UXO Awareness and Safety

UXO is a documented and ongoing hazard across Canada, not just in conflict zones abroad. The Department of National Defence has identified over 500 contaminated sites nationwide, including areas that have since been converted to parks, farmland, housing developments, and industrial sites in Ontario, Quebec, Alberta, BC, and beyond. Items found have included artillery shells, mortar rounds, grenades, aerial bombs, and naval munitions - some buried for over a century. Workers in construction, forestry, mining, agriculture, and marine operations are among those most at risk.

Under the Canada Labour Code, Part II, all provincial OHS Acts, and the Explosives Act, employers must identify and assess UXO risk before any ground disturbance begins. This means reviewing historical maps, aerial photographs, and DND records; commissioning a subsurface UXO survey by accredited technicians where risk is confirmed or reasonably suspected; and developing a site-specific UXO response plan that includes stop-work authority triggers, a 100-metre exclusion zone procedure, evacuation routes, and EOD contact information. Employers who allow workers to operate in UXO-risk areas without a hazard assessment and mitigation plan face prosecution under both OHS legislation and the Explosives Act.

Follow the 3 Rs: Recognize, Retreat, Report. Stop immediately and warn co-workers without touching or disturbing the object. Leave the area by exactly the route you entered - you know that path is already clear - and maintain a minimum distance of 100 metres. Do not walk quickly or run, as ground vibration can destabilize an unstable fuze. Once at safe distance, call 911 and provide your location and a verbal description; Canadian police dispatchers escalate UXO calls directly to RCMP or DND Explosive Ordnance Disposal. Do not return to the site until EOD has cleared it and provided written authorization to resume.

Age makes UXO less predictable, not safer. The explosive fill inside ordnance remains chemically stable for decades, but the detonator and fuze mechanisms corrode over time - stripping away the safety features originally built into the device and leaving it in a permanently armed, highly sensitive state. Even minor disturbance such as stepping on the object, striking it with equipment, or vibration from nearby machinery can trigger detonation. Older munitions may also contain toxic chemical agents such as mustard agent or lewisite from WWI and WWII-era stocks, which can contaminate soil and groundwater with no visible surface sign.

No. Possessing unexploded military ordnance without authorization is a criminal offence under Canada's Explosives Act, regardless of your intent. Every year Canadians bring unusual objects home - and some later detonate in garages, sheds, and storage rooms, killing or injuring the finder and family members. If you find a suspected UXO, follow the 3 Rs and report it to police; EOD will safely collect the item with no questions asked. Any attempt to personally dispose of, transport, or destroy UXO is also illegal and carries severe penalties under the Explosives Act.