We are so excited to get to welcome you in a few short weeks!

HOEM’s mission is to create a wonderful community that helps you make the most of your time at school (both academics and fun wise!).

At HOEM, our focus is on community, wellness and sustainability. We want our residents (our HOEMies) to enjoy all aspects of being a student – both in and outside of the classroom. There will be lots of opportunities to help shape your exciting experience at HOEM – and we can’t wait to welcome you through our doors!

Below you’ll discover valuable tips and tricks to start your year with confidence! And remember, if you have any questions, don't hesitate to reach out.

Contact us:

HOEM Services Desk (24/7)

• Phone: 416 512 2273
• Email: jarvis@hoem.ca

Community Assistant On-Call (for after-hours support)

• Phone: 437-772-9592

What NOT to Bring:

Kitchen

Bathroom

• shower curtain
• garbage can
• plunger
• toilet brush

Bedroom

full-length mirror
mattress cover

Cleaning Supplies

mop & bucket
broom & dustpan
stain remover
dish soap

Internet

Parking

Cars:

Bike: 

GET INVOLVED

On each floor of the building there are common areas that you will have access to. Some have TVs where you can connect to your laptop to watch TV or a movie, and others are more work or study focused. Feel free to use these spaces as you see fit – they are there to be used!

HOEM Events

We host a variety of events and activities through out the year that provide something for everyone! Whether you’re into cooking, wellness, fitness, volunteering, gaming, crafts, art, or another awesome hobby, we’ve got something for you.

Here’s how you can keep up with all our HOEM events:

1. Follow us on Instagram @hoemonjarvis.
2. Read our weekly HOEM Slice Newsletter, which is sent out every Monday.
3. Check out the screens in the elevators and the lobby – we post ads for upcoming events there.
4. Take a look at the monthly event calendars posted on each floor by the elevators.
5. Talk to your CAs (Community Assistants) and follow your community Instagram page.

Fitness

On the second floor, just off of the living room, there is a gym and fitness studio! You’ll find cardio equipment, weights, a squat rack and cable machine – everything you need to get a full body workout! If yoga is more your thing, we also have fitness on demand with a variety of classes for you to participate in in the fitness studio.

For you HOEMies that like to get moving, we run a variety of fitness classes, ranging from Boxing to Light Flow Yoga. These classes are complimentary for all HOEM residents! 

Maker Space

Let your creative juices flow! We've just moved our Maker Space to the main floor, and it's filled with 3D printers, CNC machines, and many more fun tools! Keep an eye out for more details on this space and when it will be open for use.

Flex your creative muscles with school projects or other creative pursuits that you're working on. Sign up for an unlimited membership pass by emailing make@hoem.ca. You can also follow Make@HOEM on Instagram to be the first to know when a new workshop drops!

2nd Floor Living Room

The living room is the space on the second floor – the centre of HOEM. There’s lots of space to hang out and watch movies on the HOEM Netflix account, connect and do some group work, or eat a meal with your friends. The only rule, as with all of HOEM, is that you treat the space with respect and be mindful of other HOEMies who are using the space.

Feature Your Art

We’re looking for some fresh art to deck our halls. To enter to have your artwork printed and framed, email your submissions to jarvis@hoem.ca!

Social Squad

Do you spend too much time on social media and want a valid excuse to do so?? Well, we have the perfect opportunity for you! We’re looking for some of our new HOEMies to join the HOEM Social Squad. We want other HOEMies to follow your journey at HOEM and in the big city. If you’re interested in helping take over and make over the HOEM Instagram, sign up here!

YOUR HOEM Staff

Community Assistants (CAs)

Your CAs are friendly faces in your neighbourhoods that are here to help you transition into post secondary life, meet new people, and connect you with on-campus supports. They will host regular happy hours to run fun/chill activities, keep you up to date on events at HOEM and on campus, and answer any questions you may have. There are also CAs on-call every night to support with things like noise complaints or personal concerns if you’re needing support. They’re also just wonderful people that you’ll want to get to know!

Student Experience Assistants (SEAs)

From check in to check out, our SEAs will be a friendly face in the lobby ready to help you through all of your concerns. The following are some of the ways that SEAs can assist you:

• Sign your visitors in and out  
• Sign out resources
• Submit work orders
• General questions about HOEM and your stay.

Stop by the HOEM Services Desk to say hi at any time!

NOISE + COURTESY HOURS

GUESTS 

You’re now living in downtown Toronto, of course you want to have some friends over to hang out or crash for the night! We welcome your guests and hope that they have a wonderful time at HOEM. During their visit, they are under your roof as well as ours and we expect that they are treating the rest of the community respectfully.

