Metro Hydrovac Toronto: Metro Hydrovac Toronto Featured in Ontario Construction Report and Water Canada

This year two industry publications, Ontario Construction Report and Water Canada magazine, featured our non-destructive excavation work. For a three-truck company that started in a rented East End yard with one used Vactor 2100i, that is worth a short post.

We won’t reprint the articles here. What we can share is what the editors asked us about, because those questions say a lot about where the industry’s attention is, and what GTA clients should expect from any hydrovac contractor they hire. Most of the conversation centred on utility daylighting, so that is where we’ll start.

What the Editors Wanted to Know

Both conversations circled the same three themes.

Strike prevention

The first question was about utility strikes. We have completed more than 2,000 projects across the GTA without a utility strike, and the editors wanted to know how. The honest answer is not complicated. Every dig starts with a valid Ontario One Call locate, every exposure near a utility follows the CSA Z247 ground disturbance standard, and we never let a bucket do work that water and vacuum should do. Hydrovac to a buried utility is like a dental X-ray to a tooth: you want the picture before you reach for the drill.

Documentation

The second theme was documentation. Water Canada’s readers are utility and municipal people, and they care about what ends up in the file. We talked about our depth, size and material logs for every exposure, our before and after photos for catch basins, and why we hold 100% first-visit utility coordination approval. Locators and inspectors sign off on the first visit because the evidence is already there when they arrive.

Ownership and crews

The third question was about how we run the company. We own all three trucks, maintain them in our own bay, and never subcontract trucks or operators. Every operator is a Red Seal certified employee. Editors were interested in that because subcontracted trucks and unknown operators are a common complaint from project managers across the province.

Why It Matters to GTA Clients

Press coverage is nice. What matters more is what it reflects about how the work gets done. If you are comparing hydrovac services in Toronto, these are fair questions to ask any contractor, and here is how we would answer them:

Question to ask any contractor	Our answer
How many utility strikes in your history?	Zero in 2,000+ projects
Do you own your trucks?	Yes, three units, 2,500-6,000 gal
Do you subcontract operators?	Never
What standards do you work to?	OHS Reg 213/91, CSA Z247, Ontario One Call, TSSA tanks
What insurance do you carry?	$5M CGL + $2M property damage, WSIB registered
Are your rates published?	Yes, in CAD, on our site

A note on published rates

One editor was surprised we publish our rates. We do it because project managers told us for years that “call for a quote” wastes their time. Standard hydrovac is $280-$350 CAD per hour, daylighting $350-$500, and every quote itemises mobilization, disposal and locates.

The Work Behind the Coverage

A lot of the conversation drew on recent jobs. Without naming anything that isn’t ours to share, a few examples came up:

• Bell Canada fiber on Lakeshore Blvd. 180 ft of fiber daylighted over three days in 2024, which put us on their regional dispatch list for emergency utility exposure.
• City of Toronto catch basin program on Danforth Ave. Before and after photos for every basin, first-visit inspection pass.
• Alectra Utilities hydro vaults in Mississauga. 12 vaults exposed in 2023.
• Toronto Port Lands fiber corridor. An $18,400 daylighting job for a telecom GC who had already had one dig-in with another crew. 180 ft over three days, ON1Call sign-off on the first visit.

What Doesn’t Change

We are still the same crew. The trucks still leave the Toronto yard early, the operators still photograph every locate mark before the wand starts, and the owner still reviews the sign-off sheets. Being featured doesn’t change our rate card or how we schedule. It is a good moment to say thank you to the GCs, utility supervisors, municipal staff and adjusters who keep calling us back.

If you want to see how we’d handle your next exposure, call (647) 251-8377 or send us the site details.

Need a line exposed before you dig? Request a daylighting quote