Always click before you dig
By Lanny McInnes
Date Posted: June 20, 2026
It’s the time of year for tackling lawn and garden projects.
If your landscaping or yardwork calls for digging to be done on your property, it’s crucial that you know exactly what is below the surface before a shovel hits the ground.
Every year, homeowners in Manitoba damage buried utility lines on their property, resulting in costly repairs, injuries and even fatalities. If your project involves digging, please always click before you dig. The Manitoba Common Ground Alliance (MCGA) has established the “Click Before You Dig Manitoba” program to help you. This service provides underground facility screening and notification for safe excavation, both for people who intend to disturb the ground and the utility operators who register their buried facilities.
To improve safety and prevent damage to underground infrastructure, utilities like Manitoba Hydro and Bell MTS have joined the MCGA’s Click Before You Dig Manitoba service. Commercial and residential excavators can reduce the risk of personal injury and property damage by using the service, reaching more operators of buried utilities with only a single web-based request.
Make sure your dig is safe by following these four easy steps:
1. Submit your locate request online at clickbeforeyoudigmb.com.
Go to Submit Locate Request or call 1 (800) 940-3447 to request that your buried facilities be located and marked. Make sure you plan ahead and submit your request at least three full working days before you start your project.
2. Wait for results.
Within three full working days, the utility owners or their authorized locator will contact you or will locate and mark the buried lines on your property. They will provide you with detailed information explaining the markings and how to proceed safely. Locate documentation must be kept on site during your excavation.
3. Identify any customer-owned utility lines.
Customer-owned lines, such as water and sewer service lines, sprinkler systems and any lines connecting buildings on a property, are not registered with clickbeforeyoudigmb.com. The utility owners do not know the location of these lines. It is your responsibility to contact a private locator to mark any customer-owned utilities in the dig area.
4. Dig with care.
Locate markings identify the approximate position of buried utilities. If you’re digging within one metre on either side of the markings (five metres from high-pressure pipelines), carefully expose the line with hand tools to determine its exact location. If you have questions about digging close to a utility, contact the utility owner directly.
Be sure to use Click Before You Dig Manitoba before starting any excavation project, big or small.
Lanny McInnes is president of the Manitoba Home Builders’ Association. You can learn more about MHBA builders and renovators at homebuilders.mb.ca.