Stakeholder Feedback on Ontario's One-Call System
The Ministry of Government and Consumer Services gathered stakeholder feedback on Ontario's one-call system, highlighting the impact of the Ontario Underground Infrastructure Notification System Act. Stakeholders find the system efficient but note challenges in timely locates. Suggestions for operational improvements were also provided.
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Presentation Transcript
Ministry of Government and Consumer Services Consumer Protection Ontario Policy, Planning and Oversight Division Targeted Stakeholder Outreach What we heard about Ontario s one-call-to-dig system ORCGA s Geographic Council Meeting November 30, 2017
Overview The Ontario Underground Infrastructure Notification System Act, 2012 (the Act ): Established Ontario One Call as a statutory not-for-profit corporation with a legislated mandate as a mandatory one-call-to-dig system provider in Ontario; Requires all owners/operators of underground infrastructure to register with Ontario One Call as members (gas/oil utilities, electrical utilities, telecommunication utilities, and municipalities); Requires anyone digging to call Ontario One Call to request identification of underground infrastructure; Requires members who own/operate underground infrastructure to make all reasonable attempts to provide locates within five business days (unless a different time limit agreed upon). In March 2014, a regulation came into effect which enables One Call to meet its mandate. Ontario One Call is responsible for the day-to-day administration of the act: The Minister is accountable to the legislature for the Act. Ontario One Call receives no government funding and is governed by an independent board of directors. 2 2025-02-16
Context The Ministry of Government and Consumer Services (MGCS) conducted targeted stakeholder outreach in the summer/fall 2016, to assess the impacts of the act. Questions relating to the following objectives: 1) timely locates 2) improving efficiency 3) reducing damages. The outreach concluded: The causes for late locates are complex More data is needed to understand the impact the act has had on reducing damage to infrastructure Many of the issues can be addressed at an operational level As One Call is responsible for operational matters, ministry catalogued all of the suggestions received during the outreach for One Call s review and consideration MGCS will continue to work with One Call to ensure suggestions are considered and implemented where appropriate. 3 2025-02-16
Summary of Findings Overall, stakeholders believe the Act has had a positive impact on improving the efficiency of the locate request process and that Ontario One Call plays an important role in Ontario s excavation industry. Members and excavators are clear about their respective roles in the system. Timely locates continue to be an issue, particularly in the Greater Toronto Area where construction levels are high. One Call s call centre is considered by both members and excavators to be generally efficient at processing locate requests. Some members have experienced a reduction in damages since the passage of the act but there is a lack of conclusive data. Many stakeholders offered suggestions for operational improvements It does not appear that the act or the regulation pose an immediate barrier to improvements that One Call and its members could make. 4 2025-02-16
Key Suggestions 1. Differentiate between types of locates: project locates for complex excavations versus standard locates. This distinction would allow members to deliver project locates in a time frame longer than five business days 2. Improve forecasting tools so members can better predict volumes 3. Review the process to renegotiate timelines 4. Prevent excavator improper use of the locate request system 5. Improve the quality of locate requests 6. Clarify Ontario One Call s compliance role 7. Make the overall locate process more efficient 8. Better leverage damage data to identify root causes of why damage is occurring. 5 2025-02-16
Sector Responses Regulator (5%) Locate Service Providers (10%) Excavators (25%) Gas (15%) Electrical (10%) Municipal (30%) Telecomm (5%) 6 2025-02-16
ON1Call Response Some general observations: Members damage prevention and excavation functions are usually separate. Need to create 360 view of locates and their importance to construction Majority of complaints relate to late locates in the Greater Toronto Area Members can dramatically improve their performance within a couple of years Looking for Macro How can ON1Call illustrate the overall successes of the new regime? 7 2025-02-16
What ON1Call has Solved The Day One benefits included: One province-wide phone number Legal requirements on locate timeliness Legal requirements on what members must provide and what excavators must do Tracking of locate requests and locate delivery performance Standardization in how locates are received by members Ability to reduce emergency locate abuse and other system abuses Sustained, province-wide marketing and awareness campaign Someone people can call about their locate-related problems 8 2025-02-16
ON1Call Strategic Plan There s much still to do Focused on technology to help members deal with volumes Implementation of Map Selection Notification (MSN) to reduce over-notification Improving filters Helping members improve their mapping Promoting use of Alternate Locate Agreements (ALA s) Addressing some of the pressure points Unassumed subdivisions Private/Public issues Abandoned infrastructure Emergency locate abuse Relocate/Re-mark issues 9 2025-02-16
Where to Find the Documents? Both documents are on the ON1Call website www.on1call.com under News & Events MGCS Stakeholder Outreach Ontario One Call Response to Stakeholder Outreach 10 2025-02-16
