Cross country moving is a daunting task, even more so than short-distance moving, especially in a big city like Toronto. Finding the right moving company while also keeping a tight budget is a challenge.
Residents who need to relocate within Toronto, across Canadian provinces/territories, or even across country lines (whether it is near or far), often have specific needs in mind when looking for the right interprovincial moving company.
Since most people move fewer than five times in their lives, whether it is across the city, across the country, or to another province, cross country moving can be a logistical challenge not everyone has encountered.
Moving in Canada is an exciting and yet stressful endeavour, but it doesn’t have to be Here are some tips and tricks you can follow to avoid common problems and can help you make your next move a little less daunting!
11 Tips To Find The Right Cross country moving Company
It is possible to move across the country in many ways. You can rent a truck and drive, or you can hire professional movers who specialize in cross country moves as well.
However, when deciding which route to take, make sure that reliability and ease-of-use are also taken into account when choosing your method or service. Getting a reliable moving service that is affordable can be challenging, but not impossible. Check out these 11 tips below to help you out:
#1. Follow a moving checklist
It doesn’t matter how far the two homes are from each other (cities literally next door or cross province), the myriad tasks waiting for you will remain unchanged.
Many of those tasks can be overwhelming, so you may be unsure where to start. Additionally, the exact order in which the pre-move chores should be completed is crucial for gaining complete control over the remaining time.
Don’t lose valuable time – develop a day-by-day, week-by-week moving checklist that you can populate with personalized and prioritized move-related tasks.
#2. Hire cross country movers
Deciding to move across the country is a guarantee that you won’t lose valuable time resolving the ever-present dilemma: hire movers or do it yourself?
Because cross country moving involves such long distances, you will only be able to move your household without any problems if you hire a company that has experience moving across the country.
There’s a good reason why self-moving is appropriate for local moves – once you take into account every cost that’s usually overlooked when moving by yourself, the picture becomes much clearer.
#3. Compare movers
Within no time at all you will realize how inefficient it is to move across the country by yourself because of the great distance and the added costs and risks. Whenever you are looking to move long distance, you should contact an experienced cross country moving company and hire their quality services.
Okay, hiring a professional mover is a good idea. But which one?
When it comes to long-distance movers, it’s best to compare several companies in your area before you choose one. To summarize, it basically comes down to making an informed decision after exploring your options regarding price and additional services.
#4. Request An Estimate
It’s not surprising that the cost of a long-distance move is nearly always more expensive than a local move. The real question is just how much higher, right?
Calculating your moving costs well in advance of moving day is something you simply must do. This will give you more clarity into your family budget and hopefully ease your mind as well.
Get an estimate from a few reputable cross country moving companies. It is not wise to trust online or phone cost estimates since they will not be accurate enough.
For more realistic moving price quotes, ask moving company experts to perform in-home surveys.
#5. Inventory your home
Do you know exactly what items you will pack for your move?
In order to save on moving costs, it is best to leave all household items behind and take just a few valuable personal items. Tempting, right?
No, because such long-distance moving sounds more like science fiction than reality.
Prepare an inventory of the items you plan on moving to the new house or apartment so that you know what you are moving. Whether you’re carrying a notepad or an electronic device, remember to decide the fate of every possession you own – Keep, Sell, Gift, Donate, or Recycle?
#6. Moving furniture across country
Furniture pieces are typically large and heavy, so the decision about whether it would be cheaper to pay someone to move your furniture to another house should focus your attention.
It may sometimes be more cost-effective to purchase new pieces of furniture once they arrive than to have professionals pack, load, transport, and unpack the furniture that you currently own.
No matter how difficult it may seem, unless you have priceless antique pieces that you simply cannot part with, moving as few furniture pieces as you can is often the best option.
#7. Moving across country with children
Even if you’re moving across the country for the right reasons, expect a lot more stress and difficulty when you’re moving with children.
You will only have to deal with more responsibilities for your children during the tough relocation, so it’s important to prepare yourself for the challenges that will come one after the other.
Keep the stress levels low by consulting our Moving with Children Guide. There you will find detailed information about preparing your child, toddler, pre-schooler, child of school-age or teenager for a smooth transition between the two worlds and between the two homes.
#8. Moving cross country with pets
Moving across the country with pets? Enjoy the calm before the storm.
You’ll also have a lot on your plate when you move cross-country with pets.
