Maybe your lease ends the Friday before Thanksgiving, or your closing is set for the Tuesday after a long weekend. Long weekend moving in Ottawa usually starts with a date you did not pick, so the real question is: which of the four days around that holiday should you move on?
Quick Answer: Yes, Movers Work Long Weekends In Ottawa, and Saturday Is Usually the Day
Most Ottawa movers work the Saturday and Sunday of a long weekend, and some work the holiday Monday itself. The truck is not the problem; everything around it is: your bank, the land registry, your condo office and the highways.
If you can choose, pick the Saturday. The holiday Monday is the risky one: bank, lawyer and property manager are all off until Tuesday.
| Day | Movers | Closed That Day | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Friday | Books out first; heavy traffic from 1 p.m. | Nothing; keys run late | Friday lease ends; sellers |
| Saturday and Sunday | Normal weekend schedule | Banks, registry, mail | Most people; anyone with keys in hand |
| Holiday Monday | Fewer companies; ask yours | Mail, bank, registry, condo office | Keys in hand and written building approval only |
| Tuesday after | Open; may carry delayed jobs | Nothing | Buyers whose closing moved; condo moves |
Moving On A Statutory Holiday In Ontario: Will Movers Come, and What Will It Cost?
Some will, some will not, and prices differ. No Ontario law makes a mover close on a public holiday; working a statutory holiday in Ontario is each company’s call, so one closes Monday, one runs its weekend schedule, and one charges more.
Why the price can go up: under Ontario’s Employment Standards Act, an employee who works a public holiday gets either regular wages plus a paid substitute day off, or, with written agreement, holiday pay plus 1.5 times their regular rate.
Either way the company pays more that day. Ottawa’s Noise By-law 2017-255 restricts loading and unloading noise between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m., with no different hours for holidays, so that rule does not stop a 7 a.m. start. Other noise limits still apply, and your building’s rules are usually tighter.
Before you book the Monday, ask: are you open that day, which rate applies, and what is the minimum? If the company wants a few details before answering, that is normal; an exact moving price takes more than 30 seconds. Long weekend rates in Ottawa as of October 2026:
| Day | 2 Movers and Truck | 3 Movers and Truck | 4 Movers and Truck |
|---|---|---|---|
| Regular date (any day outside the 27th-to-2nd window) | $130 to $145 per hour | $189 to $195 per hour | $240 to $250 per hour |
| Peak date (27th to 2nd of any month) | $149 to $169 per hour | $199 to $209 per hour | $250 to $269 per hour |
| Statutory holiday Monday | Quoted individually | Quoted individually | Quoted individually |
These rates are from October 2026 and are reviewed each season, so confirm the current card when you book. The two-hour minimum, 15-minute billing and flat transportation fee instead of hourly travel do not change. Saturday and Sunday cost the same; holiday Mondays are quoted individually, so ask which row applies. What stays fixed is the calendar rule: the rate follows the date, not the holiday. In 2027 the Saturdays of Family Day, Victoria Day, Labour Day and
Thanksgiving fall outside the 27th-to-2nd window, so they take the regular row and are often cheaper than the last weekday of the month. Easter: March 27 and 28 are both inside the window. Canada Day is the opposite: Friday, July 2 is peak, but the weekend is not.
How The Four Days of A Holiday Weekend Play Out
Friday
Holiday weekend moving puts everything that cannot happen Monday onto Friday. A closing needs your bank to send the money and Teraview, Ontario’s land registry, to record the transfer the same day; both are closed on statutory holidays, so every holiday closing moves to Friday and keys arrive late. Buying? Don’t book a Friday morning move for a Friday closing. Book Saturday, or Friday with agreed waiting terms, and keep short-term storage as the fallback if keys might not come at all. Selling? You are out Friday regardless, so take the first slot. This is not legal advice; your lawyer confirms your date.
Traffic makes Friday harder. The 416 south and the 417 both ways fill from about 1 p.m., and even a cross-town move feels it on the Queensway. Take the first slot of the morning, be unloaded by 2 p.m., and skip any Friday start after noon. Ontario 511 shows live conditions.
Saturday and Sunday
The difference between the two is your building: more buildings allow Saturday moves than Sunday ones, so Saturday is the safer default and Sunday the quieter road day if your building permits it.
Many Ottawa condos allow moves only on weekdays and Saturdays, some ban them on statutory holidays, and the property manager who puts the elevator on service is away until Tuesday. Apartment moves have more moving parts than house moves, and the elevator is the big one: it is the most common cause of peak-season delays in Ottawa condos. Before Friday, get four things from your building by email:
- Your date is allowed, including the holiday Monday if that is your plan.
- The elevator is reserved with start and end times, not just requested.
- Who will put it in service and hand you the pads?
- Where the truck can park, and for how long.
If any one is missing, move to a day the office is open; a building that says no on the day has the final word.
Holiday Monday
No mail, bank, land registry, ServiceOntario or condo office. Fewer movers work the Monday, so ask yours. It works only if you already hold keys to both places and have written approval from the building. Return traffic runs 2 to 7 p.m., so finish before mid-afternoon.
Tuesday
Closings complete, elevator requests clear, mail resumes. Movers may be carrying jobs that slipped from Friday, so book Tuesday as early as you would Saturday. If your closing has moved, Tuesday is your fallback; if the weekend is already closed, you are into last-minute moving.
What Is Closed on Each Long Weekend, December 2026 To October 2027
On every Ontario statutory holiday, Canada Post, banks, the land registry, ServiceOntario and City offices close. Easter Monday and the Civic Holiday are not statutory, but the registry and Canada Post close anyway, so no closing can happen on any of these Mondays.
Set up Canada Post mail forwarding before the weekend; the holiday is not a processing day. Hydro Ottawa and Enbridge take online requests any time; anything needing a person waits for the next business day. The address change checklist has the full list, and a December move goes better if you clear out what you are not taking before the snow.
Thanksgiving Weekend Moving In Ottawa: What Is Different In October
Thanksgiving is Monday, October 11, 2027. Because autumn moving prices in Ottawa only spike at month-end, Saturday, October 9 and Sunday, October 10 are regular-rate. On Monday, many movers do not work, and your condo office is closed either way. Friday brings cottage traffic and dark by 6:30 p.m. The Saturday fills first, so book it once your building and lawyer confirm.
When To Book A Long Weekend Move In Ottawa, and Who To Ask First
Book in this order: building, then lawyer or landlord, then mover. On lead time: as soon as those two have confirmed, because the long-weekend Saturday is the slot every mover sells first, and the peak-window weekends (New Year’s and Easter in 2027) plus Friday, July 30 go earliest of all. Leave it late, and you may be booking a same-day mover for Tuesday instead.
One honest rule first: if your date is the holiday Monday and your building has not approved it in writing, do not book anyone yet.
Once it has, the rates in this post are Economical Movers’ own, and we run crews seven days a week, statutory holidays included, across Ottawa and nearby communities. Send your date and both addresses (getting a quote now takes minutes), or call +1 (343) 292-5550 and ask which day of that weekend we would book.
Sources: Ontario.ca (Employment Standards Act, public holidays) · City of Ottawa (Noise By-law 2017-255) · Teraview (land registration hours) · Canada Post (holiday schedule) · Ontario 511 (road conditions)
