The first stop may be a garden centre or an equipment rental store where homeowners can access supplies for their home projects. The Ambassadors provide handouts and promotional materials to the staff, which can be shared with the community and provide a familiar reminder to work safely near underground and overhead utilities. These businesses are overwhelmingly supportive and often attach Click Before You Dig stickers to rental equipment and link to ClickBeforeYouDig.com on their websites.

A few weeks ago, the NHL’s Battle of Alberta was destined to eliminate the Calgary Flames or the Edmonton Oilers from Stanley Cup playoff contention. With superstars like Connor McDavid or Johnny Gaudreau, either team had a very good chance of moving onto the finals. When the Oilers emerged victorious, the province of Alberta got behind their team as they prepared to face the Colorado Avalanche – another great hockey city that experienced championships with the likes of Joe Sakic and Patrick Roy. Hopes were high for an entertaining series – and we decided to make it a little more fun.

For those familiar with the Common Ground Alliance (CGA) in the U.S., it owns the popular and recognizable “811” brand and yet, with an advertising budget that is virtually zero, it managed to quickly proliferate the 811 brand into every corner of the United States. 811 appears on boats, NASCAR, Race Horses and Jockeys, Major League Baseball games, on large oil tanks and every trinket, keepsake and memento imaginable. The brand’s reach was so extensive that it reaches into Canada creating some confusion with Canada’s own 811 service for Telehealth.

How did the CGA do it?

Canadians from coast to coast to coast celebrate our beautiful country on July 1 with parades, fireworks, community events, barbeques, walks and runs, music and smiles and laughter. And why not? We live in one of the most desirable countries on Earth! Many of us who were born here take our bounty for granted but for countless Canadians who chose to come seeking a better life, it is their reaction to Canada Day festivities that reminds me of how fortunate we truly are.

Without fail, May has always been the busiest month for locate requests at Utility Safety Partners (formerly, Alberta One-Call Corporation), and May 2022 was the busiest ever.

Our system and our Agents processed 60,651 locate requests!

What’s even more amazing is the percentage of locate requests made over the web – the ClickBeforeYouDig requests. An incredible 83.5%! And for those who choose or need to call-in their locate requests, the average wait time to connect with an Agent keeps getting lower.

“The microsite takes the (proposed) legislation section by section and a person can provide their comments. Once all the comments have been received the Government Relations Committee and I will review them all then submit a third version of this legislation to the Government.” The document will be submitted for either the Fall 2022 or Winter 2022/23 sitting.

The importance of mapping an accurate dig site when you place a locate request cannot be overstated. It is the most important piece of information on your ticket, so when you receive the email copy of your ticket back, it is critical that you take the time to review that map. Does is cover your entire dig area? Is it in the correct geographic location?