COURT BULLETIN
TORONTO-BASED COMPANY FINED $175,000 FOLLOWING A WORKPLACE FATALITY
May 20, 2026
Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills DevelopmentConvicted: Aecon Utilities Inc., 105-20 Carlson Court, Toronto, Ontario
Location of Workplace: 2750 King Road, King City, Ontario
Description of Offence: The company failed 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 the Occupational Health and Safety Act.
Date of Offence: July 30, 2024
Date of Conviction: March 26, 2026
Penalty Imposed:
* Following a guilty plea in the Ontario Court of Justice in Newmarket, Aecon
Utilities Inc. was fined $175,000 by Justice Prutschi. Crown Counsel was
David McCaskill.
* The court also imposed a 25 per cent victim fine surcharge as required by the
Provincial Offences Act. The surcharge is credited to a special provincial
government fund to assist victims of crime.
Background:
* On July 30, 2024, Aecon Utilities Inc. was installing a new underground
utility service at a residential property in King City. Excavation work was
conducted to expose an existing pipeline, and a trench shoring box system had
been installed to support the walls of the excavation.
* While the worker was inside the trench connecting the new utility service to
the pipeline, weather conditions deteriorated and heavy rainfall began.
Rainwater mixed with silt and soil entered the trench, forming a slurry that
accumulated rapidly. The worker became trapped in the slurry and was fatally
injured by the rapidly rising water.
* The Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development
investigated the incident, including the engineering aspects of the trench,
pumping capacity and site conditions. The investigation concluded that the
amount of rainfall and sediment entering the excavation made it impossible to
safely dewater the trench. Continuing to use equipment in those conditions
endangered the worker.
* As a result, Aecon Utilities Inc. failed to ensure that equipment was not
used when weather conditions made its use likely to endanger a worker,
contrary to the Occupational Health and Safety Act.
