Changing Your Address in Ontario: The Complete List

The one with a legal deadline: 6 days

By law, you must update the address on your Ontario driver's licence and vehicle permit within 6 days of moving.

Most people have no idea this deadline exists. It's also the easiest thing on this list to do.

How: online through ServiceOntario's address change service, or in person at any ServiceOntario centre. There's no fee.

What you'll need: your complete new address including unit number and postal code, plus your driver's licence number or vehicle registrant number.

Your updated licence card arrives by mail in roughly four to six weeks. Keep your old one until it does.

Health card: 30 days

You must update the address on your Ontario health card within 30 days, so the Ministry of Health has you on file.

The good news: you can do your driver's licence, vehicle permit, health card, Ontario Photo Card and accessible parking permit all in one online session. Do them together, on day one, and they're finished.

Worth knowing: after an address change, you generally can't renew your licence or health card online for about 90 days. If either is close to expiring, plan for that.

One people miss: the Provincial Offences Court

Changing your address through ServiceOntario does not update it with the Provincial Offences Court.

If you have any outstanding provincial offence matter — an unpaid traffic ticket, for example — you're responsible for giving the court your new address yourself. Otherwise important notices go to your old address, and missed payments can lead to enforcement action you never saw coming.

If that doesn't apply to you, skip it. If it might, deal with it now.

Federal government

Canada Revenue Agency. Update through CRA My Account online, or by phone. This matters more than people think: your tax refunds, GST/HST credits, the Canada Child Benefit and other benefit payments are all tied to the address CRA has on file.

Canada Post mail forwarding. A paid service, but worth it as a safety net for everything you forget. Set it up to start on your moving day, and consider a longer term rather than a shorter one — the stragglers keep arriving for months.

Voter registration. Update your details with Elections Canada online, and with Elections Ontario for provincial elections. It takes minutes.

If it applies: passport (the address isn't printed on it, but it's worth having current on file for your next renewal), Service Canada for CPP, OAS or EI, and Veterans Affairs.

Money

Work through these in one sitting:

• Your bank — every account, and every institution if you have more than one
• Credit cards, including store cards
• Your mortgage lender, or the lender on any loan
• Investments — RRSPs, TFSAs, brokerage and pension accounts
• Line of credit providers
• Your employer's payroll, so your T4 goes to the right place

Why it matters: financial mail arriving at an old address is a genuine identity-theft risk. It's the category worth doing first after the government ones.

Insurance

• Home or tenant insurance — ideally arranged before moving day so you're covered from the first night, not updated afterwards
• Auto insurance — your premium can change with your address, sometimes considerably
• Life and disability insurance
• Pet insurance

Utilities and home services

At the old place: schedule the end date for hydro, gas, water and internet — ideally one day after you move, not the day itself. If the move runs late you'll be glad the lights were still on.

At the new place: set everything up to start on possession day.

If you're moving to Barrie, this is more fragmented than most places — hydro is provided by either Alectra or InnPower depending on your exact address. Setting up utilities in Barrie covers who does what.

Don't forget subscriptions tied to a physical address: home security monitoring, water or propane delivery, lawn care and snow clearing contracts.

Health

• Your family doctor — or, if you're moving out of their area, register with Health Care Connect to be matched with a new one. Waits are real, so do this early.
• Your dentist
• Your pharmacy — transfer prescriptions ahead of time so there's no gap
• Specialists you see regularly
• Your vet, and your pet's microchip registry — updated before the move, not after

Work and school

• Employer and HR records
• Your children's school — and if you're changing schools, the new school board. Confirm your assigned school by address using the board's school locator rather than assuming from a neighbour.
• Post-secondary institutions, and OSAP if you have a loan
• Childcare providers

Everything else — the ones people remember in March

• Online shopping accounts — the default shipping address is the classic mistake
• Subscriptions that arrive physically: magazines, meal kits, subscription boxes
• Memberships: gym, Costco, CAA, clubs, professional associations
• Loyalty programmes
• Charities you give to regularly
• Library card — and while you're at it, get one at your new local library
• Friends and family — a group text does it

The fastest way to do all of this

Before you move: 1. Arrange home or tenant insurance at the new address 2. Set utility end and start dates 3. Transfer prescriptions 4. Update pet microchip and ID tag details 5. Book Canada Post mail forwarding

Moving day, or the day after: 6. ServiceOntario: licence, vehicle permit, health card and Photo Card, in one session 7. CRA 8. Banks, credit cards, lender and investments 9. Employer payroll

First week: 10. Insurance, schools and doctors 11. Online shopping default addresses 12. Voter registration

First month: 13. Everything else, as the mail forwarding shows you what you missed

One trick that catches the stragglers

Mail forwarding does more than deliver your mail. Every forwarded envelope is a reminder of an organisation that still has your old address.

When something arrives through forwarding, update that sender the same day. Within a couple of months, the forwarded mail dries up — and that's how you know you've caught them all.

Just moved in? Your first year as a homeowner in Ontario covers what comes next, week by week. And if you're still planning the move, the complete moving timeline shows when to do each of these.

Moving in Barrie or Simcoe County? Binny's Tote Rental delivers reusable totes before you pack and collects them once you're in.

This article is general information about changing your address in Ontario and is not legal advice. Requirements, deadlines and online services can change — confirm current details with ServiceOntario, the Canada Revenue Agency and the relevant organizations.