The buzzer checklist for moving into a Toronto apartment
Sort the buzzer in your first week in a Toronto apartment, because until somebody edits the panel it still points at whoever lived there before. Ask property management what number is stored against your unit and which key opens the door, decide what number you want stored, then test it from the lobby yourself once they confirm the change.
Live with others? BuzzMeBro puts more than one of you on the buzzer. First month free. Start free
Moving day in Toronto is movers, keys, a fob, a parking pass and an elevator booking. The buzzer is easy to forget, and you find out it is wrong the first time somebody presses your code.
Week one: find out what the panel holds
Email property management and ask what number is recorded against your unit in the entry system. It costs one email and tells you whether you have a problem at all.
If it is the previous tenant’s number, that person can still let anyone into your building. Say so plainly when you report it. What that looks like.
Week one: ask which key opens the door
Press 9 is the usual advice, and on Mircom TX3 panels 9 is the factory default. The building can set a different key, and some can set a code per resident. Ask now, by email, rather than finding out with somebody standing in the lobby.
Decide what number you want stored
This is the decision the whole thing turns on. Putting one mobile number in the field means one person is the doorman for the apartment from now on.
It also has to be a number the panel can reach. Many lobby panels only place local calls, so a mobile you brought from another province can be unreachable. Why that happens.
| If your apartment is | Put in the field | Because |
|---|---|---|
| Two or more people | A number that rings several roommates, like BuzzMeBro | Nobody becomes the doorman, and roommate changes never touch the building |
| One person with a GTA mobile | That mobile | It is free and it works |
| One person with an out-of-province mobile | A local number that rings that mobile | The panel may not be able to dial your number as it stands |
A single occupant with a Toronto number should put their own number on it and pay nobody.
The email to send
- Email property management, not the concierge Front desk staff often have no panel access. Use the management company address on your welcome package or on the contact sign in the lobby.
- Give the unit number and the number to store Written out in full. Ask them to confirm by email once it is done, and to tell you the date.
- Ask which key releases the door Same email. It is one line and it saves a separate exchange later.
- Test it from the lobby Once the confirmation arrives, press your unit code, answer, and open the door once while you are standing there.
If the move-in date is close, ask whether they can schedule the change for that day. The detail on making the request.
While the movers are still there
Have somebody downstairs to let the movers in rather than relying on a buzzer you have not tested. Do not prop the lobby door: Toronto’s property standards bylaw says shared entrance doors are to be kept closed and locked, and not held open except in an emergency.
If more than one of you is moving in, BuzzMeBro is worth setting up before the lease starts so the building only has to make one change. It is $9.99 a month for the apartment and rings up to 4 phones. Set it up.
From our own door
- BuzzMeBro has run on our founder’s own Toronto apartment door since August 2026.
- Whoever answers a buzz hears a short spoken prompt, then presses the door key, 9 or the building’s own, to open.
- Switching means the building 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
Is the buzzer set up automatically when I sign a lease?
No. The entry panel is a separate system from the lease. Somebody has to edit the directory entry for your unit, and until they do it still points at the last tenant.
How soon should I sort it out?
In the first week. Until then a stranger may be answering for your apartment, and deliveries may not reach you.
Can I sort it out before I move in?
Often, once you have a lease and a unit number. Ask property management to schedule the change for your move-in date, so the buzzer works the day you arrive.
What if the building has no lobby panel that calls a phone?
Then you likely have a hardwired intercom with a handset on the wall, which never dials a phone number. That is a building system question rather than a setting, and it is worth knowing before you buy anything.
Two of us are moving in. What do we put on the panel?
A number that rings both phones, rather than one of yours. BuzzMeBro gives the apartment a number that is local to the building and rings up to 4 phones, so neither of you ends up being the one who always has to answer.
Sources
- Mircom, TX3 Telephone Access System Programming Manual
- City of Toronto, Toronto Municipal Code Chapter 629, Property Standards