A new phone line has launched in Kingston to connect people with those who offer odd job services including: house cleaning, snow shovelling, moving, as well as babysitting and painting.

Kingston Crew Services was founded by Queen's University computer science student Nicolas Brasset.

"if there's anything that people love it's convenience so instead of individuals having to research for movers or house cleaners or having to google... we want them to have a phone line that they can call, they can rely on and we'd essentially be the third party...by giving us a call we'd be able to provide you somebody more than willing to help in a short time....The phone line does the research for you," says Brasset.

Brasset says the idea for KCS originated a year and a half ago, while Ontario was under lockdown.

"I was sitting with my friends on a video call and we were brainstorming, I thought wouldn't it be nice where I had some sort of app or phone line where I'd be able to connect myself to a barber to come over to my house and cut my hair...I've been thinking and brainstorming...we thought about many ideas and talked to many professionals,...eventually two months ago I had a conversation with someone here at Queen's University and that conversation led me to think I can make this really simple for the time being...we can start small by having a phone line...this is an opportunity that I would like to try, if I would use the service that would mean that other people would use this service," says Brasset.

Brasset adds there is a market within the Queen's community.

"We also believe this is a market here at Queen's that would appreciate not having to shovel their own driveway or having someone to clean their homes, likewise there's people looking for work during these difficult times and there's people willing to do these jobs for an extra source of income," says Brasset.

Brasset says his goal is to eventually expand the service beyond Kingston.

"I would love to have the opportunity to expand and have different phone lines in Ottawa, Vancouver and Toronto, maybe other cities across Canada, potentially London which is also a university town. Gradually when things become more successful, I would love to initiate an app or website where we can potentially make this more of an international thing instead of just domestic...This is a local thing at the end of the day, you can't have somebody from Toronto come to Vancouver to clean their home...you never know who's next door, you could be looking for someone to paint your house and next thing you know your neighbour happens to be very qualified," says Brasset.

He says if there are dissatisfied customers, he would like KCS to have a ranking system similar to UBER.

The phone line to reach Kingston Crew Services is: 613.697-0732

Listen to the full CFRC interview with Nicolas Brasset below: