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Downtown Toronto, Relocation, Toronto Condos

Pandemic Immigration: Tips for Moving to Toronto in 2022

February 22, 2022
Pandemic immigration picture by Javon Swaby on Pexels

Immigrating to a new city—or country—is a big step. It’s even bigger in a year already shaped by COVID-19 and short supplies of everything from refrigerators to sanitizer.

But building your life in a new city isn’t impossible. It just takes a little planning, a little creativity—and some support from your new Toronto neighbours.

Here are a few steps to make your move to Toronto easier—even in a pandemic.

Plan for each step to take a little longer

Every part of life has been slowed down by the COVID-19 pandemic—and immigration is no exception. 2021 saw Canadian borders closed and on-and-off travel restrictions, and left Canada with 1.8 million backlogged immigration applications by the end of the year.

What’s more, Toronto’s housing market is one of the most competitive in the country—and experts predict it’ll stay that way in 2022. Even with huge construction booms in the downtown, finding a permanent home is taking everybody longer.

COVID’s slowed down some of the essential paperwork you need for Toronto living as well. The City of Toronto has a great checklist available for how to get your life here started. But important services, like applying for your first Ontario health card, still need in-person appointments. That can mean longer waits due to COVID-19 capacity limits and pandemic backlogs.

So: the short version? It’s worthwhile to plan ahead, set up each step of your immigration process early, and assume there will be delays. Knowing how the whole process fits together will let you work on one part of the process when another’s held up and keep your immigration journey moving.

Go digital

The upside of all that COVID disruption? More and more of the immigration process can be done online.

Over the next few years, the Canadian federal government is modernizing the immigration system to fully digital. And if you’re new to Canada, you can already apply for your Social Insurance Number online.

When it comes to housing, more real estate open houses are going to virtual and video because of pandemic restrictions, which makes it easier to see potential new homes and get a feel for neighbourhoods. And with job interviews increasingly going online through video calling, it’s easier to line up work before you arrive.

Immigrating to Toronto this year might make your wifi connection your new best friend—and the more you can do online, the smoother your landing will be.

Consider supply backlogs

We’re short of a lot of life’s everyday conveniences right now: not just time with friends and family, but household appliances.

With global supply chains feeling pandemic stress, some of the basics for a new home are harder to get: dishwashers, refrigerators, and other everyday necessities are backordered by six weeks to two months. It’s one more reason setting up a new home—especially in a new city—can be more of a challenge this year.

If you’re making a list of what you’ll need in your everyday Toronto life, it’s worth a quick check to see whether there are shortages. You’ll save yourself stress and trouble in the long run.

DelSuites can be a simple start to your Toronto life

While no solution in these times is perfect, a short-term furnished rental condo can take some of the work of pandemic immigration off your hands.

Our comfortable, professionally-cleaned condo suites come fully equipped with everything you need on your first day in Toronto: beautiful modern furniture, a full collection of kitchen supplies, soft sheets and pillowcases, towels, toiletries, and more. If you’re shipping your personal belongings after arriving, we’ll help you live in a comfortable home until they’re here to meet you.

Our fully equipped kitchens let you cook the food you love and remove the stress of finding vegetarian, halal, kosher, or allergy-friendly meals in a new city. And our recommended grocery delivery services can help you place a first order before you arrive, so you can start your first night in Toronto with a full fridge and no worries.

We equip every unit with high-speed wireless Internet and North American long-distance phone service, so you can set up your life from the comfort of home. Find local information, call or write family, set up real estate viewings, enroll your children in school, and connect with local employers from your steady, stable home base.

While you’re busy setting up the basics of a new life, our bi-weekly professional house cleaning service keeps things tidy.

If something in your unit breaks or is confusing, you don’t have to navigate whose responsibility it is or find a contractor for repairs. Our guest services line will make sure a repair is done swiftly and well, with all COVID safety requirements taken care of.

Between the work of immigration, our buildings’ fitness amenities—beautifully maintained exercise rooms, pools, and outdoor gardens—will let you keep up your health routine, and there’s a full cable TV package to sit back and relax in the evening.

Immigration during a pandemic isn’t simple, but a good plan and a good space to call home for a while can make it easier. Call us at 647-370-3504 or email info@delsuites.com to find out how we can welcome you home to Toronto.

