The fateful day of July 1st is coming. Although this day is dedicated to Canada Day, it is also known as moving day. This year, several potential clients of moving companies have heard the phrase: sorry we are fully booked.
According to statistics, more than 35% of moves in Quebec take place on July 1st or in the days preceding it. Inevitably, since prices are usually based on supply and demand, it costs more to move on July 1st. But it is difficult, if not practically impossible, to find a moving company within a few weeks of the fateful July 1st day. Reservations have been plentiful, and have been for a long time.
David, from Déménagement de l’Ouest confirms that their schedule has have been full for a few months already. In fact, the past year has been extremely busy for the moving company located in L’Île-Perrot. Home sales, regular moves, telecommuting moves and even moves following separation are events that have filled an already busy work schedule.
“We have employees who made over $ 70,000 in the last year, confirms David. They worked very hard and sometimes for long hours. We have experienced several situations where people had just sold their homes and had only 10 days to move out. At that time, customers call us and they ask for our services. We’ve also had a lot of what we call covid separations. In this case, the person wants to move quickly.”
There has been many hours and one thing also complicates reality is that there is not a lot of manpower for this type of work. “Being a mover is difficult. It is excessively physical work. Not everyone can do this. We work hard and sometimes in difficult conditions. Moving around for 12 hours in 30 degrees is not easy. I’m not saying that young people don’t want to work, but there aren’t many who come forward to apply.”
Why move on July 1st
Until the mid-1970s, rental leases expired on April 30th . People were moving on May 1st . But this disrupted the academic progress of many children. In order to avoid this problem, the government of Quebec passed a law in 1974. It stipulates that leases must now end on June 30th .
