Rigging-Busters provides electrical transformer moving services in Ottawa, ON, Canada: rigging, removal, transport and setting of transformers, switchgear and generators for data centres, labs, hospitals, government buildings and plants across Ottawa, Kanata and the Ottawa Valley.
Ottawa’s grid is growing quickly. Hydro Ottawa says it is on track to energize a new station nearly every year until 2030, and its chief executive told city council in June 2026 that the utility had received 34 requests from large-load customers in two years. Behind that growth sit new electrical rooms, unit substations and transformer change-outs, and each one needs a careful lift, move and set.
- Industrial work only: data centres, labs, hospitals, campuses and plants. No household moves and no electrical work.
- Survey to set with one crew: rigging, jacking and skidding, loading, transport and setting on the pad.
- Cranes when the lift needs one: our crane or a partner crane.
- Quotes usually within 2–4 working hours once we have all the details. Estimates are free.
- Minimum job: 3,500 CAD before tax. Most industrial jobs cost more, and your written quote shows the full price.
- Equipment: jack-and-roll systems for loads up to 600 tons, hydraulic gantries, lift trucks up to 60,000 lb and float trailers for loads up to 50 tons.
- Where: Ottawa, ON and the surrounding area, from Kanata and Stittsville to Orléans and the Valley towns, plus Kingston.
Need a budget figure first? Our Heavy Lifting & Moving Calculator returns a price range in a few clicks.
or give a call +1-613-699-2692
Why Choose Rigging-Busters for Electrical Transformer Moving in Ottawa?
Many transformer moves in Ottawa happen in buildings that cannot stop: server halls, hospital plant rooms, research labs and federal offices. The work has to fit a short outage, often at night or on a weekend, while the rest of the building keeps running around it. That is the kind of job our crew plans for. Every crew is insured: $5 million in liability insurance that includes cargo coverage, plus workers’ compensation coverage (WSIB in Ontario). Certificate of insurance and WSIB clearance certificate on request.
Transformers for Data Centres, Labs and Government Buildings
Large loads are arriving fast. Of the 1,075 megawatts requested from Hydro Ottawa by large-load customers, data centres accounted for 653, and the federal government plans a 60 MW data centre in the National Capital Region, with a tender expected in 2027. New capacity means dry-type transformers in electrical rooms, pad-mount units outside, switchgear lineups and generators, each set to the electrical contractor’s drawings.
Electrical Equipment Relocation Services Inside Buildings and Campuses
Not every job leaves the site. A switchgear lineup may move to a new room, a transformer may come out of a basement vault for a refit, or a lab may need its UPS and power cabinets shifted to make space. These electrical equipment relocation services follow the same steps as a full move, minus the truck.
or give a call +1-613-699-2692
Our Expertise With Transformers, Switchgear and Heavy Equipment
Custom Transformer Moving Plans
An Ottawa plan usually starts with the electrical contractor’s outage date and works backwards. We take the nameplate data, the manufacturer’s lifting and jacking points and the tilt limit, walk the route from the room or pad to the street, and check where a truck can stand without blocking a hospital entrance, a loading dock or a transit lane.
The move itself then follows the same order every time:
- Outage booked: your electrical contractor and, where its equipment is involved, Hydro Ottawa fix the date.
- De-energized and locked out by your licensed electricians before our crew touches the unit.
- Prepared for travel as the manufacturer requires: oil, radiators or bushings handled by its field service, an impact recorder fitted if asked.
- Rigged out on skates, jacks and cribbing, a gantry or a heavy forklift, or lifted by our crane or a partner crane.
- Hauled on a lowboy or float trailer under the City of Ottawa and MTO permits the load needs.
- Set on the new pad or in the new room, levelled and lined up with the drawings.
- Handed over to your electricians and the manufacturer for connection, testing and energizing.
Electricians, Hydro Ottawa and the Manufacturer: Who Does What
In Ontario, electrical work done for hire must be carried out by a Licensed Electrical Contractor (Ontario Regulation 570/05), so your licensed electricians disconnect, reconnect and test. Hydro Ottawa owns and works on its own distribution equipment, and Hydro One runs the transmission stations that feed the city. The manufacturer’s field service handles oil, dressing and factory tests. Our crew does the rigging, the moving and the setting, and nothing on the electrical side.
