Living in Residence FAQ

Hosts must ensure that the following limits are not exceeded with respect to hosting guests in
Residence:

• Residents are limited to hosting a maximum of two guests at once.

• Each Resident may host an overnight guest for a maximum of seven nights total each
semester, not to exceed three consecutive nights.

*Note: To ensure for a welcoming, safe, and study-focused environment, guests are not
permitted during Orientation Week or during the fall and winter examination periods.

Students are responsible for cleaning their own rooms. On each floor in Residence, students will find a vacuum cleaner in the storage room. Staff clean the corridors, stairwells, elevators, lounges, lobbies and laundry room floors and the communal washrooms in Glengarry House on a daily basis, Monday through Friday. On Saturdays, Sundays and holidays, only the elevators, lobbies and communal washrooms will be cleaned.

You will probably want to decorate your room, bring posters and photos of family and friends. Don’t forget to bring linens (including a pillow), alarm clock, radio, headphones, flashlight, hangers, kettle, coffee maker, power bar with surge protector and school supplies.

All of our residences have limited storage space, so please don’t bring any extra furniture or other large items. Also, beer bottles, pets, candles, electrical cooking equipment, sub-woofers or any kind of weaponry are not permitted in residence.

Please see our Packing List by clicking here.

Students in traditional style residences are not permitted electrical cooking equipment. This includes popcorn makers, toaster, toaster ovens, microwaves, etc… Students in suite-style residences are permitted electrical cooking equipment to be used in the meal preparation/eating area only.

We suggest that you give yourself and your roommate time to get to know one another. There is much going on in the first few weeks of your new university life to which you may not have given yourself time to adjust. However, if you feel that your current living arrangement will not work, you can apply for a room change. We start accepting room change requests at the end of September. You would go through your Residence Fellow and/or Residence Manager to ask to be placed on a waitlist for another room type.

Residents are responsible for their keys/access card. If a key/card is lost or stolen, it must be reported to the Residence Desk immediately. A temporary key will be issued. For more information about the Lock/Key policy, please click here.

Residence Life Staff members are all trained in handling emergencies and have CPR and First Aid training. There are Residence Fellows on duty every night in each building. Full Time live-in professional Residence Managers also have on call duty, so they can be reached 24 hours a day. Campus Safety officers are also available – the emergency number from any residence phone is (613) 520-4444.

At Carleton, we have Residence Life Staff in every building who are available to assist you in any way. We also have Residence Counsellors who are available to all residence students. They are located in 131 Renfrew House and have drop-in times every day.

Actions which cause damage or have the potential to damage facilities or equipment, or which cause or have the potential to cause the need for extra cleaning are prohibited. Residents must not put anything on the walls, floors, ceiling, doors or windows that will disfigure or mark the surfaces when they are removed. Nails and tacks are damaging to the surfaces. Painting or wallpapering walls, writing on walls, doors, and other surfaces, sticking labels and bottle caps to walls, ceilings and doors and similar practices are also not permitted. Damage Control is designed to support the principle that the cost of all damages and/or loss over and above that associated with the normal “wear and tear” through reasonable use will be borne by the person(s) causing the damage. It should be noted that these repair charges are not punitive in nature and are intended only to recover the cost of the specific repair or replacement. However, in the case of damage resulting from deliberate or inordinately careless behavior, punitive charges may be added to the cost of repair or replacement.

In order to contribute to an environment conducive to sleeping and studying, we expect reasonable peace and quiet throughout the Residence complex, including the exterior areas surrounding the Residence buildings, at all times. Stricter enforcement of noise standards will occur during examination periods in December and April.

All members of the Residence community should be conscious of their noise level so that it does not disturb others in the community. Additionally, all members of the community have the right to request that excessive or unreasonable noise is minimized to a non-disruptive level.

In accordance with provincial and federal legislation, residents who have reached the legal drinking age in Ontario – 19 years of age – are permitted to responsibly consume alcohol within their Residence room.

It is an expectation that all members of our community take responsibility for their actions when consuming alcohol and refrain from any behaviour that causes a disturbance in Residence.

Please be reminded that the distribution or sale of alcohol to minors is illegal in the province of Ontario.

In December, residence closes from 12:00 pm noon on December 23, 2023 until 12:00 pm noon on January 7, 2024. If you must stay in residence during this time, you must receive permission from the Department of Housing and Residence Life Services and you will be required to pay an additional fee for room only. More information will be sent to your Carleton email account in November.

More information can be found on the Holiday Winter Closure page.

Smoking is not permitted in the residence buildings by residents or their guests. In addition, smoking is not permitted within 10 metres of any campus building entrance/exit door.

All students, staff and faculty may use Health and Counselling Services for their medical care. Health cards or proof of medical insurance coverage must be shown at each visit.

Health Services Website can be found here.

OC transpo is Ottawa’s transportation system. There are four bus routes that currently come to campus: route 4, 10, 111 and R2, which is replacing the O-Train while it is under construction.

The O-Train is shut down for a two-year period beginning May 2020, and is projected to resume in late 2026.

Residence students can purchase a permit to park in Parking Lot 6. Guests can also park in the visitor’s parking of Lot 6.

Visit the Parking Website here.

Each Residence building has washers and dryers that operate on campus cash through the use of your Campus Card. You can add money to your campus card online through the Campus Web Card Centre by clicking here or at the Residence Reception Desk in the Teraanga Commons building (formerly Residence Commons).

Click here for more information about laundry in residence.

There are no storage units or additional storage rooms on-campus. It is advised that students living in residence only bring items that fit in their room.  We do not store any items after students completely vacate their rooms.

Each residence student has their own mailbox number in which they can be sent mail. Your mailing address is:

Full Name including middle name (i.e. Jaime Taylor Smith)
Carleton University Residence
1233 Colonel By Dr,
Ottawa, ON, K1S 5B7

Click here to learn how Residence Mail Services work.