oe-utility-services

The Real Price of the Lowest Bid: What Infrastructure Customers Are Actually Buying

Mon, 27 Jul 2026 12:47:53 GMT

30 Years Strong | Leadership Series 7 of 12 | Best Value Over Lowest Bid

By George Chung, Chief Sales Officer

The lowest bid is almost never the lowest cost.

It only looks that way on the day the decision is made. The real cost reveals itself later — in change orders, safety infractions, gaps in a subcontractor’s internal support (HSE, fleet, finance, etc.), which can cause delays and strained relationships. By then the savings on paper are gone, and what remains is a more expensive project delivered under more pressure.

Earlier in this series I wrote about growth through trust — how OE disciplines its own sales so that the work we take on strengthens both our customers and OE’s organization rather than strains it. This article looks at the other side of the table: how a sophisticated Customer purchases utility support services, and why the most disciplined Customers stopped treating price as the whole story.

The lowest bid is a price. Best value is an outcome. The two are not the same.

Why Buying on Price Alone Is Usually the Most Expensive Choice in Infrastructure

The logic of awarding on price alone is seductive because it is simple. One number, easily compared, defensible so long as you ignore the project details and the downstream effects. For straightforward purchases, it works.

Infrastructure is not a straightforward purchase.

The work happens around live, buried, critical systems, on regulated sites, under tight timelines, with real public consequences if something goes wrong. In that environment, the bid is not the cost of the work. It is the cost of the work if everything goes as planned — and the reason this work is difficult is that conditions in the field rarely match the assumptions on the page.

When a Customer awards on price alone, they are not getting a cheaper project. They are inheriting the gap between the winning bid and the real cost of delivering the work safely, properly, and on schedule — and it does not disappear. It surfaces as a change order, a delay, a corner quietly cut, or a partner who has no margin left to absorb the unexpected. Someone pays for that gap, and more often than not it is the Customer.

Total Cost of Ownership: The Costs That Never Appear on the Bid Sheet

What separates experienced Customers from the rest is total cost of ownership — evaluating the full cost of a decision over the life of the project, not just the figure quoted at the start.

In utility services, the costs that never appear on the bid sheet are often the ones that matter most: the schedule impact when an under-resourced service provider can’t keep pace, the liability exposure when a partner’s safety record is thinner than their proposal suggested, the cost of managing a vendor who needs managing, and the downstream cost of a failed restoration that better work would have prevented.

None of those costs are visible on award day. All of them are real. A Customer who evaluates only the upfront figure is not avoiding those costs — only choosing not to see them until the invoice arrives in a different form.

The most experienced infrastructure Customers have learned to price the things that don’t appear in the price.

What Disciplined, Best-Value Buying Looks Like

Best value is not a softer way of saying “more expensive.” It is a more honest way of measuring what a project will actually cost over its life.

A careful Customer looks past the price and asks harder questions. Does this partner have the capacity to deliver the scope without straining? Is the safety record documented, or merely asserted? Can they show a track record on work of this complexity? Will one accountable team own the outcome, or will coordination become the Customer’s problem? When conditions change — and they will — does this partner have the standards and the margin to respond without cutting corners?

Those questions are not designed to favour price. They favour the partner most likely to deliver the outcome the Customer actually needs — which, over the whole project, is usually the better economic decision as well.

One Accountable Team Versus Several Companies and Quotes

Awarding on price alone tends to complicate a project. The cheapest excavation provider, the cheapest restoration crew, the cheapest traffic control — each awarded separately, each optimizing for their own number, none accountable for how the pieces fit together.

The Customer is left managing the gaps. Every handoff between separately awarded vendors is a place where schedule, communication, and responsibility can fall through — and where, when something goes wrong, the answer is always that it was someone else’s scope.

One lesson of three decades in this industry is that integration is not just operationally simpler — it is a procurement decision that lowers risk. When hydro excavation, restoration, traffic control, soil recycling, and project coordination sit under one accountable team aligned to shared standards, the Customer gets a single point of responsibility instead of several separate companies and quotes. The cost of coordination doesn’t vanish, but it stops being the Customer’s to absorb.

That is the practical math of infrastructure delivery: when accountability is fragmented, risk does not disappear — it moves to the Customer.

What 30 Years Has Taught Us About Being the Right Partner

OE has never been built to be the cheapest line item on a bid sheet. After 30 years operating across Ontario, that has been a deliberate choice.

We have learned that Customers who service their communities seek quality and experience — they understand that the partner they choose can make or break a project. They don’t ask us to be the cheapest option. They ask us to show up ready, hold the standard when conditions get difficult, and deliver an outcome they can stand behind.

In infrastructure, that is what value actually means. Not the price on the day of the decision, but the true cost when the work is done and people are relying on it.

Looking Ahead

As OE moves through its 30th year, we partner with Customers the same way we always have:

Helping Customers evaluate utility services on total cost and outcome, not upfront price alone
Bringing integrated services, with one team accountable end-to-end, to projects that would otherwise fragment across vendors
Earning the kind of long-term partnerships that make the next project easier than the last

In Closing

Every infrastructure Customer faces the same pressure: the lowest bid is the easiest decision to defend and the hardest to question.

The price on the page is only the first step. The true cost is paid over the life of the work — in experience, quality, and safety, and whether the partner beside you can deliver what they promised when it matters.

After 30 years, the case we make to every Customer is clear: OE delivers the best overall value and the lowest true cost when the full scope of work is considered . Our focus on safe execution, productivity, and operational efficiency helps reduce delays, rework, and unnecessary costs — ensuring the work is completed safely, reliably, and efficiently as possible.

George Chung

Chief Sales Officer | OE Utility Services | www.oeservices.ca

What does best value mean to you when you choose a partner? Please contact us to discuss and find out how OE Utility Services can help you!

 If you haven’t already, we encourage you to read our leadership team’s prior articles in our 30 Years Strong Leadership Series:

1 of 12 — Honouring Our 30-Year Legacy and Shaping What’s Next — Keith Boulton, CEO

2 of 12 — Reliability at Scale: Leading Operational Excellence — Tony Kerwin, COO

3 of 12 — Growth Through Trust: The Discipline Behind Sustainable Sales — George Chung, CSO

4 of 12 — Built to Last: The Financial Discipline Behind 30 Years of Reliable Growth — David Branigan, CFO

5 of 12 — People First: Building Culture in Utility Services — Nicole Chapman, CHRO

6 of 12 — The Most Dangerous Word in Safe Digging: Safer Than the Alternative Is Not the Same as Safe — Tony Kerwin, COO

The Most Dangerous Word in Safe Digging: Safer Than the Alternative Is Not the Same as Safe

Tue, 23 Jun 2026 16:39:12 GMT

30 Years Strong | Leadership Series 6 of 12: Safe Digging

By Tony Kerwin, P.Eng., Chief Operating Officer

Reliable infrastructure delivery is not only an operational, financial, or cultural achievement. It is a safety achievement. Everything OE Utility Services has built over 30 years rests on that foundation.

OE leaders in this series have each explored a different dimension of OE success: legacy, operations, sales, finance, and culture. Each matters. But the dimension that underwrites all of them is safety.

When I wrote earlier this year about reliability at scale, I made the case that safety and operations are not separate systems. They are one system. This is the other half of that argument, and it starts with a word our industry uses every day.

Hydro excavation is widely described as the safe way to dig. It is more precise and less destructive than conventional mechanical excavation around buried infrastructure. That is why OE has built so much of its work around it and why our Customers trust it on their sites.

But after three decades in this business, we have come to believe that the most dangerous word in safe digging may be the word “safe.”

