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
