The Ranking
Our top 6 moving companies in Calgary
Moving in Calgary comes with a few local wrinkles. Many condo towers in the Beltline, East Village and downtown ask you to book the service elevator ahead of time, and many building managers want a certificate of insurance from your mover before the truck arrives. Ask any company on this list for that certificate as soon as you book. Back lanes in older inner-city neighbourhoods can be tight for a 26 foot truck, and winter adds snow, ice and short days, so a crew may need extra time and floor protection from November to March.
If the truck will sit in a curb lane, the City of Calgary asks for a street use permit together with a temporary no parking permit. Both are applied for online through the City's ePermits system. The City says to apply at least five business days ahead for lower impact closures, and the permit holder has to put up the no parking signs at least 12 hours before the move. Ask your mover whether your street needs one.
Pricing works two ways. Local moves in Calgary are almost always billed by the hour for a set crew and truck, often with a two or three hour minimum, so stairs, long carries and disorganized packing add to the bill. Long distance moves are quoted per job, often by weight or volume. A binding quote, or a binding not-to-exceed quote, caps what you pay unless you add items or services. A non-binding estimate is a best guess, and the final bill can be higher. Get every quote in writing, signed, with the crew size, hourly rate, minimum hours, travel charges and any fees for stairs, pianos or packing materials spelled out.
Protection for your belongings matters more than most people expect. Canada's Office of Consumer Affairs says that unless you buy replacement value protection, a mover's liability is generally limited to 60 cents per pound per item. A 50 pound television would be covered for about $30. Ask each company what its basic valuation covers, what full replacement protection costs, and how long you have to file a claim. The federal guidance says claims generally need to be filed within 30 days for local moves and 60 days for long distance moves, and items you pack yourself are usually moved at your own risk.
Watch for the usual warning signs of a moving scam: no physical address, a quote given over the phone and never put in writing, a request for a large deposit up front, and a company that is really a broker passing your job to an unnamed subcontractor. Every company on this list has a real commercial address in Calgary that we checked against City of Calgary property records, and we left out companies that use mailbox stores, executive suites or home addresses.
Alberta does not have a separate licence for household movers that we could find. Instead, ask for proof of cargo and liability insurance and workers' compensation coverage, and look the company up with the Better Business Bureau and the Canadian Association of Movers, which offers voluntary certification for movers. A mover that takes trucks over 4,500 kg outside Alberta needs an Alberta Safety Fitness Certificate, so ask for that number on interprovincial moves. For a move into the United States, ask for the carrier's USDOT number and check it on the FMCSA SAFER website.
