COVID-19: Resources and Conveniences for Residents

We continue to prioritize the health and safety of residents, employees and our community and below are resources and conveniences for residents. Because of the contagious nature of the COVID-19 virus, it is important to consider ways to protect yourself and your neighbours. As we navigate through this rapidly evolving situation, we ask for your understanding and cooperation in the efforts below and together we can flatten the curve.

Changes to Resident Services/Rental Office
- Our commitment to unparalleled customer service and 24/7 on-site management remains in place. In light of the evolving COVID-19 situation you may experience modified set-ups. This varies across our communities and may include:
  - Office remain open with the doors locked and on-site staff ready to help via phone and email.
  - In some cases, temporary office closure or reduced office hours.
- As always, your on-site management teams remain accessible via telephone or email and will do their best to accommodate all inquiries and requests within a reasonable timeframe.

Maintenance Requests: Emergency In-Suite Maintenance Only
- To further protect the safety of residents and employees, at this time Realstar will complete emergency in-suite maintenance only. This will help minimize the spread of the virus by reducing staff (and external contractors) entering residents’ homes.
- Before conducting maintenance within your home, Realstar staff will ask if you have recently traveled anywhere, including by vehicle within Canada, been in close contact with someone who has a probable or confirmed case or if anyone in your household feels unwell. This will help the on-site team determine the best course of action for your safety and employees.
- Emergency maintenance include items such as:
  - Lack of heat
  - Essential appliance failure (e.g. fridge not working)
  - Flooding
- Did you know: You can submit maintenance requests online through the Realstar Resident Portal or App.

Online: Realstar Resident Portal & App
- The Realstar Resident Portal is an apartment rental living service offering one stop convenience for your needs 24/7.
- Payments: From the comfort of your own home you can make quick, safe and secure payments directly from a bank account or credit card.
  - Note: Realstar acknowledges this unprecedented and evolving time may have strained residents’ resources. As such, we will be covering all 1.75% credit card processing fees charged by our service provider until further notice.
- Maintenance: Submit maintenance requests online.
  - To help the team assess your Maintenance request, be sure to upload a photo.
- Accessing your account?
  - Download the Realstar Resident Portal App or login online via Realstar.ca
- Need an account?
  - Email or phone your property and request your personal invite

Increased Cleaning & Sanitation
- As we focus our effort to minimize the spread, we have increased cleaning and sanitation efforts throughout all high traffic areas including lobbies, laundry facilities and elevators.
- Similarly, we encourage all residents to wash their hands often, especially before leaving and upon returning to their homes; this includes use of the elevators and laundry facilities.

Amenity Spaces Closure
- To minimize the spread of COVID-19 and to comply with physical distancing recommendations, Realstar has made the decision to temporarily close all non-essential amenity spaces, including gyms, pools, social lounges and alike until further notice.
- Realstar recognizes the inconvenience, but know this decision was made with the safety of you and the community in mind. Doing so enables on-site teams to focus on additional cleaning and sanitation of high traffic areas.

Three’s A Crowd: Elevator Etiquette, Laundry Rooms & Mail Boxes
- Elevators:
  - When using elevator, respect the 2-3-person limitation as these are close quarters and otherwise difficult to maintain the recommended 2m distance for physical isolation. Other suggestions include:
    - Face the elevator walls
    - Wait for the next elevator
    - Where possible, take the stairs.
- Laundry Facilities
  - When using the common laundry facilities, keep the recommended 6-foot physical distance from other residents.
  - Don’t wait for your wash/dry cycles to complete. Set a timer and come back to the laundry room to collect your belongings to allow other residents to use the machine(s).
  - Don’t touch another resident’s belongings.
  - Avoid using the laundry facilities if you feel unwell or are sick.
- Mail Boxes:
  - When collecting your mail, keep the recommended 6-foot physical distance from other residents.
  - Canada Post requests all residents give their employees space and avoid opening the door or greeting them when they are filling the mailbox.
- As always, avoid touching your face while using common areas such as lobbies, laundry facilities, elevators and mailboxes and immediately wash your hands upon return to your apartment.

Avoid Inviting People Over & Deliveries
- We request all residents to comply with the recommendation to self-isolate and only leave your homes when absolutely necessary. This extends to inviting others into your home and community for the time being. Limit any visitors to essential care only.
- This request also extends to food delivery and courier services. To comply with safety protocols and to protect you and the community, we ask residents making use of these services to meet them downstairs and outside the lobby entrances.

Neighbours
- You may wish to help your neighbours such as assisting with grocery pick-up or other essential shopping. This is a great way to help each other and minimize the number of people going out in the public. If doing so, we suggest making arrangements via phone or email.
- If you are checking up your neighbour(s) or delivering anything to them, keep the recommended 6-foot physical distance.

Pets
- Health Canada advises there is no evidence to suggest that household pet(s) can spread COVID-19.
- We request anyone who is self-isolating after returning home from travel or having come in contact with someone with COVID-19 not take their pets for walks and make arrangements for another family member to look after them.
- We encourage all residents to avoid touching any pets that do not belong to them.

Garbage / Recycling
- Garbage and waste management will continue as normal. We have increased cleaning and sanitation efforts throughout all high traffic areas including taking extra steps to wipe down waste chute handles where applicable.
- We request anyone who is self-isolating after returning home from travel or having come in contact with someone with COVID-19 contact the rental office via phone or email to discuss a household waste management solution for your apartment.
- We encourage all residents to wash their hands often, especially before leaving and upon returning to their homes; this includes using garbage and recycling chutes and bins.

Open Communication
- It is our objective to keep residents informed with up-to-date information as the situation continues to unfold. We appreciate these are challenging times, and as always, we want residents to know we are here for them. We will continue to share updates as they are available.
- Please reach out to your on-site management team if you are experiencing any issues adhering to these guidelines.

Government Health Resources
- We encourage residents to follow Health Canada guidelines for COVID-19, including planning activities, assistance, travel and stocking up on essentials. Additional information is provided via the following links:

Government Financial Assistance Programs

Realstar has established a pandemic committee dedicated to actively monitoring the COVID-19 situation, related impacts and developments while delivering direction towards next steps. With over 45 years of experience in helping Canadians coast-to-coast find and enjoy their homes, Realstar remains dedicated to our ability to operate effectively while maintaining customer service. It is with the resolve of our team and communities alike that we will navigate through these changing times. Together we can reduce the spread of the COVID-19 and flatten the curve.

COVID-19: Resources and Conveniences for Residents

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