Charles Street

Safety Precautions You Can Take

Resident safety and wellbeing are of the utmost importance to us at UFH. The following includes tips and resources for residents to consider while living in downtown Toronto.

Precautions you can take to avoid potential security problems

  • Don’t hold the main entrance door open for others. Families are expected to use their own fobs to enter the building. If someone follows you in, report it to Security immediately.
  • Be sure to always lock your door, even if you are inside or just going down the hallway to the garbage chute.
  • Store any valuable items in a safety deposit box, which can be rented at any bank.
  • Report any theft as soon as possible. If the theft is in progress, call 911 and/or Campus Safety’s urgent line at 416-978-2222. Otherwise, call Campus Safety’s non-urgent line at 416-978-2323.
  • Don’t open your apartment door to strangers. Door-to-door marketing is not permitted in the building. Report this and any other suspicious activity to security.
  • Report any theft as soon as possible. If the theft is in progress, call 911 and/or Campus Safety’s urgent line at 416-978-2222. Otherwise, call Campus Safety’s non-urgent line at 416-978-2323.

Tips for Having Parcels Delivered Safely

be home
For Your Delivery

If you’re tracking the movement of your package, try to anticipate the date of delivery and attempt to arrange being home when it arrives.

deliver to an alternate location

If you can’t be home, try rerouting it to an alternate, secure location such as a family member, neighbour, friend, or to your office.

use a
courier hub

Canada Post FlexDelivery allows your parcels to be delivered to the post office of your choice. PenguinPickUp also accepts and holds parcels securely until you pick them up.

ask for a signature Upon Delivery

If you’re home, you can sign for the delivery. If you’re not home, the delivery person should hold on to your parcel and leave a notice with pick up instructions on it.

sign up
for delivery alerts

Track your package in real-time via text or email and be ready to retrieve it upon its delivery to your doorstep.

reschedule
Your Delivery

If you’re not going to be home when your package is expected to arrive, contact the carrier and reschedule delivery.

For more alternative delivery options, please refer to Canada Post’s website.

Everyday Security Precautions 

  • Please take an interest in the people that are entering our buildings. When you are in the lobby, don’t open the door to people if you are not sure that they are residents. Let them produce a key tag to let themselves in. You are not being impolite: you may be protecting your safety and the safety of your neighbours. If someone does manage to follow you, or you don’t feel safe confronting someone, please go to a safe area and call Security immediately. 
  • During winter, individuals have occasionally come in to sleep in the stairwells. To prevent assaults, litter, and other problems, contact security (416-729-1592) or Campus Safety (416-978-2323) to have the person(s) removed. You are not being unkind. There are shelters for the homeless other than your stairwells and our first concern must be to protect the safety of the children and families living in our buildings. 

safety tips for your children

As our buildings are centrally located in a busy downtown location, it is important parents talk to their children about safety.  Children should be taught their parents full names and unit number at an early age, so they can communicate it to building staff if they are lost or need assistance.  Please teach your children that they can go to the Residence Office during daytime hours or to Building Security after hours in an emergency. If they are old enough to have a cell phone, make sure they have access to these numbers.

Toronto Police offer additional tips on safety tips for children and sometimes offer street-proofing seminars.  Contact them directly for more information.

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