Planning and construction

Learn more about upgrades taking place in your neighbourhood.

Toronto Hydro crew member working.

At Toronto Hydro, we’re making investments to help strengthen and modernize our grid so that we can keep electricity flowing safely and minimize power outages for our customers.

Through our capital work program, we’re replacing aging equipment, improving reliability and enhancing the overall customer service experience. This is a long-term investment for a smarter, better grid.

Planned outages

Planned outages may be necessary in order to make improvements in your neighbourhood. If your home or business will be affected by a planned outage, we do our best to provide you with advance notice, which includes the date, time, expected duration of the outage and other relevant project details.

Note: We use third-party contractors for a variety of projects. If planned work is being performed by one of these contractors, you may receive the notice directly from them.

What to expect when crews are working in your neighbourhood

Our crews try their best to minimize disruptions, but sometimes, they’re necessary in order for crews to perform work safely. When crews are working in your neighbourhood, you may experience:

  • Traffic disruptions
  • Noise disruptions
  • Blocking of bike lanes
  • Temporary storage yards

Safety reminder: Work zones are there for everyone’s safety. Slow down and use extra caution whenever you're approaching a work site.

Common electrical equipment installations

Toronto’s electricity grid is made up of a combination of overhead and underground equipment. The following are some common types of electrical equipment you may see being installed or worked on in your neighbourhood.

Hydro poles

As part of our capital work program, we regularly install and/or relocate hydro poles on City-owned property throughout Toronto. We do our best to avoid interfering with existing landscaping by using the hydro excavation method (commonly referred to as hydrovac).

Powerlines

Powerlines are strung across hydro poles to enable electricity to flow from our grid to homes and businesses throughout Toronto. When installing powerlines, we have strict clearance requirements that we follow for public safety.

Overhead transformers

Transformers play an important role in supplying power to homes and businesses. When planning and designing our projects, our staff follows established standards to determine the optimal location of transformers.

Switches

Switches are responsible for controlling the flow of electricity through powerlines. When making upgrades, we often install Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) switches that enable us to reduce the length of power outages through offsite restoration methods.

Tap boxes

Tap boxes are primarily used as secondary connection points that allow crews to perform work on an individual home or business without disrupting power to the rest of the neighbourhood. They're installed on City-owned land, have green or grey lids, and lay flush to the ground.

When installing tap boxes, crews may require access to your property in order to install an underground duct that connects individual meters to our main electrical line.

Splice vaults

Splice vaults help safely connect cables under long underground distances. They're installed on City-owned land, have galvanized steel lids and lay flush to the ground.

Padmount transformers

Padmount transformers play an important role in supplying power to homes and businesses. When planning and designing our projects, our staff follows established standards to determine the optimal location of electrical equipment. They conduct walkabouts of the neighbourhood and, when possible, look to install padmount transformers in less visible locations.

When installing padmount transformers, crews may require access to your property in order to install an underground pipe that connects individual meters to our main electrical line.

Construction map

Get information on planned outage and construction projects in your area.

View map

Frequently asked questions

We understand the care and effort that residents put into beautifying and maintaining this piece of land, and we do our best to minimize any damage. However, please be aware that if damage occurs, our involvement with the costs associated for repairing customer-owned structures and/or landscaping may be limited.

If you have questions about how affected areas will be restored, please refer to the City’s Municipal Consent Requirements for guidelines.

We recognize that changes to our electrical infrastructure within the City’s public right-of-way can impact home and business owners. Our Community Relations team is available to answer questions regarding our planned work and any equipment installations. They’re available by email at capitalprojects@torontohydro.com or by phone at 416-542-3366, Monday to Friday between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m.

Electrical equipment and other infrastructure can be buried on homeowners’ properties, including underneath driveways and City-owned sidewalks. Sometimes, our crews need to cut into these areas in order to complete their work.

Toronto Hydro follows the City of Toronto’s City’s Municipal Consent Requirements when restoring impacted areas to ensure they’re constructed in accordance with current City standards.

Underground locates determine if and where underground equipment exists. Anyone planning to dig (utilities, homeowners, contractors, etc.) is responsible for requesting a locate before they can safely begin digging.

Red paint markings and/or flags signify electrical infrastructure located below-ground, but that doesn’t necessarily mean there’s upcoming Toronto Hydro-related work in the area. To find out about Toronto Hydro construction projects near you, please visit our interactive construction map.

If you have questions or concerns about our construction work that haven’t been addressed in the above FAQ, we encourage you to reach out to our Community Relations team. You can get in touch with them by email at capitalprojects@torontohydro.com or by phone at 416-542-3366, Monday to Friday between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m.