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Canada Lands Surveyors Act (S.C. 1998, c. 14)

Act current to 2024-03-06

Liability Insurance

Marginal note:Liability insurance required

  •  (1) Subject to subsection (2) and the regulations, every member of the Association who engages in surveying must be insured against professional liability.

  • Marginal note:Exception

    (2) Subsection (1) does not apply in respect of a member of the Association who is employed by Her Majesty in right of Canada or a province or by an agent of Her Majesty in either of those rights.

  • Marginal note:Arrangements for insurance

    (3) The Association may enter into arrangements respecting insurance against professional liability for its members.

  • Marginal note:Levies

    (4) The Association may prescribe levies to be paid by members of the Association in respect of arrangements entered into under subsection (3).

Permits

Marginal note:Permit required

 No entity, other than a permit holder, may provide cadastral surveying services on Canada Lands or private lands in a territory.

Marginal note:Issuance of permit

 The Registrar may issue a permit to an entity that applies for a permit in accordance with the regulations.

Marginal note:Revocation for non-payment of fees

 The Registrar may revoke a permit for non-payment of any fee or levy prescribed by the by-laws after giving the permit holder at least two months written notice of the default and intention to revoke.

Marginal note:Revocation for lack of licence

 The Registrar may revoke a permit if the permit holder no longer has a partner, associate or employee who holds a licence and who is capable of personally supervising and directing cadastral surveys.

Marginal note:Application for new permit

  •  (1) An entity whose permit has been revoked for professional misconduct or incompetence may, any time after two years after the date of the revocation, apply in writing to the Registrar, in accordance with the regulations, for a new permit.

  • Marginal note:Reference to Discipline Committee

    (2) The Registrar shall refer every application made under subsection (1) to the Discipline Committee.

Regulations

Marginal note:Council may make regulations

 Subject to the approval of the Minister, the Council may make regulations respecting

  • (a) a code of ethics for professional conduct;

  • (b) the composition of committees established under this Act and the rules, practices and procedures of those committees;

  • (c) the duties and powers of the Registrar;

  • (d) the maintenance of records by the Association in respect of members of the Association, Canada Land Surveyors and permit holders, and the inspection of those records;

  • (e) applications for membership in the Association and the renewal and reinstatement of memberships in the Association;

  • (f) applications for admission as a candidate for a commission, the requirements of candidates, the cancellation of a candidacy, appeals of decisions, the granting of commissions, and the use of the titles “Canada Lands Surveyor” and “arpenteur des terres du Canada”;

  • (g) the examination of candidates for a commission;

  • (h) applications for licences and permits and their issuance and renewal, and the reinstatement of licences and permits;

  • (i) the terms and conditions under which members of the Association and their employers must have insurance against professional liability;

  • (j) the exemption of members of the Association, and their employers, from the requirement to be insured in respect of professional liability;

  • (k) the requirement for members of the Association to inform the Registrar of claims against them for professional liability;

  • (l) conflict of interest respecting surveying activities and the definition of conduct that constitutes a conflict of interest;

  • (m) the issuing and ownership of seals, the certification of documents and drawings by members of the Association, and the form of statements of responsibility, seals and signatures;

  • (n) the procedures to be followed by the Association in reviewing the surveying activities of members of the Association to ensure the maintenance of minimum standards of surveying;

  • (o) the investigation of complaints, the procedures of the Complaints Committee and the Discipline Committee and the hearing of allegations of professional misconduct or incompetence;

  • (p) the definition of professional misconduct and incompetence for the purposes of this Act; and

  • (q) any matter necessary for the purposes of carrying out this Act.

Offences

Marginal note:Unlawful use of words or conduct

 Every person, other than a Canada Lands Surveyor, who

  • (a) uses the title “Canada Lands Surveyor” or “arpenteur des terres du Canada”, or any addition to or abbreviation of that title, or any words, name or designation that leads to the belief that the person is a Canada Lands Surveyor, or

  • (b) advertises or purports, in any way or by any means, to be a Canada Lands Surveyor,

is guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding $10,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months, or to both.

Marginal note:Engaging in cadastral surveying without a licence

 Every person, other than a licence holder or a person acting under the direction of a licence holder, who engages or purports to be engaged in cadastral surveying on Canada Lands or on private lands in a territory is guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding $10,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months, or to both.

Marginal note:False statements

 Every person who

  • (a) makes or causes to be made any wilful falsification in any matter relating to a register maintained by the Registrar under this Act, or issues a false licence, a false permit or a false document with respect to a register, or

  • (b) attempts to obtain a licence or a permit by knowingly making any representation or declaration that is false in a material respect,

is guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding $10,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months, or to both.

Marginal note:Obstruction

 Every person who

  • (a) obstructs a person conducting an investigation under subsection 24(2), or

  • (b) hinders or obstructs a Canada Lands Surveyor engaged in cadastral surveying, or a person assisting a Canada Lands Surveyor engaged in cadastral surveying,

is guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding $10,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months, or to both.

Marginal note:Time for instituting proceedings

 Proceedings to obtain a conviction for an offence under sections 63 to 66 shall not be commenced on a date more than five years after the date on which the offence was committed.

Marginal note:Injunctions

 Where any provision of this Act is contravened, the Association may, notwithstanding any other remedy or any penalty imposed, apply to a court for an order prohibiting the continuation or repetition of the contravention or the carrying out of any activity that will result, or will likely result, in the continuation or repetition of the contravention by the person who has committed the contravention.

Marginal note:Civil remedy not affected

 No civil remedy for any act or omission is suspended or affected by reason that the act or omission is an offence under this Act.

