Do I need to inform Ottawa Hydro before a deep driveway project?

Yes, you should absolutely contact utility locating services before any deep excavation for a driveway project in Ottawa — and this is not optional. Before digging deeper than 30 centimetres anywhere on your property, Ontario law requires you to contact Ontario One Call (on1call.com or 1-800-400-2255) to have all underground utilities marked. This is free, mandatory, and could save your life.

Why This Matters for Driveway Projects

A full driveway replacement in Ottawa requires excavating 450 to 600 millimetres deep — sometimes more on clay-heavy lots in Barrhaven, Orleans, or Riverside South where additional Granular B sub-base is needed to get below the frost line. At that depth, you are well into the zone where electrical conduits, gas lines, water services, and telecommunications cables run. These utilities are often shallower than homeowners expect, particularly in older Ottawa neighbourhoods like Alta Vista, Gloucester, and Nepean where infrastructure was installed decades ago with less precise record-keeping.

Ontario One Call coordinates with all major utility owners — Hydro Ottawa, Enbridge Gas, Bell, Rogers, Cogeco, the City of Ottawa water and sewer department, and others. Once you submit a locate request (at least three business days before digging), each utility owner will send a locator to mark their lines with colour-coded paint or flags on your property. Hydro Ottawa specifically will mark any underground electrical service running to your home, any secondary distribution lines crossing your property, and any street-level infrastructure near your driveway apron. Striking a buried electrical line during excavation is potentially fatal and will result in significant liability.

What Your Contractor Should Be Doing

Any reputable paving or driveway contractor in Ottawa will submit a locate request on your behalf before excavation begins — this is standard practice and a legal requirement under Ontario's Occupational Health and Safety Act and the Ontario Underground Infrastructure Notification System Act, 2012. If a contractor shows up with an excavator and has not arranged locates, that is a serious red flag. Do not allow digging to proceed.

The locate process typically takes three to five business days. Plan this into your project timeline, especially during peak paving season (May through September) when locate requests are high volume and response times can stretch. Your contractor should be scheduling locates at the time of booking, not the day before the crew arrives.

Practical Steps Before Your Project

Contact Ontario One Call at on1call.com or call 1-800-400-2255 at least three business days before any excavation. Have your civic address and a rough description of the work area ready. Locates are valid for 30 days in Ontario, so time your request appropriately. If your project is delayed, you may need to request a re-mark.

Beyond utilities, also check with the City of Ottawa (3-1-1) about whether your driveway project requires a permit — particularly if you are changing the curb cut, widening the driveway opening onto the street, or altering drainage patterns. Work within the municipal right-of-way (the driveway apron between your property line and the road) almost always requires a permit and City inspection.

The locate call is free, takes five minutes, and is legally required. There is no reason to skip it, and a good driveway contractor will handle it automatically as part of their pre-construction process.

Need help finding a qualified driveway contractor in Ottawa who handles all the proper pre-construction steps? Ottawa Driveways can match you with local paving professionals through the Ottawa Construction Network — browse the directory at justynrookcontracting.com/directory?trade=paving.