A long distance move from Toronto needs more notice and more planning than a local one: allow three to six weeks for a move within Ontario or between Toronto and Montreal. Ask whether the same crew loads and delivers, plan around the weather, carry your essentials yourself, and update your address and documents on time.
This guide covers some of the most common routes, how the work is organized, what can go wrong over distance, and the paperwork that follows a move out of the city or out of the province.
Where people go
Many long distance moves from Toronto follow a handful of routes. Some are permanent moves. Many are seasonal, or part of a life split between two homes.
- Cottage country. Muskoka, Collingwood and the surrounding area. Often a furnishing move for a new or renovated cottage, or a seasonal move of particular pieces.
- Niagara. Wine country and the towns around it, for retirement, a second home or a slower pace.
- Eastern Ontario. Kingston and Ottawa, often for work, family or university.
- Montreal. A move across a provincial border, with different rules on arrival.
- Further afield. Moves to Western Canada or the Atlantic provinces, which are a different scale of planning altogether. Yugo moves within Ontario, and between Ontario and Montreal.
Before you book, ask any mover how often it runs your route, and whether it has moved homes to your destination before.
How much notice to give
Long distance moves need more lead time than local ones because they take a truck and a crew away from the city for one or more days. As a guide, these are the lead times to allow:
- Within Ontario. 3 to 6 weeks.
- Toronto to Montreal. 3 to 6 weeks.
Add time for the end of the month, late summer, or if any pieces need crating. Our guide to how far in advance to book a moving company explains why.
Same crew, or a transfer?
Ask this question before anything else about a long distance move. It is easy to overlook.
Some long distance moves are consolidated. Your belongings are loaded in Toronto, taken to a depot, and transferred to another truck, sometimes with other people’s shipments, before a different crew delivers them. Each transfer means more handling, and each new crew starts without knowing your things.
The alternative is a dedicated move: the same truck and the same crew from your old door to your new one. The people who wrapped and loaded each piece are the ones who unload it, and they know where everything is. It can cost more, and for fragile or valuable belongings it is usually worth it.
A careful mover will tell you plainly how your move will run from door to door. Every Yugo move is planned in advance, tracked in real time on the day, and signed off with you at the end.
Ask any firm directly: will my belongings be transferred at any point, and will the crew that loads them be the crew that delivers them?
Timing and weather
Distance turns weather into a planning problem. A storm that slows traffic across town for an hour can close a highway for a day.
For winter moves, Ontario advises checking road conditions on Ontario 511 before leaving, checking the forecast, and postponing travel when conditions look poor, if you can (Ontario.ca). A good mover will watch the forecast in the days before, build some flexibility into the schedule, and talk to you early if a date needs to shift.
Some other things to think about:
- Cottage roads. Private roads and long, steep driveways can be difficult for a large truck in any season, and harder in winter and early spring. Mention them at the assessment.
- Delivery windows. If your new home is a condo or an apartment, its elevator booking sets the delivery time, and a long drive has to be planned backwards from it.
- Overnight stops. A longer move may involve your belongings spending a night on the truck. Ask how the truck is secured and parked.
Climate in transit
Wood, paint, paper and textiles respond to changes in temperature and humidity. Museum guidelines for sensitive materials such as canvas paintings and textiles recommend relative humidity of 40 to 60% and temperatures of 16 to 25°C, with humidity moving no more than 10 points either way in 24 hours (IIC and ICOM-CC).
A long drive in January or July can push a truck well outside that range. For art, antiques and instruments, the answer is good packing, shorter time on the road, and patience on arrival. Crated works are best left closed for a while before they are opened. One museum’s loan conditions, for example, require crates to wait 24 hours after delivery before they are unpacked (The Walters Art Museum).
What to carry yourself
Some things should never go on the truck, however good the mover. Travel with them yourself:
- Passports, birth certificates, wills, deeds and other important documents.
- Jewellery, cash and small valuables.
- Medication for at least a few days.
- Laptops, phones, chargers and hard drives.
- Keys to both homes, and any building fobs.
- A bag with clothes and toiletries for two nights.
- Pets, plants you care about, and anything that cannot be replaced.
Make a short list and keep it with you on moving day, so nothing on it ends up in a box by accident.
Changing your address in Ontario
If you are moving within Ontario, the province sets clear deadlines. You must update your driver’s licence and vehicle permit within 6 days of your address changing, and the address on your health card within 30 days (Ontario.ca).
Mail forwarding is worth arranging early. Canada Post’s service can start as early as five business days after an online purchase, or three business days if bought at a post office (Canada Post).
Moving to another province
A move out of Ontario brings a second set of rules, set by the province you are moving to. Check them with that province directly, as they differ.
When you leave Ontario permanently for another province, OHIP continues to cover you, as it would for a temporary absence, until the last day of the second full month after you leave. Ontario also explains how to return or exchange your Ontario driver’s licence for a refund of the time remaining on it, and advises checking your new province’s requirements (Ontario.ca).
For Quebec, a common destination from Toronto:
- Driver’s licence. You can drive with your valid licence from another province for your first six months, after which you need a Quebec licence. If your licence is valid, you exchange it without proficiency tests (SAAQ).
- Health insurance. Quebec’s health insurance plan has a waiting period of up to three months after you register (RAMQ). RAMQ says your former province’s plan continues to cover you during the waiting period. Register soon after you arrive, and check how your OHIP coverage lines up with that waiting period.
Elsewhere in Canada, look up the licence and health card rules on that province’s government website before the move.
Moving part of a home
Not every long distance move is a whole house. Many are partial: furniture for a new cottage, a few pieces sent to a son or daughter at university in Kingston or Ottawa, an apartment in Montreal furnished from a Toronto home. These moves are smaller, but they still need a list, a plan for each building, and someone at the other end to receive the delivery.
If you will not be at the new address when the truck arrives, decide who will be. Give them the inventory, a floor plan with the rooms marked, and the authority to sign for the delivery and note any damage. For a cottage, also tell the mover about seasonal roads, the condition of the driveway and where a truck can turn.
On arrival
When the truck arrives, the same rules apply as for any move. Supervise the delivery, check the larger pieces and anything marked fragile, and note any missing or damaged items before the movers leave (Ontario.ca). If the crew is the same one that loaded your home, this conversation is short, because they know what was there.
If you are planning a move out of Toronto, read how our long distance relocations work, or begin an enquiry.
Sources
Change my address with Ontario services, Government of Ontario
Winter driving, Government of Ontario
Hiring a mover, Government of Ontario
Driver’s Licence Issued Outside Québec, Société de l’assurance automobile du Québec
Waiting period, Régie de l’assurance maladie du Québec
Purchasing mail forwarding, Canada Post
Environmental Guidelines: IIC and ICOM-CC Declaration, International Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works and ICOM-CC
Conditions Governing Loans From the Collection, The Walters Art Museum