Safer than the alternative is not the same as free from risk. The space between those two ideas is where people can get hurt, and closing that gap is a leadership responsibility.

When a Strong Reputation Becomes a Risk

Every hydrovac unit OE operates carries a quiet contradiction. The same technology that reduces the likelihood of an excavator bucket striking a gas line can create the impression that the danger has been engineered away.

It has not.

The pressure and suction that make a hydrovac effective can also make it hazardous when respect for the equipment slips.

High-pressure water can penetrate the skin and cause a serious injection injury. What may appear minor at first can threaten a hand, a limb, or a livelihood.

The vacuum system carries enough force to cause severe injury if a hand, limb, clothing, or equipment comes too close to the intake.

Buried electrical infrastructure presents another potentially fatal hazard. Water and equipment can conduct electricity, and a crew may receive little or no warning before contact occurs.

None of this is a reason to dig any other way. It is a reason to lead the work, not simply schedule it.

Complacency Is the Hazard a Checklist Cannot Catch

Some of the most serious incidents in our industry do not involve people who were never trained or did not know the rules. They involve experienced people on a routine day, at a site that looks like the last hundred sites, doing work they have completed safely many times before.

That is what makes complacency so difficult to manage.

It does not appear on equipment inspection. It develops gradually, often on good days, because nothing has gone wrong. The safer a method’s safety reputation becomes, the easier it can be to underestimate the hazards that remain.

We cannot inspect our way out of complacency. We have to lead our way out of it.

At OE, that means treating the routine job with the same seriousness as the difficult one. The pre-task briefing on an ordinary site is not a formality to move through. It is the moment when the crew consciously reconnects with the hazards that familiarity may have pushed into the background.

When a supervisor treats that conversation as essential, the crew does too. When a supervisor rushes it, that message is heard just as clearly.

A Safer Method Does Not Lower The Standard

Ontario’s excavation requirements are clear for good reason.

Before excavation begins, underground services in and near the work area must be located and marked. Required locates must be complete, valid, visible, and available to the people performing the work. Ontario locates are valid for at least 60 days, although the infrastructure owner establishes the precise validity period and any conditions shown on the locate documentation.

An expired locate is not a valid locate. Markings that are no longer visible cannot simply be assumed. The locate documentation must be reviewed and applied in the field, not merely obtained and filed away.

The appropriate excavation method must reflect the locate information, the infrastructure owner’s instructions, applicable safety codes, site conditions, and the hazards involved. Around gas pipelines and other critical infrastructure, specific tolerance-zone and hand-excavation requirements may apply. At OE, our operating procedures add another essential discipline: buried infrastructure is treated as live unless it has been confirmed otherwise.

These requirements are not administrative obstacles. They protect workers, the public, our Customers, and the infrastructure communities rely on.

The scale of the risk is significant. In its fiscal 2025 Public Safety Report, the Technical Standards and Safety Authority recorded 1,924 pipeline strikes in Ontario. Pipeline strikes represented more than 60% of all reported fuels incidents that year. TSSA also reported that most pipeline strikes were associated with excavation taking place without the proper locate permissions.

Enforcement is active. Recent Ontario cases have involved substantial fines where contractors failed to follow excavation requirements, failed to hand-dig where required, or obtained locates and then failed to use them properly.

Those are not simply equipment failures. They are failures of planning, supervision, judgment, and execution.

That is where leadership lives.

For the utility owners, municipalities, and contractors who are our Customers, a strike is never only our problem. It affects their schedule, their liability, their reputation, and potentially an entire community’s access to essential services.

Treating a safe method with full discipline is how we protect them as well as ourselves.

OE has operated to that standard for 30 years, not because an inspector may be watching, but because our Customers, our communities, and our people are counting on us.

A good tool does not deserve less scrutiny. It earns more, because more is being trusted to it.

Leading Safety When No One Is Watching

A province-wide operation means leadership cannot be on every site, every day.

The real test of a safety culture is not what happens when a manager is standing nearby. It is what the crew does on a remote site, late in the day, when the job is nearly complete, and no one would immediately know if a corner had been cut.

That standard can’t be supervised into existence. It has to be built deliberately over time.

It is built by training crews not only in what the procedure requires, but why it exists, so the standard travels with them when leadership is not present.

It is built through stop-work authority that every employee knows is real, supported the first time it is used and every time after.

It is built by treating near-misses as information rather than embarrassment, then using what we learn to improve the next job.

And it is built by field leaders who model the standard on ordinary days, because ordinary days are when standards are most likely to slip.

When the standard holds on a site no one is checking, that is not luck. That is culture.

Culture is built by leadership long before it is tested in the field.

Why This Is a Leadership Article

It would be easy to treat safe digging as an operational issue or something for the safety team to own.

That would be a mistake.

The decision to treat a safe method with full seriousness begins at the top. It is reflected in how work is planned, how crews are trained and resourced, how performance is measured, and how leaders respond when someone raises a concern.

A crew’s vigilance is shaped by whether leadership has made vigilance the expectation or has quietly signaled that schedule and production matter more.

Zero-harm does not begin with the person holding the wand. It starts with leaders who define What Right Looks Like, reinforce it consistently, and refuse to let a strong safety record become a reason to relax.

Looking Ahead

As OE marks 30 years, the priorities that brought us here are the same ones that will carry us forward:

Treating our safest methods with the most discipline, never the least
Building crews who carry the standard when no one is watching
Keeping valid locates, tolerance-zone requirements, and live-line assumptions non-negotiable
Using near-misses to improve the work, not assign blame
Ensuring leaders own safety as a core operating responsibility

In Closing

Hydro excavation is the safest and most precise method available for much of the work we perform around buried infrastructure.. We believe that, and OE has built 30 years of reliable delivery around it.

But the moment a crew or a company begins to believe that “safe” means “safe enough to relax,” the reputation of the method becomes a hazard on its own.

Preventing that is what leadership is for.

It is not a slogan on a wall, not a binder on a shelf. It is a daily and deliberate refusal to allow our best tools, our experience, or our past success to make us complacent.

That is how we protect our Customers and the communities we serve.

Most importantly, it is how the people who perform this work go home the same way they arrived.

After 30 years, that remains the measure of leadership that matters most.

Tony Kerwin, P.Eng.

Chief Operating Officer | OE Utility Services | www.oeservices.ca

What keeps your crews from getting comfortable with a job that has gotten easier? Please contact us to discuss and find out how OE Utility Services can help you!

 If you haven’t already, we encourage you to read our incredible leadership team’s prior articles in our 30 Years Strong Leadership Series:

1 of 12 — Honouring Our 30-Year Legacy and Shaping What’s Next — Keith Boulton, CEO

2 of 12 — Reliability at Scale: Leading Operational Excellence — Tony Kerwin, COO

3 of 12 — Growth Through Trust: The Discipline Behind Sustainable Sales — George Chung, CSO

4 of 12 — Built to Last: The Financial Discipline Behind 30 Years of Reliable Growth — David Branigan, CFO

5 of 12 — People First: Building Culture in Utility Services — Nicole Chapman, CHRO

People First: Building Culture in Utility Services

Wed, 27 May 2026 15:58:42 GMT

30 Years Strong | Leadership Series 5 of 12: People First

By Nicole Chapman, Chief Human Resources Officer

Reliable infrastructure delivery isn’t just an operational achievement, or a financial one, it’s a cultural one.

As OE Utility Services marks 30 years of operating across Ontario, the question I think about most in this role is straightforward: what kind of workplace produces 30 years of safe, consistent delivery AND how do we keep building it?