Hydro Ottawa Inspections: Pads, Vaults and Customer Substations
Hydro Ottawa’s Conditions of Service set two checks that shape the schedule. Transformer vaults and pad-mounted equipment bases are inspected and approved by Hydro Ottawa before the equipment is installed, and customer-owned substations must be inspected and approved by both the Electrical Safety Authority and Hydro Ottawa before Hydro Ottawa connects them. We time the delivery and the set to follow those inspections.
Heavy Equipment Moving Services in Ottawa
Beyond electrical gear, our crew offers heavy equipment moving services for Ottawa plants, labs and print shops. For machinery moving services such as machine tools, presses and production lines, see machinery movers in Ottawa; for lifting and placement only, see industrial rigging services in Ottawa.
or give a call +1-613-699-2692
Service Breakdown: Removal, Delivery and Setting of Transformers
Electrical Transformer Installation and Removal: Our Part
Electrical transformer installation is licensed electrical work, so your electrical contractor makes the connections. Our part is the heavy work around it: taking the old unit out once it is disconnected, delivering the new one and setting it to the drawings, and moving the old transformer to a repair shop, a buyer or a disposal site. Moving transformers between your own buildings follows the same steps.
Electrical Transformer Transportation and Permits in Ottawa
In Ottawa, a truck and load that meets or exceeds 4.15 m in height, 2.6 m in width, 21 m in length or 63,500 kg needs a City of Ottawa over-dimensional vehicle permit under By-law 2003-497. The City lists about three business days for a single-trip permit and ten for a super load. Over-dimensional moves are barred from the downtown core from 7 to 9:30 a.m. and 3:30 to 6 p.m., and permits are not valid on posted roads or bridges or during load restrictions.
Three more rules shape Ottawa routes. The NCC parkways are closed to commercial vehicles, so they are never part of the plan. Highways 417 and 416 are provincial, so an oversize load on them needs an MTO permit, applied for at least 5 business days ahead. And each spring, seasonal load restrictions on signed City roads limit trucks to 5 tonnes per axle, so heavy loads in that period are planned around them.
Industrial Transformer Movers: Safety and Standards
Our standards come from the manufacturer and from your site. We lift at the maker’s lifting points, jack at its jacking pads, stay inside its tilt limit and block the unit the way its instructions say. On hospital, campus and federal sites we also work to the site’s own safety orientation, escort and permit-to-work rules.
Complementary Services: Storage, Contractor Rigging and Old Equipment Removal
Industrial Storage and Warehousing
When a new electrical room is late, a transformer that has already left its old building needs somewhere to wait. Storage can be arranged until the room or pad is ready, with the unit kept on its base, blocked and covered, and delivered when your contractor calls for it.
Electrical Transformer Rigging Services for Contractors
Electrical contractors and general contractors on Ottawa projects often need the rigging alone: offloading a new unit from the manufacturer’s truck, jacking it into a vault, or placing switchgear sections in a new electrical room. We work to their schedule and their site rules, and the electrical scope stays with them.
Removing Old Transformers and Switchgear
Building upgrades leave old gear behind. Once your electricians have disconnected it and made it safe, we take old transformers, switchgear and drives out of rooms and vaults and deliver them to the repair shop, buyer or disposal site you choose. For a complete plant or lab move, see machinery movers in Ottawa.
or give a call +1-613-699-2692
Transformer Moving Cost in Ottawa: What Affects the Price
We price each transformer move from the nameplate, photos and both addresses. The number depends on:
- Size and type: weight and kVA, and whether the unit is dry-type or oil-filled
- Access: vaults, basements, rooftops, corridors, floor loads and the distance to the truck
- Method: skates, jacks and cribbing, a gantry, a heavy forklift or a crane lift (crane time is included in your quote)
- Permits and timing on the road: City of Ottawa and MTO permits, downtown time windows, escorts
- Site rules: security escorts, after-hours work and outage windows at hospitals, campuses and federal buildings
- Manufacturer requirements: impact recorders, accessories shipped separately, draining for large units
We quote the rigging, transport and setting; the price of a transformer itself comes from the manufacturer or dealer. For a first range, try the Heavy Lifting and Moving Calculator, and see our guide to riggers liability coverage for what to ask about insurance before any high-value lift.
