Moving Day is a national tradition in Québec, where today is called the "Jour du déménagement."

By custom, leases throughout the nation go from 1 July to 30 June. A very high proportion of the dwellers in Montréal are renters -- in 1998, over 250,000 people applied to have their telephone services hooked up at a new location for the 1st of July. In 1998, the BBC sent a film crew in to make a documentary of it all.

The person who is moving treats all the helpers to meals. People usually get food delivered in or as take-away. The food is often pizza, submarines or fried or barbeque-sauce chicken from the Saint-Hubert chain of restaurants -- food that doesn't require a set-up kitchen or anything other than paper plates or plastic forks to eat. The beverages of choice are beer or Pepsi.

Some people make firm plans to be away that week-end well in advance, so that they can't get hit to help move somebody.

The big party in Québec, Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day (aka Fête Nationale du Québec), has happened a week before and everyone has had his / her fun. But because Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day was a long weekend holiday, it also gave those who are moving a bit of an extra day to pack in advance as well.

1 July is also an official holiday, so you can move without taking a day off work.

If you're booking a van for moving, or hiring actual movers, if you don't do it in advance by at least 3 months, you may be out of luck.

Acknowlegements