WHEREAS, Annual damages to Ontario’s underground infrastructure caused by excavation events number approximately 4,000 per year. These events cause negative impacts to the Ontario public and our province’s economy; and
WHEREAS, The Ontario Regional Common Ground Alliance (ORCGA), formed in 2003, whose purpose is to enhance public safety and utility infrastructure reliability through a unified approach to effective and efficient damage prevention, has approximately 500 members dedicated to this purpose, including the Town of Collingwood; and
WHEREAS, The Canadian Common Ground Alliance (CCGA) and the ORCGA have worked collaboratively to produce the “Underground Infrastructure Damage Prevention – Best Practices” handbook to assist in reducing infrastructure damage associated with excavations; and
WHEREAS, The ORCGA annually promotes many education events across its thirteen (13) Geographic Areas which cover all of Ontario, including the Dig Safe Kick-offs in April and “April is Dig Safe Month”, to raise awareness of the importance of proper excavation practices.
NOW THEREFORE, I, Yvonne Hamlin, Mayor of the Town of Collingwood,
DO HEREBY PROCLAIM April 2026 as “Dig Safe Month” in the Town of Collingwood.
Dated this 1st day of April 2026.