The previous articles in this series have addressed leadership, operations, sales, and finance. If you haven’t read them, they’re worth your time:

Honouring Our 30-Year Legacy and Shaping What’s Next — Keith Boulton, CEO
Reliability at Scale: Leading Operational Excellence — Tony Kerwin, COO
Growth Through Trust: The Discipline Behind Sustainable Sales — George Chung, CSO
Built to Last: The Financial Discipline Behind 30 Years of Reliable Growth — David Branigan, CFO

Each of those leaders has spoken to a different dimension of how OE has operated over three decades. The dimension I want to address is the one that runs underneath all of them, the people who actually do the work, and the culture that allows them to do it well.

Thirty years of safe, reliable delivery is not built by equipment. It is built by people. And people don’t show up that consistently, for that long, by accident.

People First Is an Operational Standard, not an HR Program

In utility services “People First” can sometimes be treated as a soft idea; words on a wall, a section in the employee handbook, a line in a recruiting deck.

That is not how it operates at OE.

People First is the standard that determines whether a project is safe, whether a crew is ready to execute, whether a Customer’s scope is delivered on time, and whether the next generation chooses to stay in this industry. It is not a sentiment. It is an operating reality, and it shows up - or it doesn’t - in the field.

My responsibility as CHRO is to make sure People First is consistently practiced. That means hiring practices that prioritize capability and character. A robust and purposeful onboarding process designed to set employees up for safe and successful performance in the field. Leadership development gives supervisors the tools to support and engage - not just manage. Compensation, benefits, and support systems that reflect the demands of the job.

None of that is HR theatre. All of it is operational infrastructure.

Safety Culture and People Culture Are the Same Culture

In an industry built on physically demanding, high-consequence work, the line between safety culture and people culture doesn’t exist. It’s the same line.

A crew member carrying stress, exhaustion, or personal difficulty into a work zone is not just a wellness concern. It’s a safety concern. A supervisor who hasn’t been given the training to recognize when someone is off - or the authority to act on it - is a liability, not a leader. A workplace where raising a concern is treated as inconvenient instead of expected is one where small problems become serious ones.

OE’s approach is practical, and it has been refined over 30 years:

Pre-task planning that accounts for crew readiness, not just the physical scope of the work
Supervisors trained to recognize the difference between a tired crew and a struggling one, and equipped to respond
Open lines to HR and leadership, with the expectation that using them is normal, not noteworthy
A workplace where someone can say “I’m not okay today” and be met with support, not suspicion

When people culture is strong, safety performance follows. When it isn’t, no amount of process documentation can compensate.

Building a Workplace, Not Just a Workforce

There is a difference between filling roles and building a workplace. The first is transactional. The second is what produces 30 years of consistency.

Building a workplace means the conditions under which people do their work are taken as seriously as the work itself. It means PPE that fits the people on the crew, not “one size fits most.” It means a site culture where the expectation is respect, not endurance. It means leadership that is visible, accountable, and accessible, not just at the office, but on the ground.

It also means recognizing that the trades, and utility services specifically are changing. Women are taking up more space in the industry as operators, supervisors, engineers, and senior leaders. Not as a quota, but because the work is better when the people doing it reflect the communities served. Indigenous partnerships, fair wage commitments, and apprenticeship pathways are no longer adjacent to operations, they are part of how OE operates.

A workplace that reflects the people in it, and the communities it serves, is stronger than one that doesn’t. That’s not a values statement. It’s an operating principle.

Building the Next Generation of Leaders

One of the most important responsibilities in my role, and one OE’s leadership team takes seriously, is ensuring that the next 30 years of our business are led as strongly as the last. At OE, that starts from within.

We’ve recently seen a number of employees step into new roles across the organization, moving from the field into leadership positions, expanding their scope, and taking on greater responsibility. These aren’t one-off success stories; they reflect a deliberate focus on developing our people and creating clear pathways for growth.

That means investing in our workforce in a way that is practical and continuous: pairing developing employees with experienced operators and supervisors who actively pass on their knowledge, providing opportunities to build leadership capability in real time, and ensuring employees can see a future for themselves here beyond their current role.

The skilled trades shortage across Ontario is real, but the answer isn’t external alone. It’s about recognizing and developing the talent already on the ground - people who understand the work, the standards, and the expectations - and giving them the opportunity to grow into the next generation of leaders.

OE is committed to that approach, and it’s already shaping the future of our organization.

Looking Ahead

As OE enters its 30th year, the people priorities are consistent with the ones that got us here:

Continued investment in leadership development, training, and mentorship
Retention strategies that protect the experience and stability that Customers rely on
A safety culture and people culture treated as intertwined one engaged culture
Training and recognition that build the next generation of OE crews and leaders
A workplace that reflects, respects, and serves the diverse communities OE works in across Ontario

The people-first culture that built OE over 30 years is not a constraint on what comes next. It is exactly what makes the next chapter possible.

In Closing

Infrastructure delivery at the scale, a standard at which OE operates, depends on engaged employees who show up ready to perform, and on organizations that are equally committed to showing up for them.

My commitment, and the commitment of every leader at OE, is to keep building the kind of workplace people want to be part of. Not because they have to, but because they feel valued, supported, and proud to build their careers at OE.

That is what 30 years of people-first culture has produced. And it is what the next 30 years will be built on.

Nicole Chapman

Chief Human Resources Officer | OE Utility Services | www.oeservices.ca

What does a people-first workplace mean to you? Please contact us to discuss and find out how OE Utility Services can help you!

Built to Last: The Financial Discipline Behind 30 Years of Reliable Growth

Wed, 29 Apr 2026 16:27:34 GMT

30 Years Strong | Leadership Series 4 of 12: Built to Last

By David Branigan, Chief Financial Officer

Reliable infrastructure delivery isn’t just an operational achievement — it’s a financial one.

As OE Utility Services marks 30 years of operating across Ontario, the question I am most often asked is some version of the same thing: how has OE remained consistent when so many others haven’t?

Part of the answer lives in our operations — covered in OE’s Leadership Article Series, published monthly throughout 2026. If you haven’t read the first three articles, they’re worth your time:

Honouring Our 30-Year Legacy and Shaping What’s Next — Keith Boulton, CEO
Reliability at Scale: Leading Operational Excellence — Tony Kerwin, COO
Growth Through Trust: The Discipline Behind Sustainable Sales — George Chung, CSO

But the part that doesn’t always get talked about is this: none of that is possible without a strong financial foundation underneath it.

Operational excellence is not free. It is funded. And for 30 years, funding it responsibly has been the job.

The Cost of Reliability

In this industry, reliability is expensive — and that’s not a complaint. It’s a fact that responsible operators understand and plan for.

Maintaining a well-equipped, purpose-built fleet does not happen by deferring investment. Keeping experienced crews together through slower seasons requires commitment that goes beyond the contract in front of you. Investing in training, safety systems, and continuous improvement requires budgeting for capability, not just capacity.

The organizations that show up consistently — year after year, project after project — are the ones that made those investments before they had to.

At OE, financial discipline has never meant spending less. It has meant spending deliberately — on the assets, people, and systems that protect our ability to deliver.

Why Lowest Bid Is a Risk, Not a Strategy

Infrastructure projects carry real public consequences. Delays affect communities. Rework costs multiply. Contractors who underprice to win work and then struggle to deliver create downstream costs that are almost always larger than the savings the bid appeared to offer.

Total project value — not lowest entry price — is the measure that matters.

For the utility owners, municipalities, and prime contractors we work with, the real risk is not the cost of choosing OE. The real risk is the cost of a delivery failure mid-project — the delays, liability, emergency mobilizations, and reputational exposure that follow when a contractor runs short on resources, capacity, or commitment.

