Welcome to Kingston!

One of the main roles of the MAC is to link Queen’s students to Kingston.  If you have questions or concerns, please come to the commission office (057 in the Lower JDUC).

Also, the City of Kingston has a student section of its website, which can be found under the “Residents” tab at www.cityofkingston.ca.  If you would like, you can subscribe to the Student Information mailing list, which will keep you up to date on City of Kingston news of interest to students.

Bylaws

As a resident of Kingston, you are expected to follow municipal laws.  In case you need clarification about the city bylaws, you can find them online.  If you have questions, come by the Municipal Affairs Commission, look on the City of Kingston website, or see the student safety website listed in the “Resources” section of the Housing Guide.

Students tend to be most interested in the Kingston Noise and Property Standards bylaws.

Garbage and Recycling

Kingston has a grey and blue box recycling program which means one week grey box items are picked up with the garbage and the next week blue box items are picked up along with the garbage. Kingston also has a new Green Bin program for organic waste, which will be picked up with your garbage and recycling every week.  To find out what day of the week your waste pickup is and what waste belongs in which box, check http://www.cityofkingston.ca/residents/waste/index.asp.  You are allowed two bags or containers of garbage. Extra bags must be tagged.

There’s more information on the waste system in Kingston at the MAC Waste website (http://www.myams.org/society/mac/mac-waste-website).

Fire Safety

In particular, keep an eye out to ensure that you and your landlord have followed the following fire safety practices:

• A working smoke alar m is required between every sleeping area and the remainder of the dwelling unit.  A smoke alarm is also required on every floor with no bedrooms.
• Smoke alarms should be installed on the ceiling; if, for some reason, they cannot be installed on the ceiling, they should be installed on the wall, between 4 and 12 inches down from the ceiling (any lower and they lose effectiveness).
• Kingston Fire and Rescue recommends a Carbon Monoxide detector on each floor with bedrooms.  Homeowners are not yet obligated to provide CO detectors, but it’s in the works to become a legal requirement.
• Cooking left unattended is the number one cause of fires, so keep an eye on the kitchen.

The Fire Department has also published two PDFs:

• Safe Student Accommodations 101: Ten Fire-Safety Tips from the Ontario Fire Marshal
• Student Accommodation: A Parent’s Guide for Finding Fire-Safe Accommodation

If you have any other fire safety-related concerns, see Kingston Fire Prevention’s website or call KFP at 613.548.4001.

Theft Prevention

This sounds obvious, but lock your doors! If in doubt, lock it. Don’t assume someone else is home. The majority of thefts in the student area occur because a door or window is unlocked. Keep valuables out of sight and have curtains over your windows. If your house does get broken into, call the police at 613.549.4660. If you’re gone over the holidays, the Holiday Housecheck program will stomp down your snow, collect your mail, and check your doors and windows to deter break-ins. Contact the Municipal Affairs Commission for more info ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ).

Insurance

Many students do not realize that their possessions are not insured under any fire or house insurance policy. You might be covered under your parents’ policy, so check. If you aren’t, consider getting your own insurance.