About ORBA

The major impediment to getting roads built in the 1700s was labour - more specifically, the lack of it. There was no government funding so there was no way to pay workers for building roads or hire contractors to manage the work.

While Upper Canadians may finally have started building some roads in the 1800s, that isn't to say they were anything close to good roads. Generally, corduroy roads or just dirt were still the order of the day for the first half of the century, and they often ended where the last settler lived, waiting for the next new settler who would be responsible for making the road extension.

Founded in 1927, ORBA has been the voice of the road building industry and continues to represent our members and advocate for the continued growth of the road building sector. Many of the contractors who have served as President of ORBA since its inception in 1927, are the industry leaders who have created the history of the road building industry in Ontario in the past hundred years.

Coming out of 15 years of crippling Depression and another world war, people were ready for some good times again. Jobs were plentiful, incomes were rising and the new "baby boom" families, all led to personal vehicles becoming household staples in turn raising the need for better roads.

The election of the Mike Harris Conservative government in 1995 brought sweeping change to the road building industry; change to the way the government contracted for and delivered its infrastructure projects that would begin a structural transformation of the industry.

In 2006, the Ontario Road Builders' Association created the Ontario Road Building Hall of Fame to recognize an exclusive group of road builders for exemplary lifetime achievement and service.

Mobile Highway safety barriers were brought to Ontario around 2010 by Powell Contracting Limited. The steel barriers can be moved down the highway in tandem with construction progress and provide a safe, well-lit work area for highway crews.

Ontario Hot Mix Pavement Association amalgamates with ORBA and becomes the Ontario Asphalt Pavement Council (OAPC)