Markham, Mississauga, North York, Relocation, Toronto Condos

Plan a Better Home Reno with DelSuites

February 8, 2022
Better home reno photo by Nolan Issac on Unsplash

The numbers are in: this year, Canadian homeowners took all that cash we used to spend on dream vacations and put it into our homes. According to a new report from Statistics Canada, renovation spending jumped 66% this past spring.

And we’re not done yet.

The HomeStars 2021 reno report—a state-of-the industry snapshot on home renovations—predicts 2022 will be even busier. Their survey of homeowners showed that 77% plan to do interior renovations this coming year, and with lumber prices finally coming down from last year’s highs, a whole lot more is possible on a smaller budget.

If you’re planning a renovation—whether it’s a much-needed update to that old kitchen or something to make your space feel new—it always pays to renovate smart. Here’s how DelSuites can help you get your bigger, brighter home on time and on budget, without losing sleep.

Should I stay or should I go now?

With contractors and tradespeople increasingly booked in the coming months, compressing your renovation project into fewer days of work can make it more affordable—but also more likely to fit a reputable contractor’s schedule.

For smaller projects like painting and tile repairs, it might just mean some ducking and dodging around your contractors. But for major projects like a full bathroom update, kitchens, or home additions the math changes. The average bathroom remodel runs at four and a half weeks and kitchens average six to twelve. It can be easier on your budget to let the work run uninterrupted—and move your family elsewhere for the month.

  • Daily cleanup and site protection costs. Most renovation crews take time at the end of each shift to clean up and make the space habitable again; an average of half an hour per day. This comes out of time they could spend on the primary work—and also adds up on your bill.
  • Electricity and plumbing planning. Anything that involves wiring or plumbing has to be organized around the basics of daily life: school lunches, morning showers, and for many of us, working from home. Letting your contractors work without having to carefully plan those outages moves your project forward faster—and saves you costs.
  • Save on dust mitigation. Renovations kick up dust: drywall dust, materials dust, and just the regular kind you haven’t gotten around to while living in your home. The measures you need to take to keep it out of living areas, like hanging plastic curtains, also cost money—and that’s money you can save.
  • Save on takeout. Kitchen renovations mean you’re down to microwaves or takeout for most of the construction period—and that can rack up huge expenses on meals.

Build a reno budget that works

Renovations have a reputation for running over budget—and that’s sometimes because we haven’t thought about these smaller expenses. You know, the ones that add up.

It’s worthwhile to add up the potential costs of living in your home through the reno—a little here, a little there—and stack them up against the fixed cost of a fully-furnished, ready-to-go rental.

If the incremental bill is bigger than you’d like, building a DelSuites stay into your project plan can be the low-fuss, smart financial decision. It lets your contractors finish major renovations faster, keeps your grocery budget manageable, and reduces the time you lose at work through noise, dust, power shutoffs, or fatigue from early morning carpentry.

We take the hardest part out of the renovations moving dilemma: finding the right temporary home for the right cost. With locations in all of Toronto’s major neighbourhoods, fully furnished units, fully equipped kitchens, ensuite laundry, and phone, cable, and wifi ready to go, all you have to do is show up at the door.

All our units have transparent rates, with discounts available for extended stays. And if your project does run longer than you expected, our Guest Services team can work with you to extend your stay or arrange flexible checkout without trouble.

Solve the stay-or-go equation with a better home reno plan

Ultimately, every renovation is different; it pays to ask careful questions, do your research, and weigh the options with a trusted contractor.

But if you’re leaning toward a temporary home while your dream home comes together, contact us by phone at (416) 370-3504, email at info@delsuites.com, or use our live chat to find out how DelSuites furnished short-term rentals can help you keep your reno within budget.

Relocation, Toronto Condos

Toronto student housing is closed for coronavirus–but your life can stay open

April 29, 2020

Toronto student housing has closed, but that doesn't have to shut down your Toronto life

COVID-19 cases are climbing in Ontario, and Ryerson University, the University of Toronto’s Victoria and University Colleges, and three Ottawa universities shut down their student residences last month to prevent the spread.

While that choice will save lives, it’s left some students juggling major decisions on top of adjusting to online classes. To find Toronto student housing or return to family homes where elderly relatives live? How to travel to hometowns in a hurry, and whether to temporarily walk away from their school year lives, including roommates, friends, and part-time jobs.