Obviously, pets have their own needs, so it’s advisable to find time to meet those needs in order to keep your animal friend safe and calm during, before, and after a move of such magnitude.
You can be sure that the moment you start moving with a dog, cat, bird, fish, or exotic pet, they will sense something big is happening.
If you plan to relocate your pet to another province, keep in mind that even the best cross country moving companies do not transport pets. Prior to the move, ensure they are healthy (a visit to the vet is a must) and that their routine remains the same as possible.
#9. Make up your mind: driving or flying?
You can trust movers to safely transport your possessions from A to B, but how about you and those with whom you are moving? How do you plan to reach the new address?
When moving across the country, the most popular method is by car. Additionally, if you plan to use your transportation vehicle for the moving trip, then be sure to have it well-serviced prior to Moving day. To avoid possibly bad last-minute decisions, plan your car journey well in advance.
In contrast, if you intend to move by plane, you should definitely check out how you can move your car by air. Make contact with a few top-rated car shippers and request price quotes so that you can select the best offer.
#10. Change your address
People’s lives will surely change a lot after moving across the country.
Because you’re moving across the country, your postal address will also change. It’s quite logical, isn’t it?
It is best to change your address with the postal service approximately two weeks before moving out. By doing this, your mail will continue to arrive without any issues. The same applies to other relevant documents, such as a subscription, tax return, your doctor’s office, etc.
Interestingly enough, you can also change your address right after moving, but the risk of losing important mail is slightly higher.
#11. Change home utilities
If you’re moving, you may also have to change your home utilities… unless you want to see what unpacking in the dark is like once you’ve made it to your new home.
It is important to contact the utility companies in the place you are leaving and arrange to have the utilities disconnected. Timing is everything here, so make sure you do this approximately two weeks before moving out.
In the new province, contact the utility providers to arrange reconnection of the utility services – electricity, water, sewage, gas, telephone, Internet, cable TV, cable, etc. – in the new home.
Packing Tips For A Smooth Move
Moving is one of the most stressful events in a person’s life. It’s expensive, time-consuming, and tiring. There’s pretty much no way around it.
Planning and strategizing are crucial to a successful move. You should focus on packing because it requires considerable attention to detail. Having help with any aspect of the move can make the process even more difficult.
These 9 tried-and-true moving tips and tricks from professionals will ensure your move goes smoothly from packing to loading and all the way to your new home or office.
#1. Let’s move for less
You can lower the moving expenses by packing whatever you can yourself, such as books, for example. Plus, you never know who will volunteer to help.
In most cases, hiring a cross country mover and doing most of the packing yourself is the most economical way to move across the country.
This approach lets you get the best of both worlds. Professional help is still available for those items that require special packing and transport – pianos, pool tables, hot tubs, safes, antique furniture, big and heavy furniture, heavy appliances, etc.
Meanwhile, you’re saving lots of money by packing on your own the things in your house that aren’t breakable, such as clothes, shoes, books, and so on.
#2. Ask friends to help you pack
When moving across the country, you should use all the resources you have at your disposal in order to reduce its cost. A smart way to reduce packaging costs is to enlist the help of your friends. This way, you can save big money from not having to hire professional packers.
You should keep in mind that moving and packing are not tasks to be accomplished by one person. If you have family members who are willing to give you a hand, that’s great. If not, then you should ask for friendly packing assistance.
Organize a packing party and invite your best friends to it. Be sure to reach out to your friends as early as possible so that you do not disrupt their plans.
It is true that mixing business with pleasure sometimes works out well, especially when you’ve fallen behind your packing schedule and are in need of assistance immediately.
#3. Get free moving boxes
The cost of packing materials is not something that you should ignore when you’re looking for an inexpensive way to move across the country.
Although you probably won’t be too worried about the price of bubble wrap, packing paper, and packing tape, just imagine how many cardboard boxes you’ll need to move across the country!
Typically, 60 boxes are needed to pack the contents of a home.
If you can lower packing box prices, then you’ll have a real cost-saving trick you can use every time. You can get free moving boxes by asking around in nearby stores or wine sellers (since boxes needed to transport wine require sturdier materials, the boxes are stronger). They’ll be happy to give you the boxes for free.
#4. Get rid of unwanted items
You should keep in mind that moving a single item that you won’t need after the relocation means losing money – which is what you are trying to avoid.
The more things you plan to take with you, the heavier the total weight of your shipment will be. As you can easily deduce, this will increase the price quoted by professionals for cross-country moving.
