Canada Lands Surveys Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. L-6)

Marginal note:Plans to be sent for filing

30 The Minister shall cause a copy of an official plan under this Act to be sent to the registrar of deeds or of land titles of the county, district or other registration division in which the lands are situated for filing in the registry or land titles office of that county, district or other registration division.

Marginal note:Administrative plans

31 The Surveyor General may, for administrative purposes, make such plans of public lands as the Surveyor General deems expedient, but plans made under this section need not be confirmed under section 29 or sent to a registrar under section 30.

Boundaries

Marginal note:True boundary lines

• 32 (1) All boundary lines of roads, streets, lanes, lots, parcels or other authorized subdivisions of Canada Lands that are defined by monuments in surveys made under this Part shall, after confirmation of the plans by the Surveyor General, be the true boundary lines of those roads, streets, lanes, lots, parcels or other authorized subdivisions, whether or not they are found to contain, on admeasurement, the exact area or dimensions described or expressed in a plan, letters patent, grant or other instrument affecting those Canada Lands.

• Marginal note:Roads, etc., to be public highways

  (2) With respect to Canada Lands situated in Yukon, the Northwest Territories or Nunavut, all allowances laid out in surveys of roads, streets, lanes or commons in any city, town, village or settlement shall be public highways or commons.

Resurveys

Marginal note:Resurveys

• 33 (1) Canada Lands may be resurveyed under this Part

  • (a) for the purposes of correcting errors or supposed errors or re-establishing lost monuments; or

  • (b) at the request of the member of Her Majesty’s Privy Council for Canada or the Commissioner charged with administering the Canada Lands in respect of which the resurvey is to be made.

• Marginal note:Plans of resurveyed lands

  (2) Plans of Canada Lands that are resurveyed shall be dealt with in accordance with this Part and shall, after confirmation thereof by the Surveyor General, be deemed to be the official plans under this Act of the lands thereby affected and shall be substituted for all, or corresponding portions of all, former official plans of the lands thereby affected.

PART IIISpecial Surveys of Territorial Lands

Scope and Administration

Marginal note:Definitions

34 In this Part,

Minister

Minister means the Minister of Northern Affairs; (ministre)

territorial lands

territorial lands means any lands situated in Yukon, the Northwest Territories or Nunavut. (terres territoriales)

Special Surveys

Marginal note:Scope and purposes of special surveys

35 Special surveys of territorial lands may be made for any or all of the following purposes:

• (a) the correction of errors or supposed errors in existing surveys or plans;

• (b) the subdivision of land not previously subdivided or the showing of divisions of land not previously or correctly shown on an existing plan of subdivision;

• (c) fixing the location or width of roads or highways;

• (d) establishing any boundary lines the positions of which, due to incorrect placing or loss or obliteration of monuments defining the lines on the ground, have become doubtful or difficult of being ascertained; and

• (e) any other purpose deemed necessary by the Minister or the Commissioner.

Marginal note:When undertaken

• 36 (1) The Minister of Natural Resources shall cause a special survey of territorial lands to be made when requested to do so by the Minister or the Commissioner.

• Marginal note:Surveyor General to manage

  (2) The Surveyor General, subject to the direction of the Minister of Natural Resources, has the management of special surveys.

• Marginal note:Canada Lands Surveyor

  (3) No person, other than a Canada Lands Surveyor, shall make a special survey.

• Marginal note:How survey is made

  (4) A special survey shall be made by a Canada Lands Surveyor in accordance with the instructions given to him by the Surveyor General and all sections of this Act with respect to the powers, duties and obligations of Canada Lands Surveyors and to the making of surveys apply, with such modifications as the circumstances require, to special surveys.

Procedure of Special Surveys

Marginal note:Plotting of plans

• 37 (1) On completion of a special survey referred to in subsection 36(1), the surveyor shall send all field notes and other documents relating to the survey to the Surveyor General who shall direct the plotting of the plan of the territorial lands so surveyed.

• Marginal note:Plan sent to Minister or Commissioner

  (2) On the completion of the plotting of the plan referred to in subsection (1), the Surveyor General shall sign the plan and forward it, together with such supporting documents as the Surveyor General thinks necessary, to the Minister or the Commissioner.

Marginal note:Appointment of Hearing Officer

• 38 (1) On receiving the plan forwarded by the Surveyor General pursuant to subsection 37(2), the Minister or the Commissioner shall appoint a Hearing Officer to inquire into and report on any complaints that may be made against the special survey or plan.

• Marginal note:Place of inquiry

  (2) A Hearing Officer shall hold hearings in or as near as practicable to the locality in which the special survey has been made.

• Marginal note:Publication of notice

  (3) The Minister or the Commissioner shall cause to be published in the Canada Gazette and in a newspaper, if any, in the locality in which the special survey has been made a notice setting forth

  • (a) a description of the scope and purposes of the special survey and the lands affected thereby;

  • (b) his declaration that the special survey and plan are the true and correct survey and plan of the lands thereby affected, that all boundaries and lines fixed by the survey and plan are the true boundaries and lines, whether of roads, streets, lanes, rivers or creeks or as between adjoining owners or between adjoining lots and whether or not the boundaries and lines were in fact before the declaration the true boundaries and lines, and that the special survey and plan shall be substituted for all, or corresponding portions of all, former surveys or plans of the lands affected that have been theretofore registered;

  • (c) the name of the Hearing Officer appointed by him and the time and place at which the Hearing Officer will hear complaints; and

  • (d) that each person who has an interest in land affected by the special survey and plan and who desires to complain against the survey or the plan shall deliver, at least thirty days before the date set for the Hearing Officer’s hearing, to the Minister or the Commissioner a written statement setting forth the nature and grounds of his complaint.

