How Much Do Foot Care Nurses Make in Ontario?

It's the first question everyone asks. Usually the second sentence out of their mouth, right after "so what does a foot care nurse actually do?"

Fair. You're thinking about spending a few thousand dollars on a course. You should know what the money looks like on the other side.

Here's the honest answer. Then the math.

What a visit pays

Foot care nurses in Ontario charge per visit. Not per hour. Per visit.

Across Ontario, a routine mobile visit runs about $60 to $90. Most nurses charge $70 to $80. A first visit costs more, usually $75 to $100, because the first visit includes the assessment.

My own numbers are public. A house call is $100. In my clinic, a first visit is $100 and follow-up visits are $75. I set the $100 during COVID and kept it.

That's one number. Here's why it matters more than it looks.

The math that actually matters

Let's do honest math. Four foot care clients a day at $75 a visit is $300 a day. Do that four days a week and you're at about $1,200 a week, before your costs. Supplies, gas, insurance, and taxes come off that. It is gross, not take-home.

That's on top of your nursing pay, if you keep your job. Most foot care nurses start this way. Evenings. Weekends. One day a week. However it fits your life.

Now the part people miss. Foot care is recurring. Clients come back every 6 to 8 weeks. So you're not hunting for new clients every week forever. You build a roster, and the roster comes back.

But look at what that roster has to be. Sixteen visits a week, with clients returning every 6 to 8 weeks, takes about 96 to 128 active clients. Nobody starts there. You build to it, client by client. That building is the real job at the start.

What changes the number

Three things move your income up or down.

Your price. This is the big lever. The difference between $75 and $100 a visit is $25. Times 16 clients a week, that's $400 a week. Same hands, same hours. Pricing is a skill. Most nurses undercharge at first.

Your hours. Four clients a day is a comfortable pace. Some nurses do six or eight. Some do two days a week. You set the schedule. That's the whole point.

Your setting. Mobile has no rent, but you drive, and travel time is unpaid. A clinic costs more to run, but you see more people in a day, and clinic follow-up visits often charge less than a house call because the client comes to you. Retirement homes and home care contracts pay differently again. There's no single right answer. There's the one that fits your life.

The question behind the question

When nurses ask what foot care nurses make, what they're really asking is: is this worth it? Is the course worth the money? Is the career change worth the risk?

Here's my honest take. The course is about $3,000. At $100 a visit, that's 30 visits to cover it in gross billings. At $75 a visit, it's 40 visits. At four clients a week, that's about 8 to 10 weeks, and your costs come off along the way, so the real payback takes longer. The math still works. It just works slower than the sales version.

And the math only works if you do the second half. Learning to do feet is half the job. The other half is pricing, booking, and finding clients. That's the part most courses don't teach. That's the part that decides whether you make $300 a week or $1,200.

Get the full picture

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