Converted houses: the Annex, Kensington and the student belt
Converted houses in the Annex, Kensington and the streets around the universities have whatever entry system was added when the house was split, from a dialling panel to plain doorbells. Toronto property standards call for a two-way voice system at the shared front door of a building with three or more units. Start by checking whether anything at the door dials a phone number, then take any change to the landlord in writing.
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A three storey Victorian holding several units is the classic Toronto student rental, and it is the building type where advice written for towers fits least.
What is on your porch
Walk to the front door and look at what a visitor would press.
- A small panel with unit codes and a speaker that rings your mobile: a dialling entry system, and everything below applies.
- A panel that rings a handset on your apartment wall: a hardwired intercom, with no phone number in it.
- A column of labelled doorbells: no phone number involved, and nothing to change.
- Nothing at all on a shared, locked front door: worth raising with the landlord, for the reason in the next section.
Only the first case has a stored number. How to tell a dialling panel from everything else.
What the City of Toronto requires
Toronto Municipal Code Chapter 629 applies to every property in the city. For a multiple-dwelling, which it defines as three or more units, with a shared entrance, section 629-29 says each unit is to be connected to the principal entrance by a two-way voice communication system and a door release, kept in good repair and in operative condition. Read Chapter 629.
It does not say the system has to call a mobile. A panel that rings a handset in each unit meets it as well as one that dials phone numbers. A house split into only two units is outside that definition.
This is general information, not legal advice. If a shared front door has no working system, ask the landlord in writing first. The City says to contact 311 if a property standards problem is not resolved. City of Toronto property standards.
Who changes it
A converted house is usually owned by a small landlord rather than run by a management company. There is no ticketing queue, and also no set process.
Ask in writing, even if you normally text them. On many panels the number is changed at the panel keypad or with the maker’s software, so ask about a callout fee before anything is booked. What to include.
The turnover problem
Houses near the universities often turn over every September, and the entry directory is easy to forget. A panel that still rings a former tenant lets that person open the front door for anyone who presses your code.
Report it as a building access problem rather than an inconvenience. How to report it.
| Factor | Effect on the buzzer |
|---|---|
| Several people per unit | Each directory entry dials one number |
| Annual turnover | The stored number goes stale every year |
| Small landlord | No set process, and changes can take longer |
| Out-of-province and international numbers | Can fail where the panel only places local calls |
If your house does have a dialling panel
Then the most useful thing is a number that belongs to the unit rather than to whoever signed first. The phones behind it can change every September without the landlord being asked again.
BuzzMeBro rings up to 4 phones on one number for $9.99 a month for the unit, and everyone already on it gets a text whenever a phone is added or removed. What a shared house should think about.
From our own door
- BuzzMeBro has run on our founder’s own Toronto apartment door since August 2026.
- A buzz rings the people on the apartment who are set to ring, up to 4 phones at the same time, and whoever answers first handles it.
- Switching means the landlord updates one stored number for your unit and nothing else. Pointing it back at the old number undoes it the same day.
Questions people ask
My house has doorbells, not a buzzer. Can anything help?
Not from a phone number. Doorbells are wiring between a button and a chime, with no call anywhere in the chain. Clear labelling and delivery instructions are what improve things.
The panel still rings someone who moved out last year.
Report it in writing and say that a former resident can currently release the front door for any visitor. That is an access problem, and saying so plainly is clearer than describing missed parcels.
Who pays if the panel needs a technician?
Ask before anything is booked. In an Ontario tenancy, the Landlord and Tenant Board says things the landlord provides must be kept in working order. A directory change is often done at the panel keypad and may not need a technician at all.
Five of us live in the unit. Does that work?
Up to 4 phones ring at once, which is a fair-use cap rather than a soft limit. Five people means deciding who is on the list, and it is better to decide that deliberately than discover it later.
Is it worth setting up for an eight month lease?
BuzzMeBro is billed month to month, so it lasts as long as the lease and stops when you cancel. There is nothing installed in the house and nothing to hand back.
Sources
- City of Toronto, Toronto Municipal Code Chapter 629, Property Standards
- City of Toronto, Property Standards
- Tribunals Ontario, Landlord and Tenant Board, LTB Brochure - Maintenance and Repairs
- Mircom, TX3 Telephone Access System Programming Manual