Your moving and utilities checklist, in the right order
A simple, ordered checklist so nothing falls through the cracks between closing day and your first night in the new place. Work it from a few weeks out to your first morning, and each step will feel small and manageable instead of one big overwhelming pile.
A few weeks out: set the wheels in motion
The nicest moves are the ones that start early, while there is still plenty of time to sort out the details. A few weeks before your closing date, do three things. First, book your movers or your truck. Good movers get booked up, especially near the end of a month when the most closings land, so the earlier you lock in a date the more choice you have. Second, start decluttering. Every box you do not pack is a box you do not pay to move or carry up the stairs, so this is the moment to donate, sell, or let go of the things you will not miss. Third, if you are currently renting, give your landlord proper notice in the way your lease requires, so you are not paying for two places any longer than you have to.
Set up your utilities for closing day
You want the home to actually work the moment it is yours, so put the essential services in your own name effective on your closing date. The four to line up are your hydro (electricity), your gas if the home has it, your water, and your internet. Water is usually billed by your city or region, gas and hydro by the local providers that serve your area, and internet by whichever company you choose. Call each one, tell them the address and the date you take possession, and ask them to start service in your name from that day.
Hydro is just the everyday Ontario word for your electricity service. It is a leftover from the days of hydro-electric power, and you will see it on your bill and hear it from every neighbour, so it is worth knowing it simply means the lights, the outlets, and the power.
The one date everything hangs on is your closing date, and you do not have to guess at it. Your real estate lawyer can confirm the exact closing date, so a quick message to them settles it before you make all these calls.
Closing date is the day the home legally becomes yours, when the money changes hands through the lawyers and the title transfers into your name. It is the day your ownership, and your responsibility for the bills, officially begins.
Change your address, one list at a time
Your address is attached to more places than you would think, so it helps to work through them as a checklist rather than trying to remember them all at once. The important ones are:
- Canada Post mail forwarding. This quietly redirects mail from your old address to your new one, which catches anything you forget to update. It is the safety net for the whole list, so set it up early.
- Your driver licence and ID. Update your address with ServiceOntario so your licence and health card reach you and stay current.
- Your bank. So statements, cards, and anything time-sensitive follow you to the right place.
- Your employer. For payroll, your tax slips, and any benefits paperwork.
- The CRA. Keeping the Canada Revenue Agency current makes sure any correspondence and any benefit or credit payments go to the right address.
- Your subscriptions. Anything that ships to you or bills you, from streaming and insurance to the deliveries you have half forgotten about.
Closing week: the home stretch
By the week of your closing, the big pieces are already in motion and this becomes about tying off the loose ends. Stay in touch with your lawyer, because you receive the keys through them, once the funds and the paperwork have cleared on closing day. Finish your packing so you are ready the moment you can move, and where you are able to, note the meter readings at your old place and, if you can access them, at the new one. That way each bill starts and stops at the right point and you are only paying for what you actually used.
A meter reading is simply the current number showing on a utility meter, for your hydro, gas, or water. Jotting it down on move-out and move-in days gives the utility a clean line between the old owner or tenant's usage and yours, so nobody is billed for the other's power or water.
Your first days in the home
Before the furniture arrives and life fills the rooms, take a quiet half hour to do a few things that matter for your safety and your peace of mind. Test the smoke and carbon monoxide alarms and replace any batteries that need it, because these are the alarms that protect you while you sleep. Find the main water shutoff, the valve that turns off water to the whole house, so you can stop a leak fast if one ever happens. Find the breaker panel, the grey box of switches that controls the home's electrical circuits, so you know where to go when a breaker trips. And give the place a good clean while it is empty, since an empty home is far easier to wipe down and mop than one packed with boxes.
Picture a buyer the week before closing, sitting down with two phone calls to make. The first is to the hydro provider, to start electricity in their name on the closing date. The second is to an internet company, to have service connected the same day, or to book the technician as close to it as they can get. Because both calls happen before the move rather than after, the buyer walks in on day one to a home where the lights turn on and the wifi is ready, and the first night feels like settling in instead of scrambling.
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