Grant Piraine
Feb 3, 2025
In February 2025, Own Your Safety completed a comprehensive relaunch of its Ontario training program under the updated name Know Before You Dig – Private & Public Utility Infrastructure Awareness (Ontario).
The relaunch was not limited to a name change. Since the program’s initial launch in 2018, the industry has experienced meaningful shifts in legislation, regulatory interpretation, technology, and work practices. Over that seven-year period, real-world field experience, damage investigations, and industry feedback consistently highlighted areas where additional clarity, depth, and structure were required.
The updated Ontario course reflects those lessons. Content was revised to address current legislative expectations, evolving locate practices, and the persistent challenges associated with private property work. Greater emphasis was placed on distinguishing between public locate systems and private locating responsibilities, particularly where assumptions have historically led to increased risk.
While the core principles of the original program remain intact, helping workers understand what locate information represents and where its limitations exist, the 2025 relaunch represents a substantive modernization. Language, examples, and case studies were updated to reflect how ground disturbance work is actually performed today, rather than how it was understood when the program was first introduced.
Ontario remains a critical jurisdiction for this training. The province continues to surface many of the same private locating challenges identified over the past decade, making it an appropriate environment for refining and relaunching the program in its current form.