April at Carleton and uOttawa is the most chaotic month of the academic year. Exams, lease endings, furniture sales, sublet arrangements, and final grades all collide in the same 4-week window. Students who handle this systematically — starting in March — keep their damage deposit, sell their belongings at fair prices, and leave Ottawa without financial loose ends. Students who handle it in the final week lose deposits to missed cleaning, sell furniture at panic prices, and miss deadlines that cost them money. Here's the complete checklist, organized by when each task needs to happen.
March — Start Earlier Than You Think You Need To
Confirm your lease end date and notice requirements
Reread your lease and confirm the exact end date and the notice requirements for your landlord. In Ontario, a fixed-term lease ends on the end date without additional notice required. Month-to-month tenants are required to give 60 days notice to vacate. If your lease ended and you stayed month-to-month without realizing it, you may owe rent for 60 days after your notice date — not 60 days from when you hand in your keys. Confirm the specifics with your landlord in writing (email) in March to avoid disputes in April.
Start selling furniture now — not in April
The single most common moving-out financial mistake is listing furniture for sale in the last week of April. By late April, every student in Sandy Hill, Old Ottawa South, and the Glebe is selling furniture simultaneously. Supply overwhelms demand and prices drop to 20–30% of what the same item would have sold for in March. List furniture on Fliku Ottawa and the campus Facebook groups in March when buyers are incoming students searching for furnished items for September. A sofa sells in 2 days in March; the same sofa sits for a week in late April and sells for half the price. Time is the most valuable variable in the Ottawa student furniture market.
Assess what you're shipping vs. selling vs. storing
Make a room-by-room list: every item in your apartment and what happens to it. Items you're taking home, items you're selling, items going into storage, items you're donating. This list takes 30 minutes and prevents the April situation where you're making individual decisions about every object under deadline pressure, which reliably leads to suboptimal choices. Decide in March what's worth shipping, what's worth selling, and what's going to the curb.
List textbooks from winter semester immediately after exams
The window for selling winter semester textbooks at good prices is short — the first 2 weeks after exams end. Students who list immediately find buyers among classmates still in Ottawa and incoming students preparing for summer courses. Students who list in May find that demand has moved on. List on Fliku Ottawa and the campus Facebook groups the same day you're done with a course.
Early April — Practical Logistics
Book moving vehicles or help
U-Haul and truck rentals in Ottawa are heavily booked for the last week of April and first week of May. If you're renting a vehicle for your move, book it in early April — not the week before. The same applies to any friends with vehicles who have agreed to help — confirm dates explicitly rather than assuming.
Decide on sublet arrangements
If you're returning to Ottawa in September and want to keep your apartment, two options: subletting over summer (rent it to someone else while you're gone, recovering most of your rent cost) or paying rent through summer without a sublet (convenient but expensive — 4 months of empty rent). Subletting requires landlord permission in Ontario — check your lease and get written approval before advertising. Students subletting without landlord permission risk lease termination. The Sandy Hill and Carleton-area Facebook groups and the r/uOttawa and r/Carleton subreddits have active summer sublet boards — post with your apartment details, photos, and the sublet period clearly stated.
Arrange for mail forwarding
Update your address with Canada Post, your bank, any government services (OSAP correspondence, CRA), your phone carrier, and any subscription services. Canada Post offers a mail forwarding service for a fee — useful for 2–3 months while you update all addresses individually. Missing correspondence from CRA or OSAP because mail went to your old Ottawa address can create problems that take months to resolve. Do this before you leave, not after you realize something hasn't arrived.
Return library books and pay any outstanding fines
Overdue library books at Carleton and uOttawa generate fines and eventually account blocks that prevent transcript access and course registration. Return everything before you leave. Check your library account online for any materials showing as checked out — sometimes items scanned at return don't clear correctly and appear still checked out. Resolve these at the library desk before departing.
Moving-Out Week — The Damage Deposit
The damage deposit (typically one month's rent in Ontario for most student leases) is yours unless the landlord can prove damage beyond normal wear and tear. Most Ottawa student landlords are legitimate about this; some are not. The steps that protect your deposit:
Document the apartment's condition when you leave
Take photos and video of every room, every wall, every appliance, every fixture — dated photos from your phone are admissible evidence. Walk through with your camera systematically: ceilings, walls, floors, inside every closet, the condition of appliances, windows, and fixtures. Do this the day you hand in keys, after the apartment is clean and empty. If there's a dispute about a wall scuff that was pre-existing, your dated photo showing that scuff was present when you moved in (from your move-in inspection) and in the same condition when you left is your defense.