Our current guest policy:

A maximum of 3 guests can be signed in under you at one time​. Each resident can have a guest signed in for up to 7 nights in a row and each resident has a maximum of 14 overnight guest stays total per month. For each visit, guest must provide photo ID to be signed in. Physical ID is preferred but a photo of the ID is ok as long as it has their picture, first and last name.

Please note that overnight stays are stays past midnight and any overnight stays should be discussed and agreed upon with your roommates ahead of time.

For guest sign in's outside of these parameters, you must submit a guest exemption request least 72 business hours in advance. These are reviewed on a case-by-case basis.

Guests must return their visitor key card before visitor sign in expires. There is a $15 card for any key cards not returned on time. 

SMOKING

MAIL DELIVERY + ADDRESS

PACKAGES

Packages are delivered by Canada Post, UPS, FedEx, DHL, Amazon and independent couriers all throughout the day. They sometimes send delivery notices to students before the package arrives to the building. All packages must be processed before a student can pick them up from the desk. We process packages into our LuxerOne package lockers (across from the laundry room in the lobby) as fast as possible when they arrive! We ask that you wait for a package delivery notice from LuxerOne before heading down to the desk. 

Once a package has been precessed in LuxerOne, you will receive an email notification with a package code, a QR code, and photos of the shipping label. You can come down directly to the locker, display the QR code/type in the code number and the locker will open. If you download the LuxerOne app, you can also enable bluetooth touch-less pick up or request holds if you are not able to pick up your package on the day of delivery. 

Packages can only be held in LuxerOne for a maximum of 2 days. If you are not able to retrieve your package within 2 days of delivery, please arrange for someone to pick it up on your behalf or the package may be returned to the sender. 

HOEM Portal

To access your HOEM Portal easily, just visit this link and use the login info you set up! Here are the key things to keep an eye out for on your Portal:

Account: This is where any charges like lost keys, visitor parking, and other things will be posted and you can pay them directly.

Inspection: This tab will only be available for a limited time, and we'll send you an email as soon as it's active! This is where you can let us know if you’re missing any of the items we said we’d provide you with! You’ll be able to do a full inventory within the first couple of weeks of your stay. Hopefully we didn’t miss anything, but sometimes it happens! This will also help ensure that your HOEM is in tip top shape, and that you won’t be charged for anything that may have happened before you arrived.

Resources: This is where you’ll be able to sign out resources in advance! Just indicate what you’d like to book out for when, and then pop down to the HOEM Services Desk to retrieve it.

Forms: If you need a Proof of Residency letter, this is where you can find it! It can be found under the "Forms" dropdown, and you'll be able to save a PDF version of this to share as needed.

Fix my HOEM: This is where you can place work orders for anything that isn’t working quite right! This includes facilities issues, wifi, and anything else a staff member might be able to help with. While the HOEM Services Desk Staff is more than happy to submit work orders on your behalf, we still encourage you to do so yourself! 

UTILITIES AND SUSTAINABILITY

At HOEM, all utilities are included in your fees.  As a green building, we are still concerned about our consumption and how we deal with our waste (garbage, recycling, and compost!). Please make sure to dispose of your waste in the correct place as we provide bins for each of these in your suite and in the garbage chutes down the hallway. Here are some more tips for keeping your energy consumption down: 

1. Use smart-strip power bars: Using power bars is a good way to make sure you have enough outlets in a room AND save energy. Smart power bars turn off completely if no devices are connected, which means that when you leave for class, the printer won’t be eating up energy!

2. Turn off your lights: Simple! Please keep the lights off if you are not using the space.

3. Monitor your thermostat: All suites come equipped with a heating and cooling thermostat where the strength can be manually adjusted. It can get pretty cold outside in the winter, but leaving the thermostat on max when nobody is home can really waste energy and money. Make sure all roomies remember to turn down the thermostat when they leave for the day!

4. Close your blinds and windows: The city can get really hot in the summer! Closing your blinds will ensure that less heat gets in through your windows, keeping your apartment cooler so that you can use less air conditioning. On muggy days, keep your windows closed and latched - open windows make the AC work harder and increase your energy costs.

5. Use your dishwasher: Did you know that the dishwasher is actually more energy efficient than doing your dishes in the sink? Sustainable AND convenient!

Mini Fridges: HOEM has full kitchens in every suite, including a refrigerator and microwave. If you'd still like to bring a mini fridge, however, there will be a $150 damage deposit (you'll get this back at the end of the year provided no damage is discovered). In addition, there will a $40 charge for a 4-month agreement, an $80 charge for an 8-month agreement and a $120 charge for a 12-month agreement in order to cover the cost of utilities. Charges will be pro-rated accordingly.

