Travel & time away
Six months to a year, and the house has to survive all of it.
Long enough that the property crosses into genuinely different territory — insurance, deterioration and systems that will not have run in a year.
Typical duration
Six to twelve months
Notice you get
Months — usually well planned
Contactable?
Yes, though possibly remote or abroad
Dominant risk
Insurance classification, then cumulative deterioration
A sabbatical is the point at which "away" becomes "vacant" in more than a colloquial sense. Six to twelve months crosses thresholds a holiday never approaches: most policies have restricted or reclassified the property long before month three, and the building itself begins changing in ways a short absence does not produce.
Academic sabbaticals are common in Calgary given the universities and hospitals, and they have a distinctive wrinkle — the property is frequently sublet or lent to a visiting colleague partway through, which changes both the occupancy status and the insurance position mid-absence.
A full year also means every season. One winter, one spring melt, one hail season, one autumn — the entire Calgary calendar, with nobody living there for any of it.
What makes this different
Every situation on this site is empty for a reason. These are the things specific to this one.
Long enough to change the insurance category
Most policies restrict coverage well before month three. This absence needs a conversation about a vacancy permit or a specialised policy, not just a notification.
Every season, once
Preparation cannot be seasonal. The property needs a plan that works in February and in July.
Occupancy status often changes partway through
A sublet or a house-sitter arriving in month four alters the arrangement and the policy position, and is easy to forget to tell anyone about.
What typically goes wrong
- Standard coverage lapsing into restriction months before anyone checks
- Systems idle for a full year not restarting cleanly
- Sublet arrangements that nobody told the insurer about
- Deterioration that only becomes visible in aggregate over a long absence
Services
What this situation usually involves
In roughly the order people add them.
Vacant Home Health Check
A comprehensive baseline assessment of a property before it sits empty, producing a written report and full photographic record.
Vacant Home Checks
Scheduled physical visits to an unoccupied property, with a timestamped photo record and a written report after every visit.
Departure Preparation
A structured walkthrough before you leave that sets the property up for vacancy and records its baseline condition.
Seasonal Property Care
Property care that changes with the Alberta seasons — freeze risk in winter, meltwater in spring, hail in summer, winterisation in fall.
Post-Vacancy Inspection
A professional inspection of a property that has been empty for an extended period, before it is occupied again.
Need someone at the house?
Tell us what the property needs. Direct services throughout Greater Calgary.