Protecting Public Safety: The Importance of Safe Digging in Ontario
GUELPH, Ontario, April 01, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ontario continues to see significant preventable damage to underground infrastructure because critical safety steps are being ignored or not followed.
Despite clear legal requirements, too many projects are still moving forward without valid utility locates. Every skipped step increases the likelihood of striking buried infrastructure, putting workers, homeowners, and entire communities at risk and threatening essential services Ontarians depend on every day.
New research from Ontario One Call highlights the seriousness of the situation.
Nearly half of professionals who dig as part of their living reported striking underground infrastructure in 2025, with 15 percent experiencing multiple strikes in the same year. *
The risk extends well beyond industry professionals. Twenty-eight percent of professionals and an alarming 57 percent of homeowners admitted they did not request locates before their most recent digging project. *
These findings show that unsafe digging remains far too common, even though the steps to prevent damage are straightforward, free, and required by law.
“Hitting underground infrastructure is preventable. Reduce the risk and Click Before You Dig. Every dig must begin with a locate request. No exceptions,” said Mitch Panciuk, President and CEO of Ontario One Call.
Requesting a locate through Ontario One Call is free and required by law before any digging begins. Homeowners and contractors must submit locate requests at least five business days in advance for a single property project and ten business days for projects involving multiple properties or areas without a civic address. Once a request for locates is submitted, infrastructure owners send representatives to mark the locations of buried utilities.
Digging without a locate is illegal and puts lives, property, and critical infrastructure in danger. Anyone planning to dig must request a locate at OntarioOneCall.ca before work begins.
Click before you dig. It’s the law.
Ontario One Call is a public safety administrative authority that acts as a communications link between underground infrastructure owners and individuals who are planning to dig in the province of Ontario. In 2012, the Ontario Underground Infrastructure Notification System Act, 2012 was passed, which stipulates by law that everyone in the province of Ontario must contact Ontario One Call for locates before they dig.
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Click Before You Dig
Click Before You Dig It's the Law
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