Condo, apartment and high-rise moves

A condo move is a house move with a building manager attached. The physical work is often easier, because there are no stairs and the furniture is usually smaller, and yet condo moves generate more failed bookings than any other job in this trade. The reason is almost never the crew. It is paperwork and a two-hour elevator window.

Step one: read your building's moving rules before you book a mover. Most Ottawa condo corporations require a move booked in advance through property management, restrict moves to certain hours and days, charge a refundable elevator deposit, and require the moving company to supply a certificate of insurance naming the corporation. Some buildings on Centrepointe, in Little Italy and along the canal will not release the service elevator without that certificate in hand. Ask management for the exact requirements in writing and send them to your mover before you pay a deposit.

Step two: book the elevator and the dock together. A service elevator booking is normally two to four hours. That window is the real constraint on the move, not the size of the truck. If the building also has a single loading bay shared with deliveries, the bay has to be booked for the same window. A crew that arrives to find the bay occupied by a furniture delivery is still on the clock.

Step three: the walk from the truck to the door. Price in a condo move is driven by carry distance more than by volume. A unit thirty metres from a dedicated dock loads faster than a unit ten metres from a street parking spot that needs a City permit. Ask the mover to look at the actual path, including whether the elevator has a padded interior, whether the corridor has a tight turn, and whether the unit door is narrower than 800 mm, which is the point at which sofas start coming apart.

Step four: protection and the deposit. The crew masks the elevator, lays runners along the corridor and protects the unit door frame. Damage to common elements is what the elevator deposit exists for, and a building will hold it until the superintendent has walked the route. Ask your mover who signs off with the superintendent so the deposit comes back.

How long it takes. A studio or one-bedroom condo with a booked service elevator is generally three to four hours door to door. A two-bedroom is four to six. Where it goes long is when the elevator has to be shared, when the destination building has a different window on the same day, or when either end has no dock and the truck has to park on the street.

What it costs in Ottawa in 2026. Indicative only. Two movers and a truck at roughly $150 to $210 an hour covers most studio to two-bedroom condo moves, with a four-hour minimum common (CompareMovers, Ottawa moving prices 2026). A one-bedroom condo move inside the city commonly totals $600 to $1,000, and a two-bedroom $900 to $1,500. Add a second truck or a third mover when both ends are high-rises with tight windows, because finishing inside the booked window is worth more than the hourly saving. Certificates of insurance are normally issued at no charge by any established mover; a company that cannot produce one on request is telling you something.

What makes an Ottawa condo move different. The downtown core mixes 1960s and 1970s towers with buildings finished in the last ten years, and the older stock is where the trouble is: one small service elevator, a lane-width loading area off a one-way street, and a two-hour window that management will not extend. Centretown and the ByWard Market add on-street parking that needs a City of Ottawa temporary permit if the truck is to sit legally in a paid space or a no-parking zone. Newer towers in Little Italy, LeBreton Flats and Westboro generally have a proper dock and a freight elevator, which makes them the easiest moves in the city. Winter adds one more wrinkle: underground parking clearances are often 2.0 to 2.1 m, so a five-tonne truck cannot use the garage and everything comes in through the front, in the weather.

Who should do the work, and what is not regulated. Movers are not licensed by the province of Ontario (Ontario, Hiring a mover). What is regulated is the truck. Any truck with a registered gross weight or actual weight over 4,500 kg needs a Commercial Vehicle Operator's Registration certificate, and the operator's safety record sits behind it (Ontario, Commercial Vehicle Operator's Registration). Most three-tonne and five-tonne moving trucks are well over that threshold, so a legitimate condo mover has a CVOR. The company should also carry WSIB coverage for its crew, which is compulsory for most employers in Ontario and which protects you as well as the worker if somebody is hurt in your corridor.

What to ask before you hire. Can you send my building a certificate of insurance naming the corporation, today. Have you moved in this building before. How many movers, and does the quote assume the elevator window my building gave me. What happens if the window is lost through no fault of mine, and am I charged for waiting time. What is your liability rate, and can I raise it. Is the truck CVOR registered.

One planning habit that saves the most money. Do your own packing, finish it two days early, and stack every box in one room by the door. A condo crew working from a single staging room with everything sealed and labelled will beat a crew that has to hunt through three rooms by an hour or more, and on a condo move an hour is most of your elevator window.