International or out-of-province students face travel restrictions that are changing regularly, the transmission risks of flying, how to pay for travel back home, or where to stay now that many international borders have closed.

Even students whose residences are still open are working out how to stick to social distancing guidelines with roommates and communal bathrooms.

If you’re a student coming back to Toronto after a university residence closure—or a student sticking with your Toronto life—a furnished short-term rental can help you safely self-isolate without giving up work, navigating borders, or the risk of exposing people you love.

Keep your daily routine stable

The transition from residence living to a short-term furnished rental is easy.

Our suites include everything a residence fee does—and more: housing, local and North American long distance calls (some areas excluded), broadband internet, laundry, cable TV packages, and all utilities.

If you packed last September for a furnished dorm room and meal plan, booking a fully furnished temporary rental suite lets you skip the stress of finding furniture, dishes, and cookware while non-essential stores are closed. All our suites have a fully stocked kitchen, laundry, and toiletries so you can stop searching for a pasta pot and focus on what’s important.

Our suites are run by professional property managers who know the ins and outs of the fuse box, common apartment problems, and how to get an emergency plumber if your toilet backs up at three a.m. Support staff are on call 24/7 to help you adjust to your new apartment and answer common questions.

And if your part-time job is still open, our multiple locations across the GTA let you stay close enough to skip the commute and avoid transit.

Keep your support network close

Suddenly moving out of residence doesn’t just shake up your sense of place; it splits up the people you rely on, and that’s hard during a crisis.

We have two-bedroom and family-sized units available to let you stick with your roommates and friends and keep your support networks solid. You don’t have to worry about feeling sick far from family or isolating in a newer city. Separate bedrooms with doors and multiple bathrooms let you self-isolate from roommates if someone has symptoms—without leaving each other alone.

Keep costs down

To help during this pandemic, we’re offering major discounts on our suites to keep them affordable on a student budget. We’ve priced a two- or three-bedroom suite, right for sharing, at only a few dollars more per night than many university residence plans.

We’re also making our stays flexible: You can cancel anytime up to your check-in, in case your plans change. You can extend your stay easily if your summer sublet falls through, and because there’s no long-term lease, it’s much easier to substitute another friend into your second bedroom if a roommate has to move out.

Toronto student housing that works for you

Book through our website or email Info@delsuites.com for more information on how we can help you finish the school year safely, affordably, and together. We’ll do our best to help you find the easiest transition from residence to temporary home.

Relocation, Toronto Condos

Your Solution to a Delayed Moving Day

April 21, 2020

Social distancing regulations are affecting every aspect of Toronto life—including the stress of deciding what to do with a delayed Moving Day.

With evictions sensibly frozen and public health departments telling all of us to stay at home to stay safe, thousands of families—the Canadian Real Estate Association reports 65,494 homes were sold across Canada in January and February—are unsure whether Moving Day is happening.

With so much up in the air, we’d like to offer some quick facts on the ever-changing situation and how you can keep your housing stable.

Temporary housing can bridge the gap to your delayed Moving Day

House-hunting during a pandemic

For people who have bought or sold a new home, there is very real uncertainty around reaching closing day. The Ontario government has declared real estate an essential service and realtors are still available by email and phone but COVID-19 has put real obstacles into finding a new home this month.

The Ontario Real Estate Association (OREA) has told its members to stop “all face-to-face business, including open houses, agent and public office hours, and in-person showings, particularly of tenant-occupied homes, during the Province’s COVID-19 state of emergency.”

Those responsible actions, aimed at preventing COVID-19 exposure, are also being taken up by many home inspectors and contractors, who are focusing on emergency repairs only.

The City of Toronto’s building inspections department is also prioritizing emergency building inspections, and still evaluating whether it’s safe to do the occupancy inspections that new homes and high-rises must pass before letting buyers move in.

Even historically low hotel bookings might not last, as the City of Toronto buys out entire hotels to shelter our most vulnerable neighbours.

The upside: We’re pulling together as an industry and society to keep each other healthy in ways that will save lives.

The downside: Even if you’ve already signed your paperwork, it might be very difficult to meet your conditions of sale, close on time, or find a new home if you’ve sold without buying yet.

