or financial aid questions, book a campus tour, and invite you to an on-campus or online Information Session.
To reach the Registrar and Admissions,
Phone: 780-491-0574, ext 1
Text: 587-715-0600
Email: Welcome@VicarsSchool.com
Let’s Connect
Our friendly and knowledgeable admissions advisors will help you decide for yourself if Vicars school is a good fit for you.
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