Can You Dig It? Recent Changes To Regulating Excess Soils In British Columbia, Ontario And Québec

Governments in Canada and around the world are taking steps to reduce the trucking of excess soils for disposal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, reduce wear and tear on existing infrastructure, manage the costs of necessary projects and combat climate change. Environment ministries are looking to reduce the environmental costs associated with the extraction of new materials from the subsurface, while moving towards models of managed reuse of materials and reducing opportunities for the illegal movement of excess soils.

Excess soil is a fact of life for all new projects that must be managed by all stakeholders, including project owners, both public and private and the construction and consulting industries. Millions of cubic meters of excess soil are generated by Canadian provinces every year. With new developments in rapidly growing urban centers and the increased redevelopment of brownfields sites, the proper treatment of generated excess soil becomes even