Utility contractor fined after fatal trench flooding incident in King City

The conviction stems from a workplace incident on July 30, 2024, at a site on King Road, where the company was installing a new underground utility service. According to Ontario’s Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development, excavation work was underway to expose an existing pipeline, and a trench shoring box system had been installed to support the excavation walls.

While a worker was inside the trench connecting the new utility service to the pipeline, weather conditions deteriorated and heavy rainfall began, according to an Ontario court bulletin. Rainwater mixed with silt and soil rapidly entered the excavation, creating a slurry that quickly accumulated in the trench. The worker became trapped and drowned in the rising water.

A ministry investigation examined the engineering aspects of the trench, site conditions and the pumping capacity available during the operation. Investigators concluded that the volume of rainfall and sediment entering the excavation made it impossible to safely dewater the trench and that continuing to use the equipment under those conditions endangered the worker.

Aecon Utilities, located at 20 Carlson Court in Toronto, pleaded guilty to failing to ensure that equipment was not used under weather conditions where its use was likely to endanger a worker, contrary to section 93(2)(b) of Ontario Regulation 213/91 and section 25(1)(c) of Ontario’s Occupational Health and Safety Act.

The company was convicted on March 26, 2026, in the Ontario Court of Justice in Newmarket. The court imposed the $175,000 fine following the guilty plea.

The court also imposed a mandatory 25% victim fine surcharge under the Provincial Offences Act, directed to a provincial fund that supports victims of crime.