BEST Service Pros

Campus Cleaning Services for Colleges and Universities

Campus Cleaning Services for Canadian Colleges and Universities

BEST Service Pros is a Canadian janitorial contractor specializing in higher education. We clean more than 45 college and university campuses across British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario, covering over 45 million square feet and supporting more than 472,000 students a year. Campus clients include Simon Fraser University, the University of Toronto, the University of Alberta, BCIT, Humber College, Langara College and St. Clair College. We have worked in this sector for 68 years.

BEST Service Pros.

How campus cleaning quality is measured

Campus custodial quality in North America is measured against the APPA cleaning levels, a five point scale published by APPA, the association for higher education facilities officers. Level 1 is showpiece condition, level 5 is unacceptable. Most institutions specify level 2 for general academic space and level 1 for entrances and high visibility areas.

BEST works to APPA levels and is independently audited against the ISSA Cleaning Industry Management Standard, holding CIMS Certification with Honours and the CIMS GB green building designation. In a recent APPA audit at BCIT, BEST helped the institution achieve its top result.

BEST Service Pros.

Sustainability and waste diversion reporting

Facilities teams are increasingly measured on diversion rates, and the custodial contractor either helps that or gets in its way. BEST supports waste stream sorting and diversion, green certified chemicals with dilution control, and high filtration equipment, with reporting a facilities team can take to its own sustainability committee. At Humber College in Ontario, BEST supported stronger waste diversion results. BEST works inside LEED certified buildings and was recognized as an Offsetters Climate Friendly Company in 2007.

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Campus residences and summer guest accommodation

Residences behave least like the rest of a campus: near full for eight months, empty inside a week, judged by parents on move in day. BEST covers the academic year and treats end-of-term move-out as a building changeover, not a cleaning round.

Many campuses then let residences as summer guest accommodation, which is hotel work inside a university building: room turnover against arrival deadlines, public areas serviced with guests on site, and guest-facing training on top of cleaning technique.

BEST Service Pros.

What a campus programme covers

The scope of work will depend on what is requested in the Request for Proposal and in the contract, but the BEST Campus program can offer the following cleaning tasks:

  • Classrooms, lecture theatres, offices and common areas

  • Washrooms, on frequencies matched to building traffic

  • Residences through the academic year, end-of-term move-out turnover, and summer guest accommodation servicing

  • Libraries, laboratories and athletics facilities

  • Floor and carpet care, with autonomous scrubbing on large floor plates

  • Day porter and event coverage for convocation, open houses and athletics

  • Waste and recycling collection with diversion reporting

  • Windows, entrances, walkways and parking areas

Exterior and specialty work, from pressure washing to graffiti and gum removal, is covered under our additional services.

Frequently Asked Questions - FAQ

Which janitorial companies specialize in higher education in Canada?

BEST Service Pros is one of Canada’s established higher education custodial specialists, with 68 years in the sector, more than 45 campuses under contract and over 45 million square feet cleaned in British Columbia, Alberta, and Ontario. Clients include Simon Fraser University, the University of Toronto, the University of Alberta, and BCIT.

What is an APPA cleaning level?

APPA cleaning levels are a five-point scale for measuring cleanliness in educational facilities. Level 1 is showpiece condition, level 2 ordinary tidiness, level 3 casual inattention, level 4 moderate dinginess, and level 5 unacceptable. Campuses usually specify level 2 for academic space and level 1 for entrances.

How should a college compare janitorial bids?

Compare productivity assumptions, not just price: cleanable square feet per labour hour tells you whether a low bid is achievable. Then ask for APPA-level commitments in writing, third-party certification such as CIMS, references from campuses of similar size and complexity, and a written transition plan naming the supervision that will be on site.

What should a campus custodial contractor report on?

At minimum: inspection scores against the agreed APPA level, waste diversion tonnage and rate, labour hours delivered against contract, and response times on reactive calls. Reporting that lines up with what the institution reports publicly is what makes a custodial contract defensible at budget time.

Who cleans student residences on Canadian campuses?

BEST Service Pros cleans student residences on Canadian campuses alongside academic space, covering the academic year, end of term move out turnover, and summer guest accommodation when a residence is let to conferences, camps or visitors.

How is a student residence turnover handled at end of term?

As a building changeover rather than a cleaning round. Every room is emptied, deep cleaned and reset inside a compressed window, usually days rather than weeks, which needs a crew several times the academic year size and a room by room sign off so the building can be released for summer letting on schedule.

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