OE has been asked, many times over 30 years, to step in and complete work that a lower-cost provider could not finish. Those projects are not wins. They are reminders of what underdisciplined financial planning looks like in the field.

We do not participate in a race to the bottom. And the Customers who have worked with us for years understand exactly why.

Investing in People Is a Financial Decision

One of the most significant financial commitments OE makes — year over year — is in our people.

Retention is not just an HR priority. It is a financial strategy. Experienced teams cost less to supervise, reduce incidents, require less rework, and protect project timelines.. That is true across every level of the organization — from project managers and estimators to dispatchers, supervisors, and field crews. Every role carries embedded knowledge, relationships, and operational continuity that is expensive to replace and impossible to replicate quickly. Every year we retain a trained, cohesive team, we reduce the hidden cost of retraining, errors, and variability.

For our field crews specifically, compensation is defined by our union collective agreement — a framework that reflects the value OE places on the people doing the most demanding work. Beyond the agreement, we invest in field leadership development and in the kind of environment where people choose to stay. Not because it feels good — though it does — but because the financial case for retention is overwhelming.

The strongest balance sheet in this industry is a stable, skilled, experienced workforce.

Everything else follows from that.

Fleet Investment: The Infrastructure Behind the Infrastructure

Our fleet is not a cost we minimize. It is a capability we protect.

A purpose-built, well-maintained fleet reduces project delays, lowers safety exposure, and improves efficiency across every job we run. It also signals something to our Customers: that OE is not stretching aging assets across too much work. We are investing in the tools that allow our crews to perform at a consistent standard.

That requires capital planning that looks years ahead, not quarter to quarter. It requires the discipline to reinvest in the business during good years so that we are never in the position of trying to deliver premium work with undercapitalized equipment.

Thirty years of that discipline is visible in every unit we deploy.

Responsible Growth: Building Capacity Before You Need It

As OE has expanded its geographic reach and service capabilities across Ontario, the financial planning behind that growth has been just as deliberate as the operational planning.

Growth that outpaces financial capacity creates fragility. We have seen it across this industry — organizations that win more work than their systems can support, stretch their balance sheet to cover the gap, and ultimately compromise delivery when the margin runs out.

At OE, expansion has been funded and planned. New capabilities have been built with the runway to execute properly. Financial reserves exist to protect project delivery when conditions change — and in underground utilities, conditions always change.

Responsible growth means building the capacity to deliver before you commit to the work. That principle has guided every expansion decision OE has made.

30 Years of Disciplined Investment

I joined OE because of what the organization had already built — and because of what that foundation makes possible going forward.

Thirty years of disciplined financial management means we carry no regret investments, no deferred maintenance surprises, and no capacity gaps that force us to compromise on delivery standards. It means we can invest in innovation without taking on risk we cannot absorb. It means we can stand behind our commitments to Customers when conditions change mid-project.

That kind of financial resilience is not accidental. It is the result of 30 years of decisions made with the long view in mind — choosing capability over short-term savings, choosing stability over aggressive leverage, and choosing to protect the organization’s ability to deliver above all else.

Looking Ahead

As we enter our 30th year, the financial priorities at OE remain consistent with the ones that got us here:

Continued investment in fleet, people, and training — the foundational assets that protect delivery performance
Disciplined capacity planning as we grow into new service areas and geographies across Ontario
Capital allocation toward innovation that reduces exposure and improves efficiency for our teams and Customers
Financial transparency and accountability that gives our leadership team and Customers confidence in OE’s long-term position

The financial discipline that built this organization over 30 years is not a constraint on what we can do next. It is exactly what makes the next chapter possible.

In Closing

Infrastructure delivery at the scale and standard OE operates at is a long game. It requires organizations that invest in their own capacity, protect their people, and manage their finances with the same discipline they bring to the job site.

That is what 30 years of responsible growth looks like. And it is what the next 30 years will be built on. is what 30 years of responsible growth looks like. And it is what the next 30 years will be built on.

 David Branigan

Chief Financial Officer | OE Utility Services | www.oeservices.ca

What does long-term financial stewardship mean to you? Please contact us to discuss and find out how OE Utility Services can help you!

Growth Through Trust: The Discipline Behind Sustainable Sales

Mon, 30 Mar 2026 15:47:52 GMT

30 Years Strong | Leadership Series 3 of 12: Growth Through Trust

By George Chung, Chief Sales Officer

When infrastructure projects carry real public impact, sales cannot be about persuasion. It must be about alignment.

In underground utilities and critical infrastructure, what Customers are ultimately buying is not a service. They are buying certainty — certainty that work will be completed safely, on time, and without unnecessary risk to their operations, their teams, or the communities they serve.

As OE Utility Services marks 30 years of operating in Ontario, that certainty has never been accidental. It is the product of disciplined execution — built project by project, relationship by relationship, over three decades.

I joined OE in 2021, stepping into an organization with nearly three decades of established reputation in this market. What became clear quickly was this: OE's history of operational discipline was not a marketing story — it was the foundation every Customer conversation was built on. My job, from day one, has been to protect and extend that foundation as we grow.

Following our COO Tony Kerwin's recent article, Reliability at Scale: Leading Operational Excellence, I want to share what that discipline looks like from a business development perspective — and why sustainable sales begins long before a contract is signed.

Growth without discipline is instability. Sustainable growth is built on trust.

Sales in Infrastructure Is Different

Infrastructure work is complex. It involves regulated environments, tight timelines, multiple stakeholders, union considerations, safety-critical tasks, and real public consequences if things go wrong.

In this environment, traditional sales tactics don’t apply. Customers are not looking for aggressive proposals or ambitious promises. They are looking for clarity, capability, and confidence.

That means our role in business development is not to push work into the system. It is to ensure the work we commit to aligns with operational capacity, safety standards, and execution discipline.

Sales must protect the organization as much as it pursues opportunity.

At OE, that alignment is rooted in the same values that have defined our operations for 30 years — safety first, quality execution, and accountability to the communities we serve. These are not sales principles. They are operational ones. And they are the foundation every Customer conversation is built on.

When alignment is strong between Customer expectations and operational reality, projects move smoothly. When alignment is weak, strain appears quickly — in scheduling, communication, and performance. Sustainable sales begins by eliminating that gap.

In practice, this means we walk away from opportunities that would strain our operational capacity or compromise delivery standards — because a project delivered poorly costs far more than one declined with integrity.

Growth With Operational Discipline

Over the past several years, OE has expanded its capabilities across Ontario. That expansion required more than adding assets or increasing geographic coverage. It required stronger internal systems, clearer handoffs, and tighter coordination between sales, operations, and field leadership.

Having worked across multiple industries and markets in North America before joining OE, I’ve seen what unsustainable growth looks like — and what it costs. The organizations that scale well are the ones that build systems before they need them.

Growth only works when scope is clearly defined before mobilization, expectations are documented and understood on both sides, capacity planning is realistic, safety and quality standards are non-negotiable, and communication remains consistent throughout execution.

The foundation of all of this is something no process can replace: the right people. From field crews and project managers through to leadership, sustainable growth depends on having capable, supported teams at every level of the organization — people who understand the standards, are empowered to uphold them, and have the backing of the company behind them.

When those fundamentals are respected, growth strengthens the organization. When they are ignored, growth creates risk.

As Chief Sales Officer, my responsibility is not simply to develop new business. It is to ensure that new business strengthens OE’s long-term stability and reputation.

LEAN Thinking in Business Development

As a leadership team trained in LEAN thinking, we apply the same principles to business development that we apply in the field.

