National Survey for Utility Agreements (2020)

Completed in 2020, this report is not yet even published by TAC but it does contain some great information. It was completed by a task force within the TAC PUMS committee – led by Jean-Francois Demers (MTQ), and with help from Pierre Gagnon (MTQ), Barry Poon (Calgary) and Jevito Marchese (Mississauga).

The purpose of the task force was to conduct a survey for Highway ROW owners in order to compare the practices across Canada in the field of Public Utility Management. Surveys were sent to 59 organizations, but only 7 took the time to fill them out. Despite low numbers, there is still some great insights that can be found in the data.

Some interesting facts from the survey

• 43% have a website for Utilities to submit and obtain their permits online.
• 71% don’t apply penalties when work done by Utilities is not in accordance with permits.
• 57% assume part of the costs of utility relocations that take place in their highway ROW.
• 43% take more than 3 weeks to analyze permit applications.

Respondents answered a total of 51 questions for the survey. The task force did a great job of summarizing the data into a concise presentation. If you are interested in getting a copy of the presentation it will soon be available on the TAC website, however in the meantime you can e-mail me at Lawrence.Arcand@4Sightue.com