Clean thoroughly before the final walkthrough
In Ontario, tenants are required to leave the unit in the same condition as when they moved in, reasonable wear and tear excepted. Landlords can deduct cleaning costs from the deposit if the unit requires professional cleaning. The areas most commonly cited:
- Oven interior — requires actual degreasing, not just a wipe
- Bathroom grout and tile — soap scum buildup is tenant responsibility
- Baseboards — often skipped in regular cleaning but noticed in landlord inspections
- Inside cupboards and closets — clean out all belongings and wipe surfaces
- Fridge interior — defrost if applicable, clean all shelves and drawers
- Windows — clean interior surfaces
Get a written receipt for key return
When you return keys, get a written acknowledgment from the landlord (email confirmation is sufficient) that confirms the date of key return and the condition agreed upon at that time. If your landlord is making verbal statements about deductions, ask for them in writing. Verbal promises about deposit returns that don't materialize are harder to dispute without documentation.
Know your rights if a landlord withholds the deposit incorrectly
In Ontario, landlords cannot keep a security deposit for rent unpaid at the end of the tenancy — that's a separate process. If a landlord deducts from your deposit for pre-existing damage or normal wear and tear, you can file a T1 application with the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB). The LTB processes tenant applications; the fee is $53. Student legal services at both Carleton and uOttawa provide free advice on LTB applications and tenant rights — contact them before leaving Ottawa if you anticipate a deposit dispute.
Grades, Transcripts, and Academic Loose Ends
Check your final grades — both Carleton and uOttawa post final grades through the student portal. Verify all grades are posted correctly and match any grades you received directly from professors. Grade entry errors happen; catching them before the end of the academic year is much easier than after. If a grade looks wrong, contact the course professor first, then the registrar.
Request unofficial transcripts for co-op and grad school applications — if you're applying for co-op positions, graduate programs, or professional schools for next year, unofficial transcripts are available through the student portal at no cost. Request official transcripts (which carry the registrar's seal) early — official transcript processing takes time, especially in May when volume is high.
Complete outstanding OSAP documentation — any outstanding OSAP income verification or enrollment confirmation documents due after the academic year should be completed before you leave Ottawa. OSAP correspondence goes to your university email, which remains active after graduation or leave — check it regularly even after you've left campus.
Final Week Checklist
| Task | Done? |
|---|---|
| Furniture listed and sold (or donated/disposed) | |
| Textbooks sold or donated | |
| Sublet arranged and landlord approval obtained (if applicable) | |
| Mail forwarding set up | |
| Library books returned, fines paid | |
| Outstanding bills paid (utilities final bill, internet cancellation) | |
| Apartment cleaned thoroughly | |
| Move-out photos/video taken (dated) | |
| Keys returned with written receipt | |
| Final grades verified | |
| OSAP documentation completed | |
| Student email archive downloaded (if graduating) | |
| Bike stored, sold, or shipped | |
| Winter gear stored, sold, or packed | |
| Banking address updated |
When should I start selling furniture before moving out of Ottawa?
March — not April. Furniture listed in March sells at 50–65% of new retail price with real buyer demand. Furniture listed in late April is competing against hundreds of identical listings from students all moving out simultaneously, and prices drop to 20–30% of retail. The optimal timing is 4–6 weeks before your lease end date. List on Fliku Ottawa and the campus Facebook buy-and-sell groups at the same time for maximum reach. The best items to list first: sofas, desks, and dressers — high-demand items that move quickly when listed early.
How do I get my damage deposit back from an Ottawa landlord?
Document the apartment's condition on the day you return keys — dated photos and video of every room, every wall, and every appliance. Clean thoroughly, covering oven interior, bathroom grout, baseboards, and inside all cabinets. Get written confirmation (email) from the landlord acknowledging key return and confirming any deductions discussed. In Ontario, landlords can only deduct for damage beyond normal wear and tear — pre-existing damage, normal scuffs, and standard cleaning of a reasonably maintained unit are not valid deduction grounds. If your landlord withholds the deposit without valid grounds, file a T1 application with the Landlord and Tenant Board. Student legal services at Carleton and uOttawa offer free tenant rights advice.
Can I sublet my Ottawa apartment over the summer?
Yes, but only with written landlord approval — subletting without permission is a lease violation in Ontario and gives landlords grounds to terminate your lease. Get written approval from your landlord before advertising the sublet. Post your sublet listing with photos, price, and dates in the Sandy Hill or Carleton-area Facebook groups, r/uOttawa or r/Carleton, and on Fliku Ottawa. The student who takes the sublet should sign a formal sublet agreement — a template is available from CLEO (Community Legal Education Ontario) at yourlegalrights.on.ca. You remain responsible to the landlord for rent and damage during a sublet — choose your subtenant carefully.
What do I do with belongings I can't sell or ship before moving out of Ottawa?
Post as free on Fliku Ottawa — free items in April move within hours in student neighbourhoods. Curbside with a "FREE" sign in Sandy Hill and Old Ottawa South is equally effective — furniture, lamps, and kitchen items left curbside with a sign are usually gone within 2–4 hours. Value Village on Bank Street accepts good-condition furniture and clothing donations. For items that can't be donated, the City of Ottawa bulky item pickup service handles large furniture and mattresses — check the City of Ottawa website for the schedule and booking process. Mattresses cannot go in regular garbage pickup and require either bulky item pickup or a mattress disposal service ($30–$50).