BUILDING MAINTENANCE 

If you notice any issues in your suite, you can report any concerns to the HOEM Services Desk in the lobby and we’ll have it taken care of right away. Alternatively, you can submit a work order for anything that isn’t super urgent through your HOEM Portal - just click on the “Fix my HOEM” tab!

There are some everyday things that you can do to help ensure your suite stays in tip top shape. Check out this list from our super cool Building Operator, Paul:

Dishwasher: Before starting your dishwasher, run the water in the sink until it’s hot. The dishwasher works best this way. Dishwashers require dishwasher detergent - do not use regular dish soap in the dishwasher or else you will have a bubbly mess on your hands! For spot free dishes, use a rinse aid like Jet Dry.

Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning: Your temperature will reset on your thermostat - that doesn’t mean it’s broken! Thermostat fan speed adjustments reset after one hour and thermostat temperature dial adjustments reset weekly on Wednesdays. Try not to obstruct the bottom air grills with any objects - this increases your energy consumption!

Microwave Oven: You can easily clean the interior of your microwave oven by boiling a cup of water with some lemon juice on high for 2 minutes. Caked on food should wipe off easily afterwards!

Hanging Items on Walls: Always use 3M strips or the equivalent removable tape for hanging to avoid damaging the walls. Scotch tape leaves residue and you may be charged for damage to the walls (we don’t want that!). There are non-damaging sticky tabs available for free at the HOEM Services Desk. Stop by to pick some up to avoid causing damage to the walls. Please do not fasten shelves to the wall with screws and please DO NOT use LED light strips. These will rip the paint off the wall when they are taken down and you may be billed back for the repairs.

Leaks: If something is leaking, please report it immediately and we will come fix it! Waiting may cause further damage.

Bathroom Fans: Always use your bathroom fan when showering and please report a non-working bathroom fan as soon as possible. If you don’t use the bathroom fan, mould may grow!

Fridge: When you shut your fridge door, make sure it closes fully without a gap. Your fridge door should close easily without forcing it. If your fridge isn’t closing properly, report it asap to avoid damaging the fridge and spoiling your food!

Blinds: If your blind isn’t operating with the draw chain, don’t yank on it - place a work order through the portal or via the HOEM Services Desk.

SUITE CLEANING + LINEN CHANGES

At HOEM there are a few options for laundry.

Option 1: DIY

Check out this HOEM 101 video for everything you need to know about how to use the laundry room!

When you moved in you received a laundry card (hold on to it, it’s the only one you’ll get for free!). You can add money onto the card in the laundry room, which is in the lobby right beside the green wall. You can add money using credit, debit or cash in the laundry room, or by credit card via the MySparkle portal (see below). Just make sure you’ve got some laundry detergent and dryer sheets and you’re good to go! If you’re using detergent pods, please place them directly in the washer drum and not in the detergent drawer. This will make sure your laundry gets clean and you aren’t left with a sticky leftover pod that hasn’t completely dissolved.

Register your card:

Make sure you visit www.mysparkle.ca to register your laundry card. On the portal you can also check the status of the machines before heading down to the laundry room to make sure there are washers and dryers available. Sign up for text alerts and it will even text you when your laundry is done so that you don’t end up forgetting about it!

Option 2: Suds Laundry Service

Not interested in doing your own laundry, or just want to send out your towels and linens so that you don’t have to worry about them? We’ve got a solution! We’ve partnered with Suds Launderette to offer a pick-up and drop-off service for your laundry. You’ll get a laundry bag that you can fill (as much as will fit!) and drop the bag off in the lobby by Monday at 9am. When it returns to HOEM cleaned and folded every Wednesday, our staff will bring your clean laundry right to your suite. Easy peasy! Laundry service is a bi-weekly service and the cost is $19/bag for a full semester commitment. If you didn’t register when you applied for residence but would like to now, send us an email to jarvis@hoem.ca and we can set you up and give you all the details!

PRINTING

Check out this HOEM 101 video for everything you need to know about how to use the printer!

HOEM has a printer on the 2nd floor that is set up with PaperCut. This system lets you print from a USB or the web app. In order to print, please visit this link HERE and click “register as a new user”. Once you register, add some money to your account using Visa or Mastercard, and then follow the directions below to print!

To print, you can use either of these methods:

1. Load your pdf onto a USB key and print directly from the printer. Just put in your USB and then enter your code on the screen and click “access device”.

2. From your PaperCut profile (this link), click on WebPrint, upload your document (make note of what file types are supported), and then go to the printer, enter your code, and select which files you’d like to print.

Please be sure to contact us if you have any questions or concerns with creating an account or logging in!

Keys + Building Security

Have an amazing year, HOEMies!