LEAN is not about speed for the sake of speed. It is about eliminating friction.

In sales and business development, friction appears as incomplete information at the estimating stage, rework due to unclear scoping, delays caused by handoff gaps between departments, unnecessary back-and-forth that slows decision-making, and misaligned expectations that surface mid-project.

By standardizing how we gather information, structure proposals, and coordinate internally, we reduce uncertainty before work begins.

Clearer processes mean fewer surprises.

And fewer surprises mean stronger partnerships.

Transparency is part of that standard. When site conditions change or a project encounters unexpected challenges, our commitment is to communicate openly — across our teams internally and directly with our Customers — before issues escalate. That kind of honesty at all levels of the organization is what builds the confidence Customers need to keep coming back.

When sales and operations are aligned under shared standards, Customers experience consistency from first conversation to final restoration.

The Power of Integrated Capabilities

One of OE’s strengths over the past three decades has been our ability to evolve from a single-service provider into an integrated infrastructure partner.

Bundled internal services — including hydrovac, coring, traffic control, restoration, soil recycling, and project coordination — create operational simplicity for Customers.

Instead of managing multiple vendors and disconnected schedules, Customers can rely on one accountable team aligned under shared standards.

Integration reduces complexity. Reduced complexity lowers risk.

That is not a sales message. It is an operational reality.

When teams operate under unified leadership and consistent expectations, coordination improves, timelines stabilize, and safety performance strengthens.

Sustainable growth means building systems that make execution easier for everyone involved.

Building Long-Term Partnerships

Trust is not built in a proposal. It is built over time.

"You don't close a sale; you open a relationship." — Patricia Fripp

In Ontario’s infrastructure environment, relationships matter. Customers need to know when unexpected conditions arise — and they will — their partner responds with transparency, capability, and composure.

That requires listening carefully before speaking.

It requires understanding each Customer’s pressures, internal constraints, and strategic priorities.

It requires respecting that infrastructure work affects communities and public safety.

And it requires humility — the understanding that no organization improves without learning from those it serves.

For me, this extends beyond business hours. My volunteer and charity work has reinforced something I carry into every customer relationship: that sustainable partnerships are built on genuine investment in the people and communities around you — not just on contract terms.

Our participation in industry associations, conferences, and community initiatives is part of that commitment. Growth is not just commercial. It is relational.

Responsible Expansion in 2026 and Beyond

As OE enters its 30th year, the path forward is not about expansion for its own sake.

It is about deepening relationships with Customers who value disciplined execution, continuing to refine internal processes so growth does not dilute standards, leveraging technology to improve communication and transparency, aligning innovation with real field needs, and ensuring our people have the clarity, resources, and support required to deliver consistently.

Sustainable sales is not measured by volume. It is measured by durability.

If a Customer continues to choose OE year after year, that is the true indicator of growth through trust.

In Closing

Thirty years in infrastructure is built on thousands of projects, countless conversations, and the daily work of teams who deliver under pressure.

My commitment — and our sales team’s commitment — is simple:

We will pursue growth that strengthens our operations, supports our people, and serves our Customers with clarity and integrity.

Because in infrastructure, trust is not a marketing concept.

It is earned through disciplined execution, consistent communication, and long-term partnership.

 George Chung

Chief Sales Officer | OE Utility Services | www.oeservices.ca

What does sustainable and responsible growth mean to you? Please contact us to discuss and find out how OE Utility Services can help you!

Reliability at Scale: Leading Operational Excellence

Wed, 25 Feb 2026 21:02:46 GMT

Part 2 of 12: A Year-Long Leadership Series Celebrating OE's 30th Anniversary

By Tony Kerwin, P.Eng., MBA, COO

When Customers depend on you to deliver critical infrastructure work, reliability is not a slogan. It is a responsibility. At scale, reliability becomes a leadership discipline built into how you plan, lead, and execute.

At OE Utility Services , operational excellence means we show up prepared, we work safely, and we deliver consistent results, whether it is a planned program or an urgent response. Customers don’t buy our intentions. Customers buy our outcomes.

As OE enters our 30th year, I have been reflecting on what it truly takes to deliver reliability across a growing, province-wide operation.

Following our CEO Keith Boulton’s recent article on honouring our legacy and shaping what's next , I want to share what that vision looks like in operational reality.

It is not complexity. It is clarity, backed by capable people and strong fundamentals.

The Foundation: People Doing the Basics Right, Every Single Time

In our industry, the work is high-risk, timelines are tight, and the tolerance for failure is essentially zero. That means operational success cannot depend on heroics. We do not ask people to be heroes. We build systems that let good people win consistently.

That foundation includes:

Clear planning and communication before work begins. Ambiguity creates risk. Clarity creates confidence, especially at the point of execution.
Well-trained crews and strong field leadership. Training is not a checkbox. It is readiness. People need to understand the task and the environment they are walking into.
Equipment that is maintained, ready, and fit for purpose. Reliability starts long before a breakdown. It starts with standards, inspections, and maintenance discipline.
Simple, repeatable processes that hold up under pressure. If a process only works on a calm day, it isn’t a standard.

Operational excellence is not about doing more. It is about doing the right things reliably, at scale.

Safety and Reliability: One System, Not Two

Here is a truth worth repeating. You cannot deliver reliability without safety. Safety is not separate from operations. Safety is how operations work.

Safe operations are predictable operations. When safety systems are strong, including training, procedures, supervision, stop-work authority, and accountability, work flows better. Incidents decrease. Rework drops. Schedules stabilize. Customers gain confidence that OE will execute with discipline.

At OE, safety is not a department you hand off to. Safety is embedded in how we plan work, mobilize crews, manage sites, and review performance. It is reinforced through leadership presence, coaching, and consistent standards, especially when nobody is watching.

Cutting corners on safety does not accelerate timelines. It creates delays, incidents, and loss of trust. The strongest operational teams understand that safety and reliability are inseparable, and they lead that way every day.

LEAN Thinking: Making It Easier for People to Do the Right Work

As our operations have expanded, LEAN thinking has become essential. Not to make people work faster, but to make work clearer, safer, and more consistent for the people doing it.

LEAN is about removing friction that gets in the way of good execution. That friction shows up as unclear handoffs, missing information, rework, waiting, unnecessary steps, avoidable travel, and inconsistent standards between sites. When we reduce that waste, we reduce stress on crews and supervisors. We also reduce the temptation to improvise in ways that increase risk.

LEAN is a people system. It works best when the people closest to the work help design the improvements. We involve frontline leaders and crews in identifying what slows them down or creates exposure. We standardize what works so teams are not forced to reinvent solutions on every job. We build simple visual standards and job-ready routines that support safe, repeatable execution. We coach to the standard so expectations are clear and performance becomes consistent.

And over time, that becomes a capability advantage. Reliability is built in the quiet moments: planning, training, maintenance, and standards.

When people understand why a process exists and how it protects them, they execute with confidence. They do not work around the system. They trust it. That is how you scale performance without losing safety, quality, or culture.

Innovation That Serves the Front Line

Operational excellence does not stand still, and neither do we.

Innovation matters, but only when it solves real operational problems. This year, OE has several major initiatives underway, including an industry first that we are excited to introduce soon.

Our approach is simple. We do not adopt technology for headlines. We adopt solutions that reduce exposure, improve safety, strengthen reliability, and make it easier for crews to perform at a high standard where it counts, on the job site.

The best innovations solve problems the front line actually faces.

Learning From the Industry We Serve

Operational leadership also requires staying connected to what is happening beyond our own organization. Standards evolve. Customer expectations rise. Better practices emerge.