Why Ottawa Businesses Trust Us on Critical Sites
Local Expertise
Ottawa’s grid build-out is public and dated. Hydro Ottawa is building the Hydro Road municipal transformer station beside Hydro One’s Hawthorne station to power OC Transpo’s zero-emission buses, with commissioning planned for 2027, and a new Greenbank station on Greenbank Road south of Hunt Club Road, targeted for service by the end of 2028. On the customer side, the work sits in business parks such as Kanata North, South Merivale, Colonnade and Hawthorne-Stevenage, and in the east-end parks at Sheffield and Canotek.
Safety Above All
Safety on our side means a locked-out unit before anyone rigs it, the manufacturer’s limits known before the first jack goes in, and nobody near the load while it moves. In occupied buildings it also means protecting floors and finishes along the route and keeping the path clear of staff and patients.
Is Your Job a Good Fit?
A good fit: dry-type and pad-mount transformers, unit substations, switchgear, UPS and generators in data centres, labs, hospitals, campuses and plants; change-outs inside planned outages; removals during building upgrades.
Not a fit: transformer rental, including large transformers for rent and mobile substations; transformer repair and testing; selling or manufacturing transformers; electrical installation and terminations; Hydro Ottawa equipment on streets and homes; and household moves, for which other moving companies in Ottawa, Ontario are the right call.
Have These Ready for an Exact Transformer Moving Quote
Attach these to your quote request and we can come back with an exact quote:
- Nameplate photo with kVA and weight, plus oil-filled or dry-type
- Drawings for the new pad, vault or electrical room, and the manufacturer’s lifting points
- Both addresses and the floor or level at each end
- Route photos: doors, corridors, elevators or hatches, and where a truck can stand
- Outage date and your electrical contractor’s contact
- Site rules: security clearance, escorts, orientation or after-hours limits
or give a call +1-613-699-2692
Service Area: Ottawa, Kanata and the Ottawa Valley
We cover all of Ottawa, including Kanata, Stittsville, Barrhaven, Nepean, Gloucester and Orléans, the rural areas around Carp, Greely and Richmond, and towns such as Arnprior, Carleton Place, Almonte, Kemptville, Rockland and Russell. We also take transformer moves to and from Kingston. For transformer work in the GTA, see electrical transformer moving and rigging in Toronto. Service en français : gréage industriel à Ottawa.
Key Cities We Serve Around Ottawa
| City | Province | Country |
|---|---|---|
| Ottawa | Ontario | Canada |
| Almonte | Ontario | Canada |
| Arnprior | Ontario | Canada |
| Aylmer | Quebec | Canada |
| Buckingham | Quebec | Canada |
| Carleton Place | Ontario | Canada |
| Casselman | Ontario | Canada |
| Embrun | Ontario | Canada |
| Gatineau | Quebec | Canada |
| Greely | Ontario | Canada |
| Kanata | Ontario | Canada |
| Kemptville | Ontario | Canada |
| Richmond | Ontario | Canada |
| Rockland | Ontario | Canada |
| Russell | Ontario | Canada |
| Stittsville | Ontario | Canada |
| Thurso | Quebec | Canada |
or give a call +1-613-699-2692
Gatineau and the Outaouais
We also take jobs on the Quebec side of the Ottawa River: Gatineau (the Aylmer, Hull, Gatineau, Masson-Angers and Buckingham sectors) and the rest of the Outaouais. The same crew rigs the transformer, hauls it, sets it on the new pad and levels it, then hands it over to your electricians and the manufacturer. A move between an Ottawa site and a Gatineau site is one job with one quote.
An oversize or overweight load needs a permit from each road authority on its route. On the Ontario side, that means the City of Ottawa for city roads and the Ontario Ministry of Transportation (MTO) for provincial highways such as the 417. On the Quebec side, it means a special permit from the Quebec transport ministry (MTMD), plus any city permit the route needs. We apply for each one, and all of them are part of our plan and your quote.
