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

Surveys

Marginal note:Minister may direct manner of survey

27 The Minister may direct that Canada Lands be surveyed, laid out and defined in any manner, by any method of surveying and with any description that the Minister considers desirable in the circumstances affecting those lands.

Marginal note:Coordinated Survey Area

• 28 (1) The Minister may establish a Coordinated Survey Area within any lands dealt with in this Act or alter any such Area by a notice published in the Canada Gazette.

• Marginal note:Position of monuments

  (2) Within a Coordinated Survey Area, the position of all new monuments placed and all monuments that are relevant to the placement of new monuments shall be determined by surveyed connection to reference points specified for that purpose and shall be expressed in terms of the system of coordinates specified for the Area, in accordance with the instructions of the Surveyor General.

• Marginal note:Idem

  (3) Within a Coordinated Survey Area, the position of all monuments placed prior to the establishment of the Area may be determined and shall be expressed in the manner described in subsection (2), in accordance with the instructions of the Surveyor General.

• Marginal note:Where position of monument is lost

  (4) Where the position of a monument that has been determined in accordance with this section is lost, the coordinates of the monument are, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, proof of its position.

Plans

Marginal note:Plotting of plans

• 29 (1) Plans of Canada Lands that are surveyed under this Part shall be plotted, under the direction of the Surveyor General, from the surveyor’s field notes and other documents relating to the survey.

• Marginal note:Content of plans

  (2) The direction and length of boundaries and the nature and position of the boundary monuments of the parcels of land laid out shall be shown on the plans.

• Marginal note:Confirmation

  (3) The Surveyor General shall indicate his confirmation on the plans, if he is satisfied that the survey has been carried out in conformity with this Act and that the survey and plans are satisfactory to the minister of the department of the Government of Canada or the Commissioner administering the Canada Lands in respect of which the survey was made.

• Marginal note:Effect of confirmation

  (4) On confirmation by the Surveyor General, the plans shall be deemed to be official plans under this Act.

• Marginal note:Confirmation of plans

  (5) No survey of Canada Lands under this Part shall be deemed to be completed until the plans thereof have been confirmed under this section.

• Marginal note:New plans to correct clerical errors, etc.

  (6) Where the Surveyor General finds that a plan that has been confirmed under this section has been improperly or incorrectly plotted from the surveyor’s field notes and other documents relating to the survey or that there is an omission, clerical error or other defect in the plan, the Surveyor General may cause a new plan to be plotted from the surveyor’s field notes and other documents relating to the survey or a new plan to be made correcting the omission, clerical error or other defect.

• Marginal note:Effect of new plan

  (7) The new plan referred to in subsection (6) shall, after confirmation thereof by the Surveyor General, be deemed to be the official plan 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.

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.