OE participates in trade shows and conferences to stay current on proven best practices and new technologies. We were proud to attend EDIST last month and ORCGA this month, with additional industry events planned throughout 2026.

These events are not just networking. They are how we learn, share, and bring field-tested ideas back to our teams so we can keep improving how we operate and how we protect our people.

Progress happens when you stay humble enough to learn.

Leadership at Scale: Trust, Coaching, and Accountability

You cannot lead a province-wide operation by trying to be everywhere at once. Reliability at scale requires strong teams who can execute independently while staying aligned to shared standards and values.

That requires:

Empowering frontline leaders to make informed decisions in real time.
Setting clear and measurable expectations so everyone knows what right looks like.
Holding ourselves accountable for results, without relying on excuses.
Listening to the people closest to the work. The best insights come from crews and supervisors who live the job every day.
Coaching consistently. Not only after something goes wrong, but as part of normal operations, because that is how capability is built.

When trust and accountability are balanced, operations can scale without losing safety, quality, or the culture that makes performance sustainable.

Building Reliability That Lasts

Customers rely on OE Utility Services to be there when it matters most, today, tomorrow, and years from now. That responsibility shapes how we invest in people, how we train and supervise, how we maintain equipment, and how we build systems that perform under pressure.

Reliability at scale is not accidental. It is built deliberately, reinforced daily, and led from the front.

As we look ahead, our focus remains clear. Operational excellence rooted in people, safety, discipline, continuous improvement, and innovation that delivers real-world results.

Because when Customers depend on you, leadership is not measured by strategy documents. Leadership is measured by whether you show up prepared, protect your people, and deliver when it counts.

Tony Kerwin, P.Eng., MBA

Chief Operating Officer

OE Utility Services

What does operational excellence mean to you?

Please contact us to discuss and find out how OE Utility Services can help you!

Honouring Our 30-Year Legacy, Shaping What's Next

Mon, 05 Jan 2026 22:46:26 GMT

Three Decades of Excellence,

A Future Built on Innovation

By Keith Boulton, CEO

This month, OE Utility Services officially enters its 30th year of supporting our customers with trusted utility support services . It's not the number that makes this meaningful—it's what it reflects: 30 years of safety first, delivering with excellence, continuous innovation, and doing the work right.

Thirty years in utilities and infrastructure —an industry defined by complexity, high stakes, and constant change—is exceptional. This milestone belongs to every operator, project manager, safety leader, technician, coordinator, and executive who made it possible.

Scaling Up While Staying Grounded

In 1996, OE Utility Services started with a single hydrovac truck and a straightforward principle: put customers first and leave every job better than you found it.

That principle hasn't changed. The scale at which we deliver on it has.

Today, OE Utility Services operates province-wide:

Over 230 employees —our greatest asset
180+ assets on the road serving communities across Ontario
End-to-end internal bundled services including project management, traffic control, road cutting and coring, u-fill trucks, stone slingers, hard and soft surface restoration, and support vehicles
6 regional locations providing province-wide coverage
A dedicated soil processing and recycling facility advancing our environmental commitments

We've earned recognition that reflects our work quality:

Multiple Excavator of the Year awards
COR Certification and ISO 45001 for safety excellence
Safe Employer designation
EcoVadis Bronze Medal for ESG leadership

These achievements represent the accumulated expertise of hundreds of people, each contributing to a culture of safety and excellence.

Leadership That Listens, Learns and Evolves

The leadership that brought us here was rooted in clarity: understanding customer problems, doing the work safely, delivering quality results, and building trust through consistency.

Those fundamentals remain. But as our industry evolves, so must leadership.

Here's what effective leadership looks like in 2026 and beyond:

Elevating safety in complex environments

Safety has always been core to OE Utility Services . Today it requires advanced training systems, predictive analytics, real-time monitoring, and a culture where every person sees themselves as a safety leader.

Lean Thinking

LEAN Thinking is a disciplined approach focused on eliminating non-value-added work. By continuously removing waste, our LEAN Thinking ensures customers get more out in less time, at lower cost, and with less risk.

Leading through technological evolution

Technology is reshaping how we plan, execute, and communicate. Leaders must guide teams through these transitions while maintaining the operational discipline customers depend on.

Building responsive, adaptable teams

Infrastructure demands are accelerating. Emergencies don't wait. Leaders create teams capable of responding quickly without sacrificing quality or safety.

Embedding sustainability into operations

From soil recycling to ESG performance, leadership extends beyond the job site. It means thinking about long-term environmental impact and the legacy we leave in communities we serve.

Exceeding customer expectations

Customers expect faster communication, better reporting, higher safety standards, and consistent quality. Meeting those expectations requires operational excellence and a customer-first mindset at every level.

Advancing Reconciliation

Reconciliation is an ongoing commitment to respectful relationships and meaningful partnership with Indigenous communities. We're seeking guidance, honoring traditional territories, and creating opportunities for collaboration. This work requires humility and consistency—reconciliation is measured in actions, not announcements.

The Road Ahead

Reaching 30 years isn't a finish line—it's a launchpad.

As the newest steward of this company, my focus is preparing OE Utility Services for sustained growth, continued innovation, and stronger leadership at every level. That means:

Expanding capabilities to serve customers more fully across their infrastructure needs
Investing in technology that makes our work safer, more efficient, and more transparent
Innovation: We're not ready to reveal what our latest innovation is just yet, but here's what we can say: It's Quieter. It's Safer. It's Cleaner. It's Smarter. Stay tuned—OE Utility Services is about to make some noise… with a lot less noise!
Deepening environmental commitments through measurable ESG performance improvements
Developing leaders at every level—because leadership isn't reserved for titles
Building operational culture rooted in clarity, accountability, and continuous improvement
Ensuring we have the people, training, and resources to meet accelerating demand

We'll build on what got us here, adapt to what's ahead, and do it the OE way: strong leadership, safety first, operational excellence, environmental stewardship, and unwavering commitment to our employees, customers, and communities.

In Closing

To our customers who've trusted us with critical work, to everyone who contributed to the OE Utility Services story over the past 30 years, and to our current teams across every region and role—thank you. Your partnership, skill, dedication, and commitment built the company we are today and will shape everything we build ahead.

Here's to 30 years of progress—and to our next chapter together.

Keith Boulton

Chief Executive Officer

OE Utility Services

Season's Reflections

Tue, 23 Dec 2025 18:22:06 GMT

A holiday message and

a look ahead to 2026

By Keith Boulton, CEO

As we head into the holiday season, I find myself reflecting on what this time represents—not just the chance to pause and celebrate with family and friends, but the opportunity to recognize the partnerships and trust that make our work possible and meaningful.

December also marks an important moment as we close out 2025 and prepare for something special ahead. In January 2026, OE Utility Services will officially begin its 30th anniversary year—three decades of service to communities across Ontario, built on relationships with customers and partners who've trusted us throughout.

Since joining as CEO this year, I've met many of our valued customers across Ontario. Those conversations confirmed what I suspected: OE's success comes down to the trust you place in us and the quality of service we deliver every day—professionalism, reliability under pressure, and commitment to excellence. That is what built this company and will carry it through the next 30.

How We Work Matters

Let me be specific about what I've witnessed in my first months here.

I've seen the precision required to safely expose and repair critical infrastructure—work with no margin for error. I've observed the coordination needed to complete complex projects on tight timelines while keeping safety and quality as non-negotiables. I've watched teams respond to emergencies, making quick decisions under pressure while staying focused on doing the job right.

It isn't easy work. The utility services industry demands technical skill, sharp decision-making, and unwavering commitment to safety. Every day, our teams manage high-stakes situations—for customers, communities, and each other.