Marginal note:Where no complaints

39 Where no complaints are received pursuant to paragraph 38(3)(d), the Minister or the Commissioner shall return the plan to the Surveyor General to be confirmed by him.

Marginal note:Hearing of complaints

• 40 (1) Where complaints are received pursuant to paragraph 38(3)(d), the Hearing Officer shall hear them at the time and place set forth in the notice published pursuant to subsection 38(3), but may adjourn the hearing on giving due notice to the complainants.

• Marginal note:Nature of hearing

  (2) A Hearing Officer shall hear only those complaints of which written notice has been given to the Minister or the Commissioner but may, for this purpose, receive any evidence he thinks proper, call any witnesses and exercise any of the powers of a commissioner under the Inquiries Act.

• Marginal note:Report

  (3) A Hearing Officer shall, on completion of the hearing, report his findings and recommendations to the Minister or the Commissioner.

Marginal note:Minister’s or Commissioner’s decision

• 41 (1) The Minister or the Commissioner shall, after receiving a Hearing Officer’s report, decide whether the plan and whether any of the matters set forth in the declaration referred to in paragraph 38(3)(b) should be approved or amended, varied or altered as a result of the complaints.

• Marginal note:Notice of decision

  (2) The Minister or the Commissioner shall prepare a notice of decision setting forth

  • (a) that he has received the Hearing Officer’s report;

  • (b) his decision as to the disposition of the complaints and the resulting changes, if any, in the plan and in any of the matters set forth in the declaration referred to in paragraph 38(3)(b);

  • (c) that any person to whom the notice of decision is mailed has a right of appeal from the decision to the Supreme Court of Yukon, the Supreme Court of the Northwest Territories or the Nunavut Court of Justice, as the case may be, within sixty days after the date of the notice; and

  • (d) that any person who appeals from the decision is required to serve the Minister or the Commissioner with a notice of appeal within the time referred to in paragraph (c).

• Marginal note:To whom notice of decision sent

  (3) The Minister or the Commissioner shall cause a copy of the notice of decision to be mailed by registered mail to each of the following persons at his latest known address:

  • (a) persons whose complaints have been heard by the Hearing Officer pursuant to section 40; and

  • (b) persons whose interests in land affected by the special survey and plan are, in the opinion of the Minister or the Commissioner, affected by his decision under this section to an extent that differs in any way from the extent to which they were affected by the declaration referred to in paragraph 38(3)(b).

• Marginal note:Who may appeal

  (4) Any person to whom a notice of decision is mailed under this section may, within sixty days after the date of the notice of decision and if within that time the person serves the Minister or the Commissioner with a notice of appeal, appeal from the decision of the Minister or the Commissioner to the Supreme Court of Yukon, the Supreme Court of the Northwest Territories or the Nunavut Court of Justice, as the case may be.

Marginal note:Where complaints withdrawn, etc.

42 Where all persons who have a right of appeal under section 41 have submitted written withdrawals of their complaints or have notified the Minister or the Commissioner in writing that they do not intend to appeal, the Minister or the Commissioner shall return the plan to the Surveyor General who shall confirm, amend, alter or vary the plan as directed by the Minister or the Commissioner.

Marginal note:Where no appeal taken

43 Where there is no appeal from the decision of the Minister or the Commissioner within the time limited therefor, the Minister or the Commissioner shall return the plan to the Surveyor General who shall confirm, amend, alter or vary the plan as directed by the Minister or the Commissioner.

Marginal note:Powers of court on appeal and effect of judgment

44 Where an appeal is taken from the decision of the Minister or the Commissioner, the court hearing the appeal may confirm, amend, alter or vary the decision of the Minister or the Commissioner and the Surveyor General shall accordingly confirm, amend, alter or vary the plan.

Marginal note:Registration of plans

• 45 (1) The Minister of Natural Resources shall send to the registrar of land titles of the registration district in which the lands affected thereby are situated, for filing in the appropriate land titles office, a copy of

  • (a) the plan confirmed by the Surveyor General under section 39 together with the accompanying declaration referred to in paragraph 38(3)(b),

  • (b) the plan confirmed by the Surveyor General under section 42 together with the accompanying notice of decision referred to in subsection 41(2),

  • (c) the plan confirmed by the Surveyor General under section 43 together with the accompanying notice of decision referred to in subsection 41(2), or

  • (d) the plan as confirmed, amended, altered or varied by the Surveyor General pursuant to the judgment on appeal under section 44 together with the accompanying certified copy of the judgment,

  as the case may require.

• Marginal note:Effect of registration

  (2) On filing in the appropriate land titles office, the plan and accompanying documents referred to in subsection (1) shall be deemed to be substituted for all, or corresponding portions of all, former surveys or plans of the lands thereby affected that have been theretofore registered and shall govern all boundaries of the lands thereby affected.

Marginal note:Return of documents to Surveyor General

46 All original plans, field notes or other documents relating to special surveys sent by the Surveyor General to the Minister or the Commissioner for his decision or used in evidence on appeal or otherwise leaving the custody of the Surveyor General shall be returned to his custody.

PART IVGeneral

General Power to Survey

Marginal note:General power to survey

• 47 (1) Subject to this Act, the Minister may, if in his opinion a survey thereof under the management of the Surveyor General is required, cause a survey to be made of any lands belonging to Her Majesty in right of Canada or of which the Government of Canada has power to dispose, but where surveys of the lands affect or are likely to affect the rights of landowners of adjoining lands, the surveys shall be made by a surveyor who holds a valid and subsisting certificate, diploma, commission or other document entitling him to survey lands in the province in which the surveys are made.

• Marginal note:Survey provisions

  (2) The provisions of this Act relating to surveys apply, with such modifications as the circumstances require, to surveys made under subsection (1).