Toronto Condo Moving Checklist: Elevator Bookings, Building Rules and a Week-by-Week Plan

Why Should You Book the Condo Elevator Before Anything Else?

Because the elevator booking decides your moving day. Most Toronto condos let residents reserve a service or freight elevator for a fixed block of time, and popular slots (weekends, the last few days of the month) go first. If you lock in a mover for Saturday morning and then find the elevator is taken until Tuesday, you're rescheduling everyone.

So the order goes like this:

1. Contact the property management or concierge office for the building you're leaving.
2. Contact the office for the building you're moving into (if it's also a condo).
3. Get both bookings confirmed in writing, ideally by email.
4. Only then confirm the date and arrival time with your mover.

Moving between two condos on the same day? Try to get the morning slot at the old building and an afternoon slot at the new one. That gap gives the truck time to drive across the city and absorb a little traffic on the Gardiner or the 401.

One more thing. Some buildings only allow moves on certain days or bar them on holidays. Ask before you assume.

What Should You Ask Your Condo's Property Management Office?

Every condo corporation sets its own move rules, so the only reliable source is your building. Don't rely on what a neighbour remembers from three years ago. Rules change.

Here's the list we'd bring to the management office, for both the old building and the new one:

• Booking window: How long is a booking, and what happens if the move runs over?
• Move-in/move-out deposit or fee: Is there one, how much, how is it paid, and how is it refunded? Some buildings ask for a refundable deposit that's returned after an inspection.
• Allowed days and hours: Are weekend or evening moves permitted?
• Which elevator: Is there a dedicated service elevator, and will staff install protective pads?
• Loading dock or entrance: Where does the truck park, and is there a height limit at the dock or underground entrance?
• Paperwork from the mover: Does the building need any documents from the moving company ahead of time? If so, get the list and send it to your mover early.
• Inspection: Will someone walk the hallways and elevator with you before and after?

Write the answers down in one place. You'll forward most of them to your mover, and you'll want them handy if there's a question about your deposit later.

Where Will the Moving Truck Park at a Toronto Condo?

Ideally at the building's loading dock. That's where the truck sits closest to the service elevator, out of traffic, with a short and flat path for dollies.

But plenty of downtown and midtown towers have small docks shared with garbage pickup and deliveries, or a low clearance that a larger truck can't fit under. Ask the building for the dock's clearance height and whether it needs its own booking. Then tell your mover, because they'll know whether their truck fits.

No usable dock? The fallback is usually a front driveway or curbside loading. Street parking rules in Toronto vary block by block, and some streets have rush-hour restrictions or bike lanes in the way. Check the posted signs on your street and check with the City of Toronto about on-street loading before moving day rather than hoping a spot opens up.

Loading option	What to confirm	Who to ask
Loading dock	Clearance height, booking time, path to the elevator	Property management
Front driveway or lay-by	Whether moving trucks are allowed and for how long	Property management or concierge
Street parking	Posted signs, rush-hour limits, any permit needed	Street signage and the City of Toronto

What Should You Tell Your Mover About a Condo Move?

More than you think. A mover who knows the building can plan the truck, the crew and the timing around it. A mover who shows up blind loses the first half hour of your elevator booking figuring it out.

Send your mover:

• Both addresses, unit numbers and the buzzer or concierge procedure
• Your confirmed elevator times at each building
• Dock location, clearance height and where to enter if it's underground
• Any documents the building asked for
• A list of large or awkward items (sectional sofas, king bed frames, a piano, a glass dining table)
• Anything that needs to be taken apart and put back together
• Whether you have a storage locker in the building that also needs emptying

Measure the big pieces and the tightest doorway in each unit. A sofa that came in through a balcony door eight years ago doesn't always leave the same way.

If you're moving a studio or one-bedroom, our small moves and condo moves service is built for exactly this. For pieces like art, mirrors or a heavy marble table, ask about white glove handling.

What Does a Week-by-Week Condo Moving Timeline Look Like?

Six weeks is comfortable. Four works. Two is tight but possible if the building has open elevator slots.

When	To do
6 weeks out	Contact both buildings, get the move rules in writing, request elevator dates
5 weeks out	Confirm elevator bookings, then book your mover and send them the building details
4 weeks out	Start decluttering, sell or donate what you won't take, book a junk pickup for the rest
3 weeks out	Pay any deposit or fee, send the building any documents from your mover, arrange internet and utilities transfers
2 weeks out	Pack rooms you don't use daily, label boxes by room, measure big furniture against doorways
1 week out	Reconfirm elevator times with both buildings and arrival time with your mover, update your address
1 to 2 days out	Pack the kitchen, take apart beds if you're doing it yourself, set aside a box of essentials, get fob and key handover details

On decluttering: it's cheaper and faster to move less stuff, and condo storage is tight. If you end up with a pile of furniture you don't want in the new place, a junk removal pickup before moving day clears it out so the movers aren't hauling things you'll throw out anyway.

What Should You Do on Moving Day?

Get to the building before the truck. Find the concierge, confirm the elevator is keyed and padded, and walk the route from the unit to the dock so you can point the crew in the right direction.

1. Take photos of the hallway, elevator interior and your unit's door frames before anything moves. If there's a question about your deposit, you'll have a record.
2. Keep the elevator booking moving. Stage boxes near the unit door so loads go out fast.
3. Do a final sweep: closets, the dishwasher, the balcony, the storage locker, the bike room.
4. Hand back fobs, parking remotes and mailbox keys the way the building asked.
5. At the new building, repeat the photos before the first load comes up.
6. Do the inspection walk-through with staff if your building requires one.

Keep a small bag with you: phone charger, documents, medication, a change of clothes, the essentials box. It shouldn't go on the truck.

Which Condo Moving Mistakes Cost People the Most Time?

Almost all of them trace back to the building, not the move itself.

Booking the mover first. Covered above, but it's the big one.

Forgetting the second building. People sort out the condo they're leaving and assume the new place will be fine. Then the new building has a different dock, a different elevator and a weekday-only rule.

Underestimating the clock. A three-hour booking sounds like plenty until you count the elevator round trips from the 34th floor. Tell your mover the floor number and the booking length so they can plan the crew to fit.

Leaving the locker for last. Storage lockers are often in a different part of the parking garage. Empty it the week before, or at least make sure your mover knows where it is.

When you're ready, you can request a quote with your building details and we'll plan the move around your elevator booking.

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