Axis Vac & HDD Services is a privately owned and operated directional drilling, hydrovac, and utility construction company based in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Founded in 2017 by Mitchell Willie, the company has grown from a single hydrovac truck operated by Mitchell himself into a full-scale civil construction contractor with more than 100 pieces of equipment and a workforce of approximately 60 people. Today, Axis Vac & HDD provides services to the oil and gas, municipal, utility, telecommunications, and construction sectors, delivering complex infrastructure work across Saskatchewan. Mitchell’s path into construction is unconventional. Before launching Axis Vac & HDD, he spent his career as a firefighter and paramedic. Through that work, he became closely familiar with hydrovac excavation while responding to emergencies at refineries, where hydrovacs are routinely used around fire mains and underground utilities. When economic pressures, the Fort McMurray wildfires, and refinery shutdowns converged between 2015 and 2017, widespread layoffs followed. Faced with the need to pivot, Mitchell purchased a used hydrovac truck at auction in 2017 and entered the industry with no prior experience running a construction business. Axis Vac began with one truck and one operator. From the outset, growth was driven by necessity as much as ambition. The hydrovac market was highly competitive, and to keep equipment working, the company gradually took on additional scope. Hydrovac services led to directional drilling, drilling led to underground construction, and underground work expanded into full turnkey utility delivery. Over time, Axis Vac evolved from a specialty service provider into a prime utility contractor capable of managing entire projects FEBRUARY 2026
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