Moving Checklist – Changing Your Address

What makes moving even more stressful than it needs to be? Well, notifying everyone of your move, of course! And we don’t mean friends or family—we mean government agencies, delivery services, utilities and more.  

Updating all this information can be a headache, but if done in a timely manner then you likely won’t suffer many inconveniences. 

Where will you have to update your address when you move?

Provincial & Federal Organizations

It’s incredibly important that you update your address with both the provincial and federal government. Unfortunately, these must be individually updated as address updates are not automatically shared across all these agencies.

Common service address changes include:

• The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA): You will need to update your address for both personal and business accounts.
• Service Canada: Must be updated for employment insurance, Canada Pension Plan, and Old Age Security benefits
• Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada
• Document services: Important documents such as your driver’s license, vehicle permit, and health card will have to be updated shortly after you move.

 
You may also have to update your address with other agencies should they be applicable to you. For example, Elections Canada regarding voting registration, Veteran’s Affairs Canada regarding benefits for veterans, Transport Canada if you have a boat license, the RCMP if you have a gun license, etc.

General Checklist

Here is a general checklist of places where you will need to update your address once you move:

• Bank: All your banking information will need to be updated with your new address. This includes credit cards, lines of credits, loans, etc. If you bought a new home, your mortgage will already have your new address.
• Insurance: Your home and auto insurance will need to be updated as well. Be aware that insurance rates can change based on your address.
• Medical practitioners: Update your address with your doctor, dentist, optometrist, veterinarian, and any other medical services.
• Utilities: You will need to inform your city of your address change and pick up the utility charges for your new address. Don’t forget you will also need to update your internet and cable subscriptions.
• Memberships & subscriptions: If you receive subscriptions to your home (magazines, beauty boxes, etc.), they will need to be update to your new address. Certain memberships may also require updating, such as a gym membership.
• Educational institutions: If you or your children are currently attending school, the school will need to be notified of your address change.
• Online Services: If you shop online often, then updating your address on websites you frequent is an easy (though tedious) task. Simply go into your account settings and update your old address to your new address. Some web browsers can also save this information for you and auto-fill it in on other sides you visit.
  

Mail Forwarding
For general mail, you can set up mail forwarding with Canada Post to ensure any mail being sent to your old address will instead be forwarded to your new address. If your address is changing due to a municipality-initiated or Canada Post-initiated change, such as a change to your street name, then Canada Post will give you 12 months of free mail forwarding service.

Moving to a New Province
If you will be moving to a new province, changing your address is slightly different. You will have to inform your current province of your move and register a health insurance plan with your new province. It could take several months for your new health insurance to begin, during which time your previous province should cover you.
Of course, many of the general checklist items will still apply, though you may not be able to receive the same services, subscriptions, etc. in your new province. Canada Post is also able to forward your mail to a new province.