Report

Marginal note:Annual report

  •  (1) The Council shall make a report annually to the Minister containing any information that the Minister may require.

  • Marginal note:Report to be tabled

    (2) The Minister shall cause a copy of every report referred to in subsection (1) to be laid before each House of Parliament on any of the first 15 days on which that House is sitting after the report is received by the Minister.

General

Marginal note:Service of notices, etc.

  •  (1) Subject to subsection 44(3), a notice or document required by this Act to be served or delivered may be served personally or delivered by prepaid first class mail addressed to the person to whom the notice or document is to be given at the person’s last known address.

  • Marginal note:When service made

    (2) Where a notice or document is delivered by prepaid first class mail, the delivery is deemed to have been made on the tenth day after the day of mailing unless the person to whom the notice or document is given establishes that the person, acting in good faith, through absence, illness or other cause beyond the person’s control, did not receive the notice or document, or did not receive the notice or document until a later date.

Marginal note:Who may take oaths

 Any oath or affidavit mentioned in this Act may be taken before any judicial officer, notary public, commissioner for taking affidavits or Canada Lands Surveyor.

Transitional Provisions

Marginal note:Definitions

 The definitions in this section apply in sections 74 to 89.

former Association

former Association means the Association of Canada Lands Surveyors, a corporation incorporated by letters patent issued under Part II of the Canada Corporations Act, being chapter 32 of the Revised Statutes of Canada, 1970. (ancienne association)

former Board of Examiners

former Board of Examiners means the Board of Examiners appointed under section 5 of the Canada Lands Surveys Act. (Commission d’examinateurs)

new Association

new Association means the Association of Canada Lands Surveyors continued under section 4. (nouvelle association)

new Board of Examiners

new Board of Examiners means the Board of Examiners established under paragraph 19(1)(b). (Version anglaise seulement)

Marginal note:Act ceases to apply

 Part II of the Canada Corporations Act, being chapter C-32 of the Revised Statutes of Canada, 1970, ceases to apply to the former Association on the coming into force of section 4.

Marginal note:Powers, duties and functions

 Wherever under any Act of Parliament, any instrument made under an Act of Parliament or any contract, lease, licence or other document, a power, duty or function is vested in or exercisable by the former Association, the power, duty or function is vested in or exercisable by the new Association.

Marginal note:References

 Every reference to the former Association in any deed, contract, agreement or other document executed by the former Association shall, unless the context otherwise requires, be read as a reference to the new Association.

Marginal note:Rights and obligations

 All rights and property of the former Association and all obligations of the former Association are transferred to the new Association.

Marginal note:Commencement of legal proceedings

 Any action, suit or other legal proceeding in respect of an obligation or liability incurred by the former Association may be brought against the new Association in any court that would have had jurisdiction if the action, suit or other legal proceeding had been brought against the former Association.

Marginal note:Continuation of legal proceedings

 Any action, suit or other legal proceeding to which the former Association is party pending in any court immediately before the day on which this section comes into force may be continued by or against the new Association in like manner and to the same extent as it could have been continued by or against the former Association.

Marginal note:By-laws

 Every by-law of the former Association is, to the extent that it is not inconsistent with this Act, a by-law of the new Association.

Marginal note:Officers and employees

 Nothing in this Act affects the status of any person who, immediately before the day on which this section comes into force, was an officer or employee of the former Association except that, as of that day, the person is an officer or employee, as the case may be, of the new Association.

Marginal note:Members

 Every member of the former Association immediately before this section comes into force is a member of the new Association on that coming into force.

Marginal note:President and Vice-President

 The President and Vice-President of the former Association before the coming into force of this section are, on that coming into force, the President and Vice-President of the new Association and shall hold office as such until the election or appointment of the first President and Vice-President of the new Association.

Marginal note:Most recent past President

  •  (1) For the purpose of paragraph 13(b), the most recent past President of the former Association as of the day on which this subsection comes into force is deemed to be the most recent past President of the new Association.

  • Marginal note:Elected members of the new Association

    (2) For the purpose of paragraph 13(c), the first members of the Council under that paragraph shall be three members of the new Association elected at a meeting of the members of the new Association called for the purpose as soon as practicable after the coming into force of this subsection.

Marginal note:Continuation of proceedings

 Proceedings relating to any matter before the former Association on the coming into force of this section, including any matter that is in the course of being heard or investigated by the former Association, shall be continued by the new Association.

Marginal note:Applicants for commissions

 Every person whose application for a commission had been accepted by the former Board of Examiners before the day on which this section comes into force and who had paid the prescribed fee required by the regulations before that day shall be examined by the new Board of Examiners under the Canada Lands Surveys Act as though that Act had not been amended by this Act.

Marginal note:Records and documents

 As soon as possible after the coming into force of this section, the Surveyor General shall provide the new Association with a copy of all records and documents in the Surveyor General’s possession relating to the examination of candidates for a commission under the Canada Lands Surveys Act, the Dominion Lands Act, being chapter 55 of the Revised Statutes of Canada, 1906 and the Dominion Lands Surveys Act, being chapter 117 of the Revised Statutes of Canada, 1927.

Marginal note:Suspension or cancellation of commissions

 The Discipline Committee shall hear and determine, in accordance with section 16 of the Canada Lands Surveys Act, as that section read immediately before the coming into force of this section, all matters relating to the cancellation or suspension of commissions held by persons to whom a notice referred to in paragraph 16(2)(a) of that Act had been sent by the former Board of Examiners before that day.

 

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