City of St. Thomas

Locates are required anytime you dig on or near a property. Some underground cables or wires are just below the service. If you are planning on digging, be sure to call Ontario 1 Call for Locates.

Ontario Law requires all excavators to contact Ontario 1 Call, a 'Call before you dig' service. Their phone number is 1-800-400-2255, you can also complete the locate process on line at www.on1call.com. The City cannot accept locate requests from individuals or contractors, Ontario law requires that the excavator contact Ontario 1 Call directly.

The City will be contacted by Ontario 1 Call to locate their services including sewers and watermains. Our staff identify water using blue markings and sewers with green markings. The City performs approximately 3000 locates per year for planned excavations. These projects could be city run, but more likely are for Bell Canada, Rogers Cable, Union Gas and private property owners. The majority of these locates are for minor projects with minimal disruptions (i.e. Union Gas digging and then drilling new gas main, St. Thomas Energy installing new hydro poles, etc.) If the locates are related to a major City reconstruction project the property owner would have received a letter with more details about the work.

The following chart identifies the color a Utility will use to locate it's infrastructure: