Eight programs, three tiers, no entry requirements
Compare our programs
Here is the whole picture on one page: length, hours, cost, what you need before you start, and who each one is actually for.
The 2027 cohort calendar
| Intake | Programs starting |
|---|---|
| |
| |
| |
|
No program here has an entry requirement. Foundations is our recommended starting point for beginners: it is the only program that assumes you have never braided, and it covers all six specialty directions at a beginner level. If you already braid to a professional standard, you can apply to any specialty certification directly. The Empire Blueprint is a business course, entirely online, and open to anyone.
This comparison was last reviewed on 12 August 2026.
Four questions that will decide it for you
1. Can you already braid to a professional standard?
Yes, so any specialty certification, and you can apply to it directly. No, so Foundations. Nothing stops you enrolling in a specialty first, but you will get far more out of it if you can already part cleanly and hold even tension.
2. Do you want to learn to braid, or to run a salon?
Braid, so Foundations, then a specialty. Run a salon, so the Empire Blueprint. No classroom, no fixed days, and open to any experience level. It opens in June 2027.
3. Can you be in a room in Edmonton on two fixed sessions a week?
Yes, so any of the seven in-person programs. No, so the Empire Blueprint is the only online program we sell. We do not offer an online version of Foundations and we will not pretend a video can replace supervised hours.
4. Do you already know which style you want to be known for?
Yes, so go to that certification. No, so Foundations. You will have done all six directions at a beginner level by week ten, which is a far better basis for choosing than a website is.
The seven in-person programs
| Detail | Celegant Foundations In-Person Braiding Intensive | Cornrows & Feed-Ins Specialist | Single Braids (Knotless/Regular) Specialist | Wigs & Weave Installation Specialist | Locs Specialist | Crochet Specialist | Twists Specialist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Choose this if you want | To start from nothing, and to try all six directions before you commit to one | Parting and design work, and the styles clients ask for by name | The single most requested service, done to a standard clients notice | The highest-ticket work on a braiding menu | A client who comes back every four to six weeks, for years | The fastest route to a full head, and the best return per hour | The gentlest protective work, across every texture |
| What our own salon charges for this work | Not a single service. Foundations covers all six at a beginner standard | $50 to $299 | $179 to $299 | $110 to $170 | $130 to $490 | $189 to $270 | $120 to $285 |
| Tier | Flagship | Specialty certification | Specialty certification | Specialty certification | Specialty certification | Specialty certification | Specialty certification |
| Schedule | Tuesdays and Wednesdays, 3:30pm to 6:30pm | Tuesdays and Wednesdays, 10:00am to 1:00pm | Thursdays and Fridays, 10:00am to 1:00pm | Thursdays and Fridays, 3:30pm to 6:30pm | Class days and times published when enrolment opens | Saturdays and Sundays, 10:00am to 1:00pm | Saturdays and Sundays, 3:30pm to 6:30pm |
| Weeks | 10 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 8 |
| Contact hours | 60 | 48 | 54 | 54 | 60 | 54 | 48 |
| Modules | 17 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 5 |
| Lessons | 76 | 25 | 31 | 26 | 30 | 29 | 25 |
| Entry requirement | None | None | None | None | None | None | None |
| Class size | Max 8, 2 instructors | Max 8, 2 instructors | Max 8, 2 instructors | Max 8, 2 instructors | Max 8, 2 instructors | Max 8, 2 instructors | Max 8, 2 instructors |
| Next intake | 1 March 2027 | 1 March 2027 | 1 March 2027 | 1 March 2027 | 1 June 2027 | 1 June 2027 | 1 June 2027 |
| Tuition | $1,997 | $1,997 | $1,997 | $1,997 | $1,997 | $1,997 | $1,997 |
| Early-bird | $1,497 | $1,497 | $1,497 | $1,497 | $1,497 | $1,497 | $1,497 |
| Per supervised hour | about $33 | about $42 | about $37 | about $37 | about $33 | about $37 | about $42 |
Celegant Foundations In-Person Braiding Intensive
- Choose this if you want
- To start from nothing, and to try all six directions before you commit to one
- What our own salon charges for this work
- Not a single service. Foundations covers all six at a beginner standard
- Tier
- Flagship
- Schedule
- Tuesdays and Wednesdays, 3:30pm to 6:30pm
- Weeks
- 10
- Contact hours
- 60
- Modules
- 17
- Lessons
- 76
- Entry requirement
