Moving with care
Senior moving
in Vancouver
Downsizing a home you have lived in for decades is not the same job as moving a condo. It takes longer, it involves more people, and most of the difficulty has nothing to do with lifting.
- Google, 90+ reviews
- 5.0Google, 90+ reviews
- Liability insurance
- $2MLiability insurance
- Operating since 2017
- 9 yrsOperating since 2017
Senior moving at Boss Moving is a standard hourly move run at a pace that suits the day, with three things added around it: help deciding what comes to the new home, coordination with adult children or whoever is organising, and moves into retirement and care residences on those buildings’ own terms. It is billed like any other move — $140/hr for 2 movers and a truck, 2-hour minimum — with no separate senior rate and no surcharge for the extra patience. Operating out of Kitsilano since 2017 — 9 years, 500+ moves, 5.0 on Google across 90+ reviews, $2M liability insurance and WorkSafeBC compliant.
Why This Move Is Different
A move out of a long-held family home is rarely just a change of address. It is usually the end of something, it is often not entirely the mover’s own choice, and the objects involved carry a great deal more than their weight. None of that shows up on an inventory, but all of it shows up on the day.
The practical consequence is that the hard part is not the truck. It is that a four-bedroom of accumulated life has to fit into somewhere considerably smaller, and every piece that does not make the trip needs a decision from someone who has a reason to keep it. A crew that understands that will ask before it lifts, and will wait while a decision gets made. A crew that does not will turn a difficult day into a worse one.
When the Family Is Doing the Organising
A large share of these moves are arranged by an adult child rather than the person moving, and frequently from another city or another timezone. That creates a coordination problem more than a moving one: two people need to know what is happening, and only one of them is in the house.
We are glad to work that way. Tell us who is coordinating and who is on site, and we will keep both informed without making the person moving act as a relay. If the decisions are being made jointly, it helps to say so before the day rather than during it.
How a downsizing move runs
Five stages, and only one involves a truck
The sorting is what takes the time. The move is the easy part by comparison.
A conversation before a quote
We start by understanding the shape of the move: the home being left, where things are going, and who is making the decisions. Sometimes that is the person moving, sometimes an adult child, often both together. Knowing that up front means nobody gets talked past on the day.
Deciding what comes
Downsizing is mostly a sorting problem, not a lifting one. A smaller home cannot take a larger one, and working out what makes the trip is the part that takes the longest and carries the most weight. We can help work through it room by room — what goes, what stays, what needs to reach another family member.
Packing at a workable pace
If packing is part of the job, the crew does it and the quote comes from a packing-inclusive time estimate rather than the move-only one. Blankets, straps and dollies are included at no charge, and boxes and wrap are quoted once we have seen the home rather than set at a flat fee. Fragile and sentimental pieces get wrapped individually, and anything you would rather pack yourself stays yours to pack.
The move itself, unhurried
The crew works to the pace of the day rather than against it. Questions get answered, a piece can be set down and reconsidered, and nobody is rushed past a decision because a clock is running. It is an hourly job like any other — but a job where being asked to wait a moment is normal, not a problem.
Set up before we leave
Furniture is reassembled and placed where it is wanted, not left inside the door for someone else to deal with. In a smaller home, where things go matters more than it did in a large one, and getting it right on the day is easier than moving it again next week.
What Is Included
Four things that make a senior move different from a standard one, none of which carry a separate charge.
Downsizing support
Help working out what comes to the new place and what does not — the part of the job that has nothing to do with a truck. Decades of a home does not fit into a one-bedroom, and having someone work through it with you makes it a task rather than an ordeal.
Coordination with family
Plenty of these moves are organised by an adult child, sometimes from another city. We are happy to take direction from and report back to whoever is coordinating, so the person moving is not left relaying logistics they did not ask to manage.
Retirement and care residences
Residences usually run to their own rules: a move-in window, a service elevator to book, a loading entrance that is not the front door. We have moved clients into them and will work to the building’s requirements rather than discovering them on the day.
A pace that fits the day
The single most common thing families ask for is simply that nobody rushes. That costs us nothing to give and it changes the whole experience of the day, so it is the default here rather than something you have to request.
Moving Into a Residence
Retirement and care residences generally do not work like a house or a condo. Most set a window during which move-ins are permitted, many require the service elevator to be reserved in advance, and the entrance the movers use is often not the one visitors walk through. Some limit which days of the week are available at all.
None of that is difficult to work with when it is known in advance, and all of it is a problem when it is discovered on the morning. Tell us the residence at the point of booking and the day gets planned around their requirements. If they have a move-in coordinator, we would rather speak to them before the day than on it.
What It Costs
There is no senior rate, and no premium for the additional care. It is the standard hourly pricing: $105/hr for 1 mover, $140/hr for 2 movers, $195/hr for 3 and $239/hr for 4, truck and equipment included, 2-hour minimum ($280 on the two-mover crew), plus 5% GST. No charge for fuel, stairs, elevator use or mileage.
If the crew is packing as well, the estimate comes from a packing-inclusive total rather than packing time being stacked on top of the move, with no materials fee attached. Where the contents are valuable or the home has furniture that has not moved since it was assembled, our white glove service handles the whole job end to end for a flat rate agreed after an in-home visit. If the destination is a condo or apartment, our condo moving page covers the building side of it.
Frequently Asked Questions — Senior Moving
Do you help with downsizing, or only the move itself?
Both. We can help work through what comes to the new home and what does not, room by room, which is usually the harder half of a downsizing move. The lifting is the straightforward part; deciding is what takes the time.
Can you coordinate with me if I am organising my parent’s move?
Yes, and it is common. We will take direction from and give updates to whoever is coordinating, including from out of town. Call (604) 726-9828 and tell us who is arranging what — it saves the person moving from having to relay logistics back and forth.
Do you move people into retirement or care residences?
Yes. Those buildings generally have their own move-in windows, elevator bookings and loading entrances, and the move has to fit their rules rather than ours. Tell us the residence when you call and we will plan the day around what they require.
Will the crew rush my parent through the day?
No. It is an hourly service, so we understand the concern, but a crew that hurries someone through decisions creates problems that cost more time than they save. Being asked to hold on a moment is a normal part of these jobs.
What does a downsizing move cost?
Standard hourly rates: $105/hr for 1 mover, $140/hr for 2 movers, $195/hr for 3, $239/hr for 4 — truck and equipment included, 2-hour minimum ($280 on the two-mover crew), plus 5% GST. Nothing extra for fuel, stairs, elevator use or mileage. A one-bedroom typically runs 3.5–4.5 hours and a three-bedroom family home 6–7 hours.
Can you pack as well?
Yes. When packing is part of the job the estimate comes from a packing-inclusive total rather than being added on top of the move time. There is no materials fee: our blankets, straps and dollies are included, and boxes, wrap and mattress bags are quoted after we have seen what there is. You can also pack some of it yourself and leave us the rest.
What happens to the things that are not coming?
We can help separate them out during the sort so they are clearly apart from what is being loaded, and move pieces going to another family member’s home as part of the same job. Disposal and donation are not services we provide, so those arrangements stay with the family.
Tell us about the move
Send the details and we will come back to you, or call (604) 726-9828 — 7am to 10pm, 7 days a week.