Western Canada One-Call Centres Adopting One System

Each province in Canada has slight variations on how locates for buried utilities are requested to a One-Call centre, and each One-Call centre’s business rules vary, even when using the same software. For companies that work across more than one province, that means potentially altering their procedures in each province. When you're just trying to get the job done, this can occasionally lead to some headaches. However, in Western Canada, that will soon change.

Before the end of the year, One-Call centres in British Columbia, Alberta and Manitoba will transition to a new unified system. All three provinces will feature the same approach for requesting a locate and all three will have the same rules and requirements.

“We are really proud of the advancement we are making to revolutionize the One Call processes across Western Canada," said Chris Hyland, President and CEO of BC One Call, in a press release earlier this year. "By collaborating as organizations and unifying our business rules we are taking a huge step to move the damage prevention process forward."

For the past several years, One-Call centres across Canada have shifted locate requests online with the “Click Before You Dig” call-to-action. For One-Call centres in Western Canada, the next logical step is to combine and streamline their online operations.

In February 2018 the Western Canada One-Call centres released their business alignment document, the Business Rules for the Provision and Use of Notification Services in Western Canada, which outlines how procedures for each One-Call centre will align with other provinces, and they announced a partnership with PelicanCorp to develop new One-call software for all three provinces.

“We evaluated our options and determined that PelicanCorp offer the only proven global One Call solution," said Mike Sullivan, President of Alberta One Call in the press release.

PelicanCorp's One-Call platform is used in multiple countries around the world and can be adapted to any geographic location.

Sullivan said they chose PelicanCorp's OneCallAccess system because of its malleability and because it brings a "host" of new ideas to damage prevention in North America.

The system will feature new ticket types, a simple method for submitting work site location and the ability to view ticket history online and receive confirmation from utility owners. And the system is designed to be as easy to use on a mobile device as on a computer.

One-Call Centres in Western Canada are currently looking for buried asset owners who would like to join a testing group. Testing groups will be run throughout the fall as new features are rolled out.

The new One-Call system will go live on November 30, 2018.

For more information or to join a testing group, visit BeforeYouDigPartners.com.