2026 Cost Guide · Cambridge
Hydrovac Costs in Cambridge (2026)
Planning ranges for hydrovac in Cambridge in 2026, and why an industrial yard and a Galt back yard can carry the same hourly rate and very different bills.
Hydrovac is priced the same way across Ontario: an hourly rate for the truck with an operator and a swamper, a minimum number of hours, and slurry disposal charged per load or per tonne on top. Cambridge adds lines that other cities see less often. Industrial yards mean pavement cutting, steel plating and night or weekend windows. The river towns mean groundwater and variable soil. And spoil from an industrial yard may need a receiving facility that accepts potentially contaminated material, which costs more per load than clean fill. Comparing hourly rates between operators tells you little; the bill is decided by hours, loads and those extras.
Planning ranges
These are planning ranges only, drawn from what hydrovac work in Waterloo Region is typically quoted at in 2026. Every job is quoted in writing after a site review or a look at the drawings, and the quote is the only number that applies to your site.
- Truck, operator and swamper, by the hour: commonly $300 to $450 per hour, with a three- to four-hour minimum on most jobs. Night and weekend windows carry a premium.
- Slurry disposal, clean spoil: typically $150 to $400 per load depending on the facility, volume and material.
- Slurry disposal, potentially contaminated yard spoil: can be considerably higher per load and may require testing first; quoted once the site and its history are known.
- Single residential job such as exposing a gas service and a few footings: usually the minimum plus one load, in the range of $1,200 to $2,000 all in.
- Full day of perimeter fence or pole holes on an industrial or subdivision site: commonly $2,800 to $4,500 including disposal, depending on count, depth, soil and pavement.
- Daylighting program in a plant yard, such as six to ten test holes through pavement with plating and records: often $3,500 to $7,000 depending on depth, windows and restoration.
- Catch basin cleaning: commonly $150 to $300 per basin including disposal, with a site minimum; oil-grit separators are quoted individually.
What moves the price, in rough order
- Soil and groundwater. Gravel cuts fast; silt and clay cut slowly and make heavy slurry; a wet hole near the Grand or Speed fills the tank with water as well as spoil. Galt and Preston can show all three on one lot.
- Depth. Time and slurry per hole climb steeply with depth. A 1.8 m (6 ft) fire main exposure is several times a 600 mm (2 ft) conduit.
- Pavement, plating and windows. Saw-cutting asphalt or concrete, plating open holes and slots between shifts, and working nights or weekends so the yard keeps running are real costs and are itemised.
- Disposal class. Whether the spoil can go to a clean fill facility or needs one that accepts potentially contaminated material. On an older industrial site this can be the largest variable.
- Frozen ground. Heated water cuts frost, slowly. Winter work commonly takes half again to twice as long per hole.
- Permits and traffic control. Right-of-way work needs the City of Cambridge Highway Occupancy Permit, a certificate of insurance naming the City and Book 7 traffic control, or the Region's permit on a Regional road. The fee schedule is the City's, not ours.
- Hole count and spread. Fifty holes down one fence line is one day; fifty holes across three buildings and a yard is a different job.
- Access and hose run. A truck parked at the hole is the cheapest configuration; a long hose run across a yard to stay out of the traffic lane slows the dig.
How the quote should read
A hydrovac quote worth accepting states the hourly rate and the minimum, the estimated hours for the scope, how disposal is charged and the assumed class and number of loads, who holds the One Call locate, the private locate and any permit, whether backfill material and compaction are included, what plating and restoration are included, and what happens if the ground or the drawings turn out to be wrong. An hourly rate on its own is not a quote.
Where hydrovac is not the cheap option
Open ground with good access and nothing in it. An auger, a trencher or a mini-excavator is faster and cheaper there and we will say so. Hydrovac earns its rate where the alternative is hand-digging beside a fire main or a feeder, where the yard cannot close, where a machine cannot reach, or where a strike would cost far more than the difference.
Frequently asked questions
What is the minimum charge for hydrovac in Cambridge?
Most operators quote a three- to four-hour minimum plus at least one disposal load, which for a single small residential job in Cambridge commonly lands in the $1,200 to $2,000 planning range. A full-day booking or a shared truck day with a neighbour brings the cost per hole down considerably.
Why might disposal cost more on an industrial site?
Because spoil from a paved yard with decades of plant history may carry hydrocarbons, metals or other contaminants, and a facility that accepts potentially contaminated soil charges more per load than a clean fill site. Some sites need the spoil tested first. It is quoted once the site and its history are known, and it is itemised rather than hidden in the hourly rate.
Why are night and weekend windows more expensive?
Because the crew is working outside normal hours so your yard can keep running during the day. The premium is usually far smaller than the cost of stopping shipping or production for a daytime trench.
Is hydrovac more expensive than hand-digging around services?
For one shallow hole, sometimes not. For a run of posts, a deep exposure or anything near a fire main or feeder it rarely is once the labour hours are counted honestly, and hand-digging beside those lines carries a risk the saving does not cover.
Is winter more expensive?
Per hole, usually, because frost slows the cut even with heated water. The truck tends to be more available in winter, so for work that cannot wait it is routine. Planned residential work is cheaper before the ground freezes.
Do you charge for a quote?
No. The site review and the written quote are free. Industrial and contractor work can usually be quoted from the drawings, a yard walk and the locate. We will not give a firm number over the phone for ground nobody has looked at, because in Cambridge the ground and the yard's history are most of the story.
Price ranges above are typical Waterloo Region figures for 2026 and are provided for planning only. Every job is quoted in writing after a site visit. Last updated October 24, 2026.