The Short Answer
Four deadlines drive a Markham move. Alectra Utilities needs roughly seven business days of notice to start or stop electricity service. Water is read at the meter on the service start date, so the account has to be opened for the correct day. A driver's licence address change must be made within six days of moving. A health card address change must be made within thirty days. Everything else on a moving checklist is flexible. These four are not.
Want this applied to your own property? Call the Kaizen Real Estate Team at (647) 370-8885.
Start With the Four That Have Deadlines
Item | Timing | Why It Matters |
|---|---|---|
Alectra Utilities, electricity | Approximately 7 business days notice | Service start and stop are scheduled, not instant |
Water account | Opened for the service start date | The meter is read on that date, which sets the billing split |
Driver's licence address | Within 6 days of moving | Legal requirement in Ontario |
Health card address | Within 30 days of moving | Required to keep coverage information current |
Michael John Lau, a REALTOR® serving home buyers and home sellers in Markham, Ontario, finds that the utility timelines are the ones clients miss most often, because they assume electricity can be switched on the same day. It cannot.
Questions About Your Situation?
Every Markham property and every timeline is different. Call the Kaizen Real Estate Team at (647) 370-8885 and speak to a REALTOR® who works this market daily.
Six to Eight Weeks Before Closing
- Confirm the closing date in writing with the lawyer and with the other side. Every item below depends on this date being real.
- Book the movers. Month-end dates, and the last business day of the month in particular, book out early.
- Book the elevator if either end of the move is a condominium. This is the single most common cause of a move being rescheduled.
- Start decluttering. Every item that does not get moved is a cost avoided.
- Arrange home insurance for the new property. The lender will require proof of coverage before closing, and insurability is not automatic.
Three to Four Weeks Before Closing
- Give notice to Alectra Utilities for both the outgoing and incoming addresses. Seven business days is the minimum, so three weeks is comfortable.
- Open the water account for the correct service start date. The meter is read on that date, which is what separates the seller's usage from the buyer's.
- Arrange internet and television. Installation appointments are the longest lead time on the list in many Markham neighbourhoods, and they are also the easiest to forget.
- Arrange natural gas for the new address.
- Set up mail forwarding with Canada Post.
- Notify schools, both the outgoing and the incoming board, and request records be transferred.
- Book any cleaners, painters or contractors for the window between closing and move-in, if there is one.
Neeraj Moolchandani on the Deadline Everyone Misses
Neeraj Moolchandani, REALTOR® at Kaizen Real Estate, watches the same item slip every time. Electricity service is scheduled, not instant, and Alectra Utilities needs roughly seven business days. Business days, not calendar days, which means a late week request effectively needs two weeks.
The other one Neeraj flags is key handover. Keys release once the transaction registers, which is often later in the day than buyers plan for. A mover booked for nine in the morning and a registration that completes at four in the afternoon is an expensive afternoon.
One to Two Weeks Before Closing
- Confirm the mover in writing, including the arrival window and the total estimate.
- Update your address with the bank, credit cards, the Canada Revenue Agency, employer payroll, and any subscription or delivery service.
- Arrange time off for closing day. Closings do not always complete in the morning.
- Pack an essentials box and mark it clearly. Tools, chargers, medication, toiletries, a change of clothes, basic kitchen items, and anything a child or a pet needs on day one.
- Confirm key handover arrangements with your lawyer. Keys are released once the transaction registers, which can be later in the day than people expect.
- Take meter readings at the outgoing home on the last day.
Moving Day Itself
- Do a final walkthrough of the property being sold, including closets, the garage, the crawl space and the shed.
- Photograph the meters before leaving.
- Keep the essentials box with you rather than on the truck.
- Confirm with the lawyer that registration has completed before travelling to pick up keys.
- Check the new home on arrival for anything that differs from the condition at the time of the offer, and tell your lawyer the same day if something does.
Planning a Move in Markham?
Most moving day problems were scheduling problems three weeks earlier. The Kaizen Real Estate Team walks clients through the timeline in advance.
The First Week in the New Home
- Update the driver's licence within six days. This is the deadline that arrives fastest and the one people forget while unpacking.
- Update the health card within thirty days.
- Change the locks. A seller has no way of knowing how many keys exist.
- Locate the water shutoff, the electrical panel and the furnace filter. Find them before there is a reason to need them.
- Test the smoke and carbon monoxide alarms and replace the batteries regardless of what the previous owner said.
- Register with Health Care Connect by calling 811 if the household does not yet have a family doctor.
- Check the City of Markham waste collection schedule for the new address. Collection days and the recycling, organics and garbage rotation differ by area.
The Part Most Checklists Skip
A buyer and a seller both keep records. Michael John Lau's recommendation is to keep one folder, digital or physical, containing the following after the move:
- The final closing statement from the lawyer
- The land transfer tax calculation, including any rebate applied
- Utility account numbers and final readings from the old address
- The home insurance policy and the effective date
- Any warranty documents or contractor invoices for work completed at either property
These matter later, at tax time and at the next sale, and they are far harder to reassemble a year afterward than they are to collect during the week of the move.