What strikes me most is the attitude people bring. There's pride beyond completing a job—it's about doing it right, safely, and upholding the reputation built over three decades.

To Our Partners and Communities

To our municipal partners, contractors, and customers across Ontario—your trust means everything. When you call OE, you trust us with urgent situations, complex projects, and high stakes. We understand that responsibility.

Over the past year, you've challenged us to be better—respond faster, communicate clearer, continuously raise standards. That partnership, built on honest feedback and mutual respect, drives real improvement. You've made our work meaningful and helped shape our next chapter.

We don't take that trust for granted. Every time you choose OE, we're committed to earning it again.

Looking Back with Pride

As 2025 comes to a close, it's worth acknowledging what we've accomplished together.

To our field teams, office staff, and the families supporting everyone behind the scenes—thank you.

Your work is the foundation of everything we do, and your support makes it possible for our people to show up every day with professionalism and dedication.

Your work matters more than we say. Every completed project keeps critical infrastructure functioning. Every careful decision protects communities counting on us. Every customer interaction reinforces trust earned over 30 years.

What's Ahead: Celebrating 30 Years

In January 2026, we'll officially begin OE's 30th anniversary year—and this isn't just symbolic. Throughout 2026, our executive team will publish articles exploring leadership—today and tomorrow—covering safety culture, operational innovation, partnership models, environmental stewardship, and our direction. These create internal alignment on who we are and where we're going.

Here's what you can expect in 2026:

2025 brought its share of challenges—the kind this industry knows well—but you showed up. Every call. Every shift. Every project. You delivered.

We're investing in new equipment and technology—fleet upgrades, enhanced safety systems, and tools that improve efficiency and precision.

We're deepening environmental stewardship across every service line. Sustainability means doing work responsibly and minimizing environmental impact wherever possible.

We're aligning teams across regions toward shared goals and higher standards—better coordination, clearer expectations, and a stronger sense of unity.

What won't change: the values that got us here—leadership at every level, clear communication, safety as culture, and trust as a promise we keep to each other, customers, and communities.

Twenty-nine years is significant in any industry, especially ours. It means weathering economic shifts, technological changes, and evolving regulations. It means building lasting relationships with partners who've trusted us throughout. Most importantly, it means attracting people who care deeply about work quality.

That foundation is solid. As we enter year 30, we're building it.

A Holiday Wish

As this year closes, take time to rest and recharge. Celebrate with those who matter most. Reflect on your accomplishments—they're considerable. Be proud of your daily work.

The holidays are about recognizing what we're part of—a company built on trust, expertise, and commitment to doing things right. That's worth celebrating.

From my family to yours, I wish you a joyful holiday season and Happy New Year. Thank you for this year's contributions and for everything we'll build together ahead.

To our customers, my sincere appreciation for your business and partnership, and I look forward to our continued mutual success!

I'm genuinely excited about 2026—and grateful to be on this journey with all of you.

Keith Boulton

Chief Executive Officer

OE Utility Services

Local Triathlete Performs with Strength and Strategy in 2025 Season

ythornley@gmail.com (Yvette Thornley) — Thu, 12 Jun 2025 18:18:54 GMT

Miranda Tomenson's 2025 Triathlon Season and the Road Ahead

Ironman Texas

Miranda’s first race at Ironman Texas was a test of endurance, strategy, and resilience, and she delivered a solid performance, finishing 13th among the 24 female professionals who started.

Her race began with a strong swim, emerging from the water in 11th place. On the bike, she executed her race plan with precision, holding back intentionally to keep her heart rate low. That calculated approach paid off with an impressive 4:59 bike split, a result she was pleased with given the controlled effort. The marathon presented the greatest challenge, with 30°C heat and full sun making temperature regulation difficult. While managing core temperature for an event of this length in such conditions remains an area for refinement, Miranda fought through the grueling run, climbing in the standings and leaving everything she had on the course.

A personal highlight: she was the top female finisher over 39 years old, a milestone worth celebrating!

Eagleman 70.3: Another Step Forward

On June 8, Miranda took on the Eagleman 70.3 with the goal of securing a spot at the 70.3 World Championships. A choppy swim saw her emerging in 8th place, setting the stage for a challenging solo bike ride. Without competitors at her ability level to work with, she found herself locked in a personal time trial, focusing on maintaining a heart rate of 145–150 bpm to set up a strong run.

Despite riding solo, Miranda delivered her highest-ever bike power for a half-ironman, keeping her effort controlled and steady. She was thrilled with a 2:22 bike split, a performance that reflected both strength and strategy. Coming off the bike, she aimed for another calculated effort on the run, keeping her heart rate below 162 bpm until the final third of the race. With a 7th fastest run split among the female competitors, she crossed the finish line in 9th place overall—just one spot shy of her World Championship qualification goal. While this was disappointing, it was a closer finish than she ever expected, proving that she is right on the cusp of breaking through.

Currently, Miranda holds an impressive ranking of #8 in Canada and #156 in the world, a testament to the progress she continues to make.

What’s Next

With Ironman Texas and Eagleman in the books, Miranda now turns her attention to the next phase of her season. She’ll be racing in a series of local events, including Welland on June 21, the Toronto Triathlon Festival on July 27, and Wasaga on August 25—each an Olympic-distance challenge. To close out her season, she plans to compete in one or two additional 70.3 races, with final selections still to be determined.

For Miranda, every race is an opportunity to learn, evolve, and push new limits. Ironman Texas and Eagleman were tests, but more than anything, they are fuel for the journey ahead. OE is happy for the opportunity to cheer her on!

OE Supports Local Athletes

Wed, 24 Apr 2024 16:02:35 GMT

OE is proud to support local athletes and sports teams. For 2024, OE has chosen to support two exceptional athletes, who each demonstrate remarkable focus, perseverance, and grit. With their unwavering dedication, athletes Kim Lumsdon and Miranda Tomenson inspire others to pursue truly challenging goals. OE's support for such athletes strongly aligns with its core value of striving to be Industry Champions – and these two athletes personify the deep commitment required to be Champions. By supporting Kim and Miranda’s special journeys, OE contributes to an enduring legacy of excellence and community involvement.

Kim Lumsdon

Kim Lumsdon's story is about athletic prowess, enduring spirit, and the will to push beyond perceived limits. Her remarkable achievements in long-distance swimming, particularly her repeated crossings of Lake Ontario at age 19 and again at age 49, stand as a testament to her father, Cliff Lumsdon’s legacy, and her unyielding determination.

Kim's journey underscores the importance of perseverance, the value of setting ambitious goals, and the power of determination and resilience. As she prepares for her third crossing, at age 67, her story continues to inspire and motivate us all. Her goal serves as a powerful narrative, proving that with dedication and hard work, age does not define capability.

Follow Kim’s Swim on Facebook as she prepares for her July 2024 Lake Ontario crossing.

Miranda Tomenson

Miranda's award-winning journey is a testament to the resilience and dedication required to excel as a professional athlete. Her transition from a career in medical research to triathlon coaching and professional competition showcases her passion for the sport.

Despite the setback of a knee injury, Miranda's determination led her to not only rehabilitate but also to return to peak fitness. Miranda has won/podiumed overall and age group triathlon competitions around the world. Now, at 38, she embodies perseverance and exceptional determination, stepping into professional competition again to achieve her goals.

Her ambition to challenge herself against the best and her desire to inspire and motivate others reflect the true spirit of athleticism and mentorship. Miranda's story is one of overcoming obstacles, pursuing excellence, and encouraging others to find their path to fulfillment and purpose.

We've changed our operating name to OE Utility Services! Formerly, Ontario Excavac.