Contact Us Today!
Send the nameplate, a few photos and your outage date. We usually answer within 2–4 working hours with a quote or a short list of questions, and for larger jobs we can walk the site in Ottawa with your electrical contractor before the date is fixed.
Other Services in Ottawa
Related services from our Ottawa crew, or browse all our services in Ottawa:
- Heavy Equipment & Machinery Movers in Ottawa, ON
- Heavy & Industrial Rigging Services in Ottawa, ON
- Lab & Medical Equipment Movers in Ottawa, ON
- Forklift Moving Service in Ottawa, ON
- CNC Machine Movers in Ottawa, ON
- Heavy Equipment Loading & Unloading in Ottawa, ON
Location of our sales office:
955 Green Valley Crescent, Ottawa, ON K2C 3V4, Canada
Transformer Moving in Ottawa: FAQ
Each move is priced as a job. The main factors are the weight and type of the unit, how it leaves its room, vault or pad, the lifting method, City of Ottawa and MTO permits, and site rules such as night work or security escorts. Send the nameplate and photos for an exact quote, or use our Heavy Lifting and Moving Calculator for a quick range.
The rigging and setting of a plant or building transformer usually fits inside one outage. Planning takes longer: the City of Ottawa lists about three business days for a single-trip permit and ten for a super load, an MTO permit needs at least 5 business days, and Hydro Ottawa inspects new pads and vaults before equipment goes in. Start as soon as the outage date is set.
Your licensed electricians. In Ontario, electrical work done for hire must be carried out by a Licensed Electrical Contractor under Ontario Regulation 570/05, and customer-owned substations are approved by the Electrical Safety Authority and Hydro Ottawa before connection. We rig, move and set the unit so the transformer installation can go ahead, then hand over to the electricians and the manufacturer’s field service.
Upright and secured. The unit is lifted only at its lifting points, set on a lowboy or float trailer on timber blocking, chained down and, if the manufacturer asks, fitted with an impact recorder. Large units often travel drained, with radiators removed. The route avoids the NCC parkways and the downtown core at rush hours, and permits are in place before the truck moves.
No. We do not rent out transformers, including large transformers for rent or mobile substations, and we do not repair, test, make or sell them. Our work is moving them: we can take a unit to a repair shop, collect a new one from the manufacturer and set it, or move a rental unit between sites for its owner. For rentals and repairs, contact a supplier or service shop.
Only if the truck and load reach the over-dimensional limits in By-law 2003-497: 4.15 m high, 2.6 m wide, 21 m long or 63,500 kg. Then a City of Ottawa over-dimensional vehicle permit is needed, the downtown core is closed to such moves at rush hours, and the NCC parkways are closed to commercial vehicles. Highways 417 and 416 need an MTO permit. We apply for them.
Not if it is Hydro Ottawa equipment. Under Hydro Ottawa’s Conditions of Service, it relocates its equipment on request only if that is feasible and safe, it is not obliged to without an existing agreement, and the requester pays the costs. Contact Hydro Ottawa first. If the transformer belongs to you, as in a customer-owned substation, our crew can move it once your electricians disconnect it.
Yes. Hydro Ottawa’s Conditions of Service say transformer vaults and pad-mounted equipment bases are inspected and approved by Hydro Ottawa before the equipment is installed, and customer-owned substations need approval from both the Electrical Safety Authority and Hydro Ottawa before connection. Ask your electrical contractor to book the inspection early, and we will schedule the set after it.
Yes. Switchgear lineups, motor control centres, generators and UPS units move with the same crew and methods, often in the same outage as the transformer. For machinery moving services beyond electrical gear, see our machinery movers in Ottawa page, and for data centre power equipment and other lifts, see industrial rigging services in Ottawa.
All of Ottawa, including Kanata, Stittsville, Barrhaven, Nepean, Gloucester and Orléans and the business parks from Kanata North to South Merivale, Colonnade, Sheffield and Canotek, plus Arnprior, Carleton Place, Almonte, Kemptville, Rockland and Russell. For the GTA, see transformer moving in Toronto. Send both addresses with your quote request.