- None
- Class size
- Max 8, 2 instructors
- Next intake
- 1 March 2027
- Tuition
- $1,997
- Early-bird
- $1,497
- Per supervised hour
- about $33
Cornrows & Feed-Ins Specialist
- Choose this if you want
- Parting and design work, and the styles clients ask for by name
- What our own salon charges for this work
- $50 to $299
- Tier
- Specialty certification
- Schedule
- Tuesdays and Wednesdays, 10:00am to 1:00pm
- Weeks
- 8
- Contact hours
- 48
- Modules
- 5
- Lessons
- 25
- Entry requirement
- None
- Class size
- Max 8, 2 instructors
- Next intake
- 1 March 2027
- Tuition
- $1,997
- Early-bird
- $1,497
- Per supervised hour
- about $42
Single Braids (Knotless/Regular) Specialist
- Choose this if you want
- The single most requested service, done to a standard clients notice
- What our own salon charges for this work
- $179 to $299
- Tier
- Specialty certification
- Schedule
- Thursdays and Fridays, 10:00am to 1:00pm
- Weeks
- 9
- Contact hours
- 54
- Modules
- 6
- Lessons
- 31
- Entry requirement
- None
- Class size
- Max 8, 2 instructors
- Next intake
- 1 March 2027
- Tuition
- $1,997
- Early-bird
- $1,497
- Per supervised hour
- about $37
Wigs & Weave Installation Specialist
- Choose this if you want
- The highest-ticket work on a braiding menu
- What our own salon charges for this work
- $110 to $170
- Tier
- Specialty certification
- Schedule
- Thursdays and Fridays, 3:30pm to 6:30pm
- Weeks
- 9
- Contact hours
- 54
- Modules
- 5
- Lessons
- 26
- Entry requirement
- None
- Class size
- Max 8, 2 instructors
- Next intake
- 1 March 2027
- Tuition
- $1,997
- Early-bird
- $1,497
- Per supervised hour
- about $37
Locs Specialist
- Choose this if you want
- A client who comes back every four to six weeks, for years
- What our own salon charges for this work
- $130 to $490
- Tier
- Specialty certification
- Schedule
- Class days and times published when enrolment opens
- Weeks
- 10
- Contact hours
- 60
- Modules
- 6
- Lessons
- 30
- Entry requirement
- None
- Class size
- Max 8, 2 instructors
- Next intake
- 1 June 2027
- Tuition
- $1,997
- Early-bird
- $1,497
- Per supervised hour
- about $33
Crochet Specialist
- Choose this if you want
- The fastest route to a full head, and the best return per hour
- What our own salon charges for this work
- $189 to $270
- Tier
- Specialty certification
- Schedule
- Saturdays and Sundays, 10:00am to 1:00pm
- Weeks
- 9
- Contact hours
- 54
- Modules
- 6
- Lessons
- 29
- Entry requirement
- None
- Class size
- Max 8, 2 instructors
- Next intake
- 1 June 2027
- Tuition
- $1,997
- Early-bird
- $1,497
- Per supervised hour
- about $37
Twists Specialist
- Choose this if you want
- The gentlest protective work, across every texture
- What our own salon charges for this work
- $120 to $285
- Tier
- Specialty certification
- Schedule
- Saturdays and Sundays, 3:30pm to 6:30pm
- Weeks
- 8
- Contact hours
- 48
- Modules
- 5
- Lessons
- 25
- Entry requirement
- None
- Class size
- Max 8, 2 instructors
- Next intake
- 1 June 2027
- Tuition
- $1,997
- Early-bird
- $1,497
- Per supervised hour
- about $42
Early-bird tuition applies to the first registrations in a cohort. It is a real limit driven by one seat counter, not a timer. Foundations runs on Tuesdays and Wednesdays; the six certifications run on Thursdays and Fridays. All prices include GST.
One of these is not like the others
Seven of our eight programs are in person. One, the Empire Blueprint, is recorded video, entirely online, self-paced, with lifetime access. We keep them visually and verbally separate on this site on purpose, because conflating them would be dishonest.
In person means: fixed times, a fixed address, a cohort, an instructor within arm’s reach, mannequins and models, and an assessed practical capstone. It is the only way we know of to teach a motor skill.
Online means: watch it when you want, from anywhere, as many times as you want, forever. That is exactly right for business content. Spreadsheets, hiring, marketing and pricing do not need someone watching your hands. It would be exactly wrong for braiding.
We do not sell an online braiding course, and if you find one advertised in our name, it is not ours.
The Empire Blueprint at a glance
- Level
- Open to any experience level
- Format
- Online, self-paced, lifetime access
- Language of instruction
- English
- Duration
- 8 modules, 42 lessons
- Schedule
- Self-paced from June 2027. Work at whatever speed your business allows.
- Location
- Online only. There is no classroom and no live sessions.
- Kit
- No kit required. Everything is delivered as video you watch in your own time.