Get rid of things you won’t need in the near future so that you don’t pack unnecessary items:
- organize a moving sale to pocket much-needed cash,
- gift still usable items to friends,
- donate to charity, or
- recycle the stuff that stopped being practical a long time ago.
#5. Pack essentials boxes
Preparing a few boxes full of essential items is a great tip for moving across the country. Why, you may ask?
Until you get reunited with your household items again, you can make do with essentials boxes. When your cross country movers load your belongings into their truck and start driving to the destination house out of province, it won’t be until after the move that you have access to those items.
You should set aside absolute necessities like food, prescription medications, toiletries, a change of clothes for everyone, children’s items, pets’ items, and basic hand tools. Then, pack up your essentials in some boxes and keep them on hand always.
#6. Discard non-allowable items
A move across the country is never an easy task, as your possessions will need to be protected very well to survive the long haul from point A to point B and arrive in your new home in excellent condition.
In addition, there are some household items that cannot be transported because they are hazardous. Your cross-country moving company will not pack or move any items that are on the list of non-allowables. Avoid packing anything that is flammable (combustible), explosive or corrosive.
#7. Pack your furniture like a pro
If you’re moving large, heavy, or antique furniture, it’s best left to the professionals.
It is still possible to pack up some of the smaller and lighter pieces of furniture you own – a proactive action that will allow you to save a great deal of money.
Remove your furniture from its original location, clean it, and disassemble it as far as it can go prior to moving it across the country.
#8. Pack the right way
The most undesirable circumstance is to run out of time right before you finish packing when you are getting ready to move across the country.
When your movers start knocking on your door on Moving day, there won’t be many options left if you still have a pile of unpacked boxes. To prevent such a stress-inducing scenario from ever happening, start early.
It’s critical that you start packing as soon as your cross country move has been confirmed – as soon as you have a clear plan of action in mind, sort out and pack your belongings.
Start with the storage areas in your home as they are the hardest ones to prepare for shipping.
#9. Pack with safety in mind
It is very important to pack safely when moving across the country, unless you hire professionals to wrap your belongings. Your items will be in transit for a lot longer than if you moved locally.
For things to run smoothly and damage-free, all you have to remember is a few simple safety rules.
- Always tape the bottom and sides of each cardboard box before starting to fill it in regardless of its condition.
- Always place a few pieces of bubble wrap or several wads of paper (newspaper is also fine) on the bottom of the box before packing fragile items.
- Don’t skimp on bubble wrap and soft packing paper when packing breakables.
- Always fill in any spaces inside the box once it’s been packed so that no shifting is possible during transport.
- Write FRAGILE, THIS SIDE UP, and HANDLE WITH CARE on the boxes that contain easily breakable items.
Hire a Reputable Cross country Moving Company
Since moving, especially cross country moving is a life changing event, you should hire a professional moving company to help you do it. Selecting a moving company should take into account not just how much the move will cost, but also whether you will have to store items for an extended period of time. If you are choosing a moving company to handle your possessions, it is crucial that you find reviews from reputable sources so you can gauge what reputation the company has within their industry.
Although there are many moving companies out there, if one is significantly less expensive than the rest, it is worth being cautious. You might not want to go with the cheapest option because unlike many other services, when moving long distance, you get what you pay for.
If you are checking the reputability of movers, you can consult the Canadian Association of Movers (CAM). The association certifies movers who have passed a background check and agreed to adhere to an ethical code of conduct.
You should also check the companies’ history with the Better Business Bureau. If you see lots of unresolved complaints — especially recent ones — that’s a huge red flag.
On The Move!
Being prepared is important when moving. It is an exciting and challenging experience. By finding the right Cross country moving company in Toronto, you will be able to move as easily and stress-free as possible.
There are many things to consider before moving, but some research and preparation will lead you to the right moving company and help you avoid potential problems.
Moving is both an exciting and daunting experience. Make sure you hire a moving company you can trust so that you don’t let the stress of moving get in the way of your future!
If you are looking for professional & affordable long distance movers, who will make your moving easier, look no further! Mr.Relokate is a moving company based in Toronto that offers packing and moving services for residential and commercial customers.
We offer cross-country as well as within-province moving services from our office in Toronto.
Book a move right now and get your moving job done, in a quick, safe, and hassle-free manner by the best movers in Toronto.
