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What Is in This Moving Checklist for Canada

This moving checklist is for a move in Canada, inside your province or to another one. It has 209 items in 22 groups, and the rules for Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta and Quebec are below it.

22 items are this list's own, such as your health card, driver's licence and car when you move, firearms, tenant insurance, a pet licence, your moving costs at tax time and a winter move. The other 187 come from the General Moving List, some written for Canada.

An item for one kind of move says so in grey under its name, such as "Only if you move to another province". To take out a whole group you do not need, such as Pets, use More, then Delete by Group or Tag.

Change of Address in Canada: Ontario, BC, Alberta and Quebec

Canada has no single change of address service. Each federal office keeps its own copy of your address, your province keeps the one on your health card and driver's licence, and Canada Post mail forwarding is separate again.

The federal offices are inside Change your address in Before the move. They do not pass your new address to each other, so tell each one that applies to you.

  • Ontario: change the address on your driver's licence and vehicle permit within 6 days, and on your health card within 30 days, online or at a ServiceOntario centre. A health card with your address printed on it cannot be changed online.
  • British Columbia: change it with ICBC and Health Insurance BC online, both at the same time. The address on your car insurance is changed at an Autoplan broker.
  • Alberta: your driver's licence and vehicle registration within 14 days, in person at a registry agent, with ID.
  • Quebec: one online service, the Service québécois de changement d'adresse, tells the RAMQ (health card), the SAAQ (licence and registration), Élections Québec, Revenu Québec and Retraite Québec. The SAAQ must have it within 30 days of your move.

Moving to Another Province: Your Health Card

Your old province's health plan keeps covering you for a set time after you leave, while you wait for the new province's card. Apply for the new card soon after you arrive.

  • Leaving Ontario: OHIP covers you until the last day of the second full month after you leave.
  • Leaving Alberta: you are covered for the month you leave and the next 2 months. Cancel in person at a registry agent, or by contacting the Alberta Health Care Insurance Plan with your health care number and new address.
  • Leaving British Columbia: tell Health Insurance BC your date and new address as soon as you can, online with "Report a move outside B.C."
  • Arriving in Ontario: there is no waiting period. Apply in person at a ServiceOntario centre, with three original documents: one for your status in Canada, one for living in Ontario and one for who you are. Photocopies are not accepted.
  • Arriving in Alberta: register within 3 months. Cover starts on the first day of the third month after you became a resident; until then, use your old province's card.
  • Arriving in British Columbia: the wait is the rest of the month you arrive plus two months. Apply right away, and keep your old province's plan during the wait.
  • Arriving in Quebec: cover usually starts within 3 months, and your old province's plan covers you until then.

In Ontario, Health Care Connect looks for a family doctor or nurse practitioner for you, online or by calling 811. It asks for your Ontario health card number, so apply for the card first, and it does not promise a doctor right away.

Driver's Licence and Car in a New Province

Each province gives you a set time to swap your licence for its own. A car from another province is registered there too, and in Ontario, Alberta and Quebec it is inspected first.

  • Ontario: you can drive on your old licence for 60 days. The car needs a safety standards certificate before it can have Ontario plates.
  • British Columbia: 90 days to switch to a BC licence, and 30 days to register, license and insure your car.
  • Alberta: exchange your licence at a registry agent within 90 days. The car passes an Out of Province Vehicle Inspection, then is registered within 90 days of your move, with proof of Alberta insurance.
  • Quebec: you can drive on your old licence for the first 6 months. The car goes to a mechanical inspection centre first.
  • Leaving British Columbia: go to an Autoplan broker before you leave, to update your car insurance.

Moving in Winter in Canada

A winter move adds three jobs: clearing snow and ice from the paths at both homes before the movers come, keeping snow and slush off the floors, and getting the car ready. Salt melts ice poorly below about -10 °C, so have sand or gravel too.

  • Quebec: winter tires from December 1 to March 15 on every car registered in Quebec, rental cars too. A car still registered in another province is not covered until you register it in Quebec.
  • British Columbia: winter tires or chains from October 1 to March 31, on some routes to April 30, on most highways outside the Lower Mainland and southeastern Vancouver Island.

Renting and Moving in Quebec

July 1 is the busiest day of the year for movers in Quebec, and prices go up around it, so book early for a move near that day.

  • To leave at the end of a lease of 12 months or more, send your notice 3 to 6 months before it ends.
  • The owner or agent of the new home can ask you in advance only for the first month's rent: no damage, key or last month deposit.

Notice periods and deposit rules for other provinces, and the move-out clean, are in Moving Out.

Claiming Moving Expenses on Your Taxes

If you moved for a new job, your own business, or full-time college or university, and your new home is at least 40 km closer to it, you can deduct your moving costs on line 21900 of your tax return.

  • Employees and the self-employed: only from what you earn at the new location.
  • Full-time students in a post-secondary program: only from the taxable part of scholarships, bursaries and research grants.
  • The 40 km is measured along the shortest public route.
  • Keep your receipts, but do not send them with your return. The Canada Revenue Agency may ask for them later.

Printable Moving Checklist for Canada

This checklist prints with your own changes: use More, then Print or Save as PDF, for paper or a PDF file. What the printed page looks like is in Printable Moving Checklist and PDF.

Your first check or change keeps this list in My Lists, in this browser. Every control, on a phone and on a computer, is in How to Use This Moving Checklist App.

Coming to Canada from another country? Moving Abroad has the visa, the flights and your first weeks.

Moving Checklist Canada FAQ

  1. Who do I need to notify when I move in Canada?

    Canada Post for mail forwarding; the federal offices that have your address, such as the Canada Revenue Agency, Service Canada and Elections Canada; your province, for your health card, driver's licence and car; and your bank, employer, insurance and services. Federal offices do not share a new address with each other, so tell each one.

  2. How do I change my address in Ontario?

    Online or at a ServiceOntario centre. Change the address on your driver's licence and vehicle permit within 6 days of moving, and on your health card within 30 days. A health card with your address printed on it cannot be changed online. The other provinces are in Change of Address in Canada.

  3. Do I need a new health card if I move to another province?

    Yes. Apply to the new province's health plan when you arrive. Your old province keeps covering you while you wait: Ontario until the last day of the second full month after you leave, and Alberta for the month you leave and the next 2 months. Each province's wait is in Moving to Another Province: Your Health Card.

  4. How long do I have to change my driver's licence after moving to another province?

    60 days in Ontario, 90 days in British Columbia and Alberta, and 6 months in Quebec. A car from another province also has to be registered in the new province, and in Ontario, Alberta and Quebec it is inspected first: see Driver's Licence and Car in a New Province.

  5. Can I claim moving expenses in Canada?

    Yes, if you moved for a new job, your own business, or full-time college or university, and the new home is at least 40 km closer to it. You deduct the costs on line 21900 of your tax return, only from income linked to the new place, and keep the receipts in case the Canada Revenue Agency asks. More in Claiming Moving Expenses on Your Taxes.

  6. How does Canada Post mail forwarding work?

    You buy it from Canada Post before you move, online or at a post office, for 12 months or 4 months. It can start 5 days after you buy it online, or 3 days after you buy it at a post office. On this list it is Set up Canada Post mail forwarding, in Before the move.