Mon, 30 Jan 2023 16:23:57 GMT

OE Utility Services - Formerly Ontario Excavac

We’ve changed our operating name but not our commitment to provide great service.

Why the name change?

Simply, to reflect that Ontario Excavac has evolved and grown to supply end-to-end services for all your underground utility project needs. From digging to disposal, excavation to restoration, we've got you covered. With just one call, our team of experts will get your project completed safely, on-time and on-budget. Our convenient locations include: GTA, Hamilton, Kitchener, Barrie, and Oshawa.

New! Subsurface Utility Engineering Support Services

Mon, 24 Oct 2022 15:17:06 GMT

Expert Services at Your Fingertips

Why waste time trying to piece together multiple service providers for your subsurface utility engineering (SUE) project? Just one call to our OE team gives you fast and easy access to streamlined end-to-end services including keyhole coring and hydro excavation that quickly and safely expose underground utilities. We fill and restore exposed surfaces to make excavation look like it never happened.

Unlike other hydro excavation companies, we never contract out services to other third-party providers. Our team of experts work directly with clients, using the right equipment and resources to ensure projects get completed safely, on-time and on-budget. From coring to restoration, we’ve got you covered.

Hourly Rate Is Not an Accurate Measure of Customer Value

Wed, 01 Jun 2022 17:23:45 GMT

Achieving the Lowest Overall Cost Matters More.

We know that comparing the cost of hydrovac services based on an hourly rate alone is not an accurate measure of customer value. However, this is how most other hydrovac companies measure their cost competitiveness. The problem is that other additional costs are often hidden. For example, hourly hydrovac rates do not account for non-value-added costs and activities such as travel and disposal time that can often amount to up to 40% of a customer’s total services bill.

A more accurate measure of customer cost and value is based on the total services bill divided by working time on the job site. Our no-surprise pricing focuses on reducing our customers’ total services bill while continuing to offer competitive hourly rates for all of our services.

Only OE Utility Services can achieve significant savings for our customers through our LEAN Thinking approach that ensures effective sequential workflow planning and execution coupled with our on-premises soil disposal, processing, and recycling facility that eliminates unnecessary travel and wait times.

The result is increased value for our customers by eliminating waste, significantly improving productivity, and saving them time and money. That’s our LEAN Savings Guarantee. Try our cost calculator to find out how much you could save by working with OE, today.

Did You Know? Your risk and liability increase with Ontario Regulation 406/19

Wed, 18 May 2022 18:20:45 GMT

According to the new Ontario Regulation 406/19, if you order the work, you will have liability for the proper disposition of your excavated soils. Your risk and liability have increased.

For us, it’s business as usual. We are Ontario’s only utility services company offering our customers complete & compliant, end-to-end service including our on-premises soil disposal, processing, and recycling facility. We can help you navigate through your business-critical changes ahead so you can rest assured. We understand the approvals, designations, criteria, and exemptions. In fact, the Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks sought our counsel on best practices in the development of these expanded responsibilities for our customers.

Our 2.5-hectare hydrovac waste disposal and processing site is Government approved and fully complies with Ontario environmental regulations. All waste is tested against industry best practices to ensure compliance with soil standards.

If you have questions on what the new regulations mean to your business, speak to one of our experts at: 416-749-0005.

Read the new Ontario Regulation 406/19 here .

Our New Hydrovacs are 100% Quieter

Mon, 02 May 2022 18:33:10 GMT

Managing through the pandemic has been challenging for everyone. And now, with more people working from home, reducing noise pollution is more important than ever. When you hire OE Utility Services for your project using one of our next generation, whisper quiet hydrovacs, you help reduce unnecessary noise.

We have designed our NextGen custom-made hydrovacs to be 10 decibels quieter than other hydrovacs. That improvement reduces the perceived noise level by greater than 100%! Quieter hydrovacs are helpful in densely populated urban environments. Reducing disturbingly loud and distracting city noises is something we can all benefit from. Your customers and communities will thank you!

Customized Equipment With The Latest Technologies

Our trucks are well-equipped to meet the challenges of urban settings, sensitive environments, and extreme cold-weather conditions.

Full Surface Repair and Restoration

Our hydrovac fleet is supported by unshrinkable-fill cement trucks, asphalt trucks, aggregate dump trucks, float trailers, stone slingers, back-hoes/mini-ex, coring machines, and concrete/road saws for full surface repair and restoration. Call us at 416-749-0005.

Ontario Excavac (Now, OE Utility Services) Receives Excavator of the Year Award

Sat, 01 Feb 2020 21:09:48 GMT

Ontario Excavac was the proud recipient of the Excavator of the Year Award – Electric, at the 2020 ORCGA Damage Prevention Symposium. This prestigious award recognizes best in class digging practices and is determined by each contractor’s individual damage rate. A damage rate is a calculation dependent on the volume of locates requests, measured against the number of digging related damages to underground infrastructure. Input from infrastructure owners is also used in the determination. To qualify, excavators must have a minimum of 500 locate requests to Ontario One Call.

“The work we do impacts not only our customers but the public and our environment too,” said Barry Wood, CEO of Ontario Excavac. “Our unwavering dedication to safety is an essential element of the work we do every day because unsafe work practices can damage utilities, destroy property, cause injuries, and even claim lives. Our team is very proud to receive this important award.”

Ontario Excavac continues to be a strong advocate for improvement in industry safety standards and practices to ensure a safe work environment.

To find out more, please visit www.ontarioexcavac.ca

For media inquiries, please contact:

Yvette Thornley

ythornley@gmail.com

Ontario Excavac wins Utility Contractors Association of Ontario Safety Performance Award

Thu, 14 Feb 2019 21:12:29 GMT

Ontario Excavac continues to be a strong advocate for improvement in industry safety standards and practices to ensure a safe work environment.

To find out more, please visit www.ontarioexcavac.ca

For media inquiries, please contact:

Yvette Thornley

ythornley@gmail.com

Make Better Use of Your Crew, Equipment With Lean Practices

Sat, 01 Sep 2018 20:06:30 GMT

Sometimes a good, long look at how your company is operating, and what you could eliminate, can lead to more business.

Barry Wood, CEO of Toronto-based hydroexcavation company Ontario Excavac, has found that out. Wood, who has a manufacturing background, got involved in lean thinking a number of years ago with the U.S.-based Association for Manufacturing Excellence.

Read the rest of the article

Ontario Excavac Expands Rehabilitation Services to Include Tomahawk Pipe Cleaning

Mon, 23 Oct 2017 20:02:10 GMT

Ontario Excavac will now be offering Tomahawk pipe cleaning services to their pipeline rehabilitation clients across Ontario, Canada beginning in 2018.

Read the rest of the article

Ontario Excavac Inc. Pioneers and leads in hydro-excavation

Fri, 08 Jan 2016 20:55:31 GMT

Mississauga based Ontario Excavac Inc. was founded in 1996 as a hydro-excavation service. Over its almost 20-year history, the company has grown through increased awareness of the practice and its application, and through a commitment to customer service and emergency response that has earned the company a solid reputation in the industry.

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The Right Price

Sat, 01 Aug 2015 19:51:47 GMT

Barry Wood looked at more than 60 companies before buying Ontario Excavac. Selling your business and getting a good price is harder than many entrepreneurs realize. Here’s what you need to know. Read more

Ontario Excavac Uses Hydroexcavators To Keep Customers’ Operations Moving

Wed, 01 Apr 2015 19:57:44 GMT

Barry Wood has seen his company evolve since it was started nearly two decades ago. One thing has never changed — being available at a moment’s notice in any emergency.

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