- Certificate
- Certified Salon Business Professional certificate
- Tuition
- $2,997 CAD
- Next intake
- June 2027
Cost per supervised hour is a useful number for in-person training and a meaningless one for a self-paced video course, which is why it is not quoted for this program. The price covers Part 1 and Part 2; Part 2 ships later and is free to everyone who has already bought.
Who each one is for
- Foundations In-Person Braiding Intensive. For complete beginners, self-taught braiders, career changers, licensed stylists who were never taught textured hair, salon owners, newcomers with existing braiding skill, and parents of children with textured hair. If you are reading this page and you do not already hold our credential, this is your program.
- Cornrows & Feed-Ins Specialist. For the experienced braider or Foundations graduate who wants grid artistry, lemonade, stitch braids, tribal patterns and custom designs, and who wants to be requested rather than merely booked.
- Single Braids (Knotless/Regular) Specialist. For the experienced braider or Foundations graduate who wants the two most-requested protective styles in the market at full professional depth, including jumbo sizing and every parting system.
- Twists Specialist. For the experienced braider or Foundations graduate who wants the gentlest, most repeat-friendly service family, across passion, Senegalese, kinky or Marley, and spring twists.
- Wigs & Weave Installation Specialist. For the Foundations graduate chasing the highest ticket per service, and willing to take on the safety responsibility that closures, frontals and installs carry.
- Crochet Specialist. For the experienced braider or Foundations graduate who wants volume: fast, gentle installs across five professional methods and a wide style menu.
- Locs Specialist. For the experienced braider or Foundations graduate who wants a long-term practice rather than a booking sheet. Creation, maintenance, repair and extensions, with clients you keep for years.
- Certified Salon Business Professional: The Empire Blueprint. For anyone who runs a salon or intends to, braiding or otherwise. No classroom, and open to any experience level. Business setup, financials, staffing, transferring your standards to a team, client systems, marketing, growth, and a capstone business plan.
Braiding certificate, cosmetology diploma, or hairstylist apprenticeship?
These are three different things and only one of them is ours. Some readers of this page should go and do one of the other two, and we would rather say so.
A Celegant certificate is a professional skills certificate in braiding, twisting, locing, crochet and install work. Ten weeks for Foundations, eight to ten weeks for a specialty. It is awarded by us on assessed practical work. It is not a government credential.
A cosmetology or hairstyling diploma from a private college is a much longer, much more expensive general qualification covering cutting, colouring and chemical services. In Edmonton, the general hairstyling programs available do not teach Afro-textured braiding. Check any prospectus before you enrol on the assumption that they do.
An Alberta hairstylist apprenticeship is the regulated route. Hairstylist is a compulsory-certification designated trade in Alberta, with a two-period apprenticeship combining on-the-job hours and classroom instruction. If your goal is to cut and chemically treat a paying client’s hair in Alberta, this is the path you need, and no braiding certificate substitutes for it.
How to decide: if you want to braid, take a braiding course. If you want to cut and colour, do the apprenticeship. If you want to do both, do both, in whichever order suits your income.
Celegant Braiding Academy issues a professional skills certificate. It is awarded by us, based on assessed practical work. It is not a provincial trade certificate, not a government licence, and not an apprenticeship credential.
In Alberta, Hairstylist is a compulsory-certification designated trade. Braiding is not named specifically in the government sources we reviewed, and we will not guess on your behalf. The authoritative answers live with the province:
- Restricted Activities List, Hairstylist, Alberta Apprenticeship and Industry Training: tradesecrets.alberta.ca
- Barber and Hairstylist certification in Alberta: alis.alberta.ca
- Apprenticeship and Industry Training Client Service Offices: call them and ask about your exact situation.
If your plan is to cut and chemically treat hair as a licensed hairstylist, the apprenticeship route is the one you want, and we will tell you that plainly. Our program is for braiding, twisting, locing, crochet and install work, and for the business skills that go with them.
Educational information only. This is not legal advice.
What it costs, and how people pay
Every in-person program carries the same tuition, with an early-bird rate for the first registrations in a cohort. The Empire Blueprint is priced separately and includes both parts. The exact figures are in the table above and on every program page.
We publish these figures openly because a school that will not tell you its price before it has your phone number is telling you something.
All prices include GST. There is no deposit: you can pay in full, or split the cost into 4 interest-free instalments with Afterpay at the Square checkout, at no extra cost to you. The funding page sets out where things actually stand on grants and employer funding.
Comparing us against other schools rather than against ourselves? Read what braiding courses cost across Canada, and the cost-per-supervised-hour method for judging any of them.
Still on the fence? Start with the curriculum.
The Foundations curriculum document sets out all seventeen modules, all seventy-six lessons, the ten-week schedule, the tools list, the capstone standard and the full tuition and funding picture. It is the fastest way to know whether this is for you. No payment is taken on this website.