What commercial cleaning and janitorial services are
Commercial cleaning is the cleaning of business premises: stores, branch offices, schools, clinics, public buildings and the shared areas of multi-tenant buildings. Janitorial services are the part of it that happens on a schedule: the routine upkeep of washrooms, kitchens, floors, trash and touch points, done the same way every visit. Evergreen Office Cleaning has provided both in Toronto and the GTA since 1989, from one office at 243 Queen St W.
First impressions are made at the door
Customers and clients form an opinion of a business the moment they walk in, and online reviews mean they can share that opinion straight away. Cleanliness is often a large part of what they say. That is why commercial cleaning has become part of how a business presents itself, not just a line in the facilities budget.
We know that our crew becomes part of your customer’s experience even when nobody is talking to them, and that your products, fixtures and equipment were arranged on purpose. Our staff are trained to work around both, efficiently and without leaving the space looking rearranged.
Janitorial services: the daily upkeep
Janitorial work is what keeps a building usable from one day to the next. On a recurring contract it typically covers:
- Trash and recycling emptied and liners replaced
- Washrooms cleaned and sanitized, and consumables restocked
- Staff kitchens and break rooms, including counters, sinks and tables
- Floors vacuumed, swept and mopped; entrance mats cleaned
- Touch points disinfected: door handles, switches, railings and shared equipment
- Reception areas, conference rooms and interior glass kept presentable
How often each task is done depends on how the space is used. A busy store’s washrooms and entrance need attention every day it is open; a back office may need it a few evenings a week. The frequency for each task is set at the walkthrough and written into the proposal, so both sides know what a visit includes.
For offices specifically, our office cleaning page sets out the routine in more detail.
Commercial cleaning, janitorial or office cleaning?
The three terms overlap, and most contracts include more than one of them.
| What it covers | How it is booked | |
|---|---|---|
| Janitorial services | Routine upkeep: trash, washrooms, kitchens, floors, touch points | A recurring schedule, the same tasks every visit |
| Office cleaning | Janitorial services for offices, after staff leave | A recurring schedule, usually evenings or overnight |
| Commercial cleaning | All of the above for any business premises, plus periodic and one-off work | Recurring, periodic or one-off |
Periodic work that keeps a building looking maintained
Routine cleaning keeps a space clean; periodic work keeps it looking cared for. These jobs are done every few weeks or months rather than every visit, and are scheduled and quoted separately:
- Stripping, sealing and waxing hard floors, and burnishing between cycles
- Commercial carpet cleaning by hot-water extraction
- High dusting of vents, ledges, fixtures and ceilings
- Interior window and glass cleaning
- Data room and raised-floor specialty cleaning
- Deep cleans before a move, an inspection or a new tenant
They can be built into a recurring contract and planned through the year, or booked one at a time. Our building maintenance and floor care page covers them in detail.
Cleaning for different kinds of commercial space
Every space is scoped on its own, but some needs come up again and again by type of building.
Retail stores and showrooms. Entrances, glass and sales floors take the most wear and are what customers see first. Cleaning is done before opening or after closing, around displays and stock, and floors get a periodic strip and wax or extraction cycle set by their traffic. Our post a cleaning checklist for your retail store goes through it area by area.
Banks and branch offices. Public counters, waiting areas and ATMs sit beside private offices. Work is done out of hours under the branch’s own security and access rules.
Schools and daycares. Low tables, toys, washrooms and shared surfaces need cleaning that suits the people who use them. See cleaning protocols for daycares and schools.
Clinics. Waiting rooms, treatment rooms and washrooms are cleaned with care to avoid cross-contamination between rooms. Our medical and dental clinic page explains what changes.
Public and institutional buildings. Libraries, court houses, municipal offices and places of worship have public areas, staff areas and their own rules about access and hours; the schedule is built around them.
Multi-tenant and mixed-use buildings. Common areas, lobbies and tenant suites are often cleaned under separate scopes. For property managers, see cleaning for property managers and condos.
Cleaning through a Toronto year
The work changes with the seasons here, and a good schedule changes with it.
- Winter. Salt and slush come in on every pair of boots. Entrance mats, lobby floors and the first metres of hallway need attention on every visit, not once a week, or the salt etches hard floors and stains carpet. Our post on preventing slips, trips and falls covers the entrance side of it.
- Spring. The time to undo the winter: hard floors stripped and refinished where salt has dulled them, carpets extracted, and entrances and walkways pressure washed.
- Summer. Quieter offices and school breaks make it the easiest time for deep cleans, floor cycles and window work that would otherwise disrupt people.
- Fall. Leaves and grit at the door again, and a good moment for high dusting and vent cleaning before the heating runs all winter.
Periodic work can be planned around these cycles in a maintenance programme, so it happens before a floor needs rescuing rather than after.
Working after hours in someone else’s building
Most commercial cleaning happens when the business is closed: before opening, after closing, overnight or at weekends. That means crews hold keys or fobs, sign in with security and use freight elevators and docks at set times. Those arrangements are covered at the walkthrough and written down, and the same team is assigned to your building so the people who hold the keys know the building and its rules.
Our cleaning staff undergo background screening, and the business is bonded and covered by liability insurance and WSIB Ontario.
The products we use
We use Armstrong Manufacturing’s ProSeries Green line, which is third-party certified to UL Environment (ECOLOGO) standards, fragrance-free and free of VOCs. Choosing products with indoor air in mind matters in a building people work in all day. More on our green clean products page.
Commercial cleaning across the GTA
We clean commercial property across Toronto (including North York, Scarborough, Etobicoke, East York and York), Mississauga, Brampton, Oakville, Vaughan, Markham, Richmond Hill, Pickering, Ajax and Oshawa. Each area has its own mix of buildings: office towers and street-level retail downtown, logistics and corporate parks in Mississauga, warehouses and industrial buildings in Brampton and Vaughan, tech and professional offices in Markham, and a mix of all of these in Etobicoke and Oakville. The way the work is scoped, scheduled and checked is the same everywhere.
Choosing a commercial cleaning company
Whoever you choose, ask for these before you sign:
- A walkthrough before a price. A quote given over the phone without seeing the space is a guess.
- A written scope. Which tasks, how often, and what is excluded, so a missed task can be pointed to.
- Proof of coverage. WSIB, liability insurance and bonding, for a crew that will hold your keys.
- Screened staff and a consistent crew. The same people on your building, not whoever is free.
- One person to call. An account executive who can change the scope or fix a problem without a ticket queue.
Our post how to decide on a cleaning company covers the questions in more depth.
No matter the size, shape or complexity of your commercial space, ask us about a free consultation and estimate.