Government Relations

Damaging a buried utility is dangerous for the workers involved and can deprive homes and businesses of essential services. Each year, damage to underground infrastructure costs Albertans an estimated $350 million. To ensure the safety of our workers, protect the integrity of our buried utility network, and to preserve our essential services, Alberta needs damage prevention legislation.

Support Damage Prevention Legislation

Provincial damage prevention legislation was tabled in the Alberta Legislature in 2019 but did not pass third reading due to the provincial election that year. With our Government Relations Contractor, Concentric Public Affairs, and our new Government Relations Committee, we are preparing to re-table legislation.

We invite all Albertans to visit our Damage Prevention Legislation microsite dedicated to all things ‘Legislation’ providing a fact sheet, backgrounder, narrated presentation of our long legislative journey, and electronic version of the proposed legislation. Most importantly, the microsite facilitates letters of support from you to your Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) by simply pressing the “Support Legislation” button. The process only takes seconds to complete and we hope you will share it with your contacts.

If you are a Utility Safety Partners member and wish to get involved in the damage prevention legislation initiative, please send an email to [email protected] with “Government Relations Committee” in the subject line.

Damage Prevention Legislation Comment Period has Closed

On behalf of my colleagues and the Utility Safety Partners’ Board of Directors, I wish to thank everyone who took the time to review the 1^st and 2^nd drafts of the proposed damage prevention legislation and submitted comments. Your feedback is critical to ensuring USP develops the most comprehensive and reasonable legislation possible. 

USP’s Government Relations Committee will now reconvene to review all comments on the 2^nd draft and prepare the 3^rd and final draft which will be presented to the Alberta Government in due course. In accordance with development of the final draft, USP updated its microsite to facilitate support for the legislation to your respective MLA. Please visit this page for updates as we move forward.

 -Mike Sullivan, President – Utility Safety Partners

Damage Prevention Legislation – Past and Present

Watch this video to learn about the history of damage prevention legislation in Alberta and the current efforts to secure comprehensive damage prevention legislation surrounding the registration of buried and overhead utilities.