Staying sheltered and staying safe

If you’re facing a gap between your old home and your new one, our fully furnished rentals are already designed to reduce stress during a housing emergency.

Located in stable residential buildings across the GTA, our suites let you settle down in your own neighbourhood—or your new one!—and minimize any disruption to your daily routines until your new home closes, or you can start your search again.

Our suites come fully equipped with bath towels, toiletries, ensuite laundry and detergent, and everything you need to cook your usual favourites already in the kitchen. If you’ve already done your packing, there’s no need to do it twice: you can use our basics—furniture, kitchen supplies, and linens—until it’s time to unpack in your new home. Our cleaning staff are taking thorough safety precautions with every suite.

And with all utilities included—broadband internet, cable TV, hydro, water, and long-distance telephone packages—you don’t have to do the work of moving your own accounts, and can easily work from home.

Booking your temporary home

During this unprecedented public health emergency, we know everything’s changing quickly, so we’re offering flexibility on your arrival and departure dates. Our support staff will work with you to extend your stay, get the childproofing supplies or furniture you need, and solve any problems you encounter.

And in recognition of the times, we’ve made significant cuts to our nightly rates, so every one of our neighbours can safely have a home—even if you’re between homes.

Book through our website or email Info@delsuites.com with your unique situation, and we’ll do our best to help you, crisis or not, have a place to call home.

Relocation, Toronto Condos

Supporting your Health, Safety and Well-being

March 27, 2020

In difficult times, we're on your team

With the spread of COVID-19, we’re all working together to keep each other safe in an unprecedented global health emergency. If you’re struggling with housing trouble during the COVID-19 pandemic, DelSuites can help you settle down securely with all the resources you’ll need to keep yourself and others well.

To do our part, we’ve reduced our rates in all our fully-furnished Toronto rental suites. If you’re:

  • a stranded traveler;
  • a Toronto resident whose housing arrangements have fallen through;
  • an essential or frontline health worker self-isolating from immunocompromised or vulnerable loved ones;
  • an immunocompromised or high-risk person self-isolating from a loved one who’s fallen ill;
  • a new parent isolating from a loved one who’s fallen ill;
  • anyone isolating from loved ones returning to Ontario who are quarantined under the federal government’s mandatory 14-day order;
  • anyone for whom isolating at home is unsafe;

We can provide you a safe, stocked-up, and clean home away from home.

A temporary home you can rely on

Our suites, located in stable residential buildings across Toronto and the GTA, are equipped with new and modern fixtures, a full selection of kitchen supplies including a start-up kit of essentials (coffee, tea, dish and laundry detergent), and ensuite laundry to keep your clothes clean without risking transmission.

Each suite has been thoroughly professionally cleaned for your stay using fresh cleaning cloths and bleach-based disinfectants by staff equipped with gloves and masks. To keep them clean, we’re offering virtual tours so you can get to know your new space without worrying about viral vectors.

We’re also keeping up with the latest news from Toronto, Ontario, and Canada’s Public Health authorities to adjust our safety measures as new information emerges, and all suites are already stocked with soap and toiletries to help you maintain good handwashing practices.

All the utilities in our suites are fully included, without extra fees. Our high-speed broadband internet and international long-distance calling can keep you in touch with friends and loved ones—and able to work from your suite—and if you’re in need of a distraction, complete premium cable packages are available at the touch of a button.

When you’re in need of fresh air, most of our suites feature balconies to let you safely get outside.

Support when you need it

Our buildings are staffed by conscientious concierges and staff who can help you figure out the best way to receive deliveries, mail, or personal necessities, and are located within the delivery areas for major grocery services. Their 24-hour security personnel and on-call managers are an instant support network which can assist you in case of emergency—medical or otherwise.

With Toronto’s COVID situation changing day by day, we’ve built flexibility into our cancellation policy. We’re waiving our cancellation fees for bookings cancelled any time before arrival, and offering options for you to extend or shorten your reservation if necessary.

In case of any questions, we have three ways to contact our team, day or night: by phone at 416.296.8838, email at info@delsuites.com, or via live chat.

In challenging times, we’re all on each other’s team, and DelSuites is ready to be on yours. Contact us anytime with a portrait of your unique housing needs during this crisis, and we’ll help meet them.

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