Sabin Charlebois, Founder of S. Charlebois Haulage and Excavating was the oldest of 5 children and grew up in the small village of Lafontaine, Ontario. He learned early on that dedication and hard work were the key elements in running a successful business. Never shying away from hard work, every day after school and on weekends you would find Sabin working in his father's gravel pit running backhoes, loading dump trucks and hauling material.

In 1965 Sabin decided to begin his own company. He started small with snow plowing during the winter while continuing to work for his father during the summer. In 1967 Sabin purchased 50 acres of land east of Lafontaine with the hopes that one day his new business would be based from there. That year also saw Sabin purchase his first dump truck, and hire his first employee, Martin Beausoleil. In April of 1972 construction off the first shop was completed on the original 50 acres of land. The office was staffed by a single empoyee, Sabin's loving wife Angele.

The 1970's were a period of rapid growth for the company, as the local economy was booming and construction was going on everywhere. More vehicles and equipment were purchased, and of course more staff to operate them. In 1975 Valmore Gignac was hired as a backhoe operator, and Val, who is the longest serving member of our team is still working with us to this very day. Val's son Leon also works with us as an operator. The 1979 season was spent working with BOT Construciton building the first Highway 400 North Extension near Royal Victoria Hospital in Barrie, and this work continued until 1982. Once the extension was done, BOT Construction hired us once again to assist in the expansion of Highway 11 near Washago.

During the recession of the early 1980's it was the reputation of honesty and quality that Sabin had built that allowed the company to weather the difficult times, as people and companies that he had worked for in the past were in the habit of only calling him when they needed work done. As the economy improved, development of the cottage industry began to take off. Sabin and his team were kept very busy by the local builders clearing lots and digging basements. That crew dug a total of 72 new basements during the summer of 1987 alone.