Land Surveyors

Nature of work

Land surveyors plan, direct and carry out legal surveys to determine the location of property boundaries, contours and other natural or human-made features. They prepare and maintain cross-sectional drawings, official plans, records, and documents relating to these surveys. Land surveyors work for federal, provincial, and municipal governments, private sector land surveying companies, real estate development, natural resource, engineering, and construction firms, or they may be self-employed.

Job duties

Land surveyors:

• Develop survey plans, methods, and procedures for conducting legal surveys.
• Survey to confirm and mark legal boundaries of properties, parcels of lands, provincial and Canada Lands, Aboriginal land claims, wellsites, mining claims, utility rights-of-way, roadways, and highways.
• Survey and lay out subdivisions for rural and urban development.
• Determine precise locations using electronic distance measuring equipment and global positioning systems (GPS).
• Analyze, manage, and display data using geographic information systems (GIS) and computer-aided design and drafting (CAD).
• Record all measurements and other information collected during survey activities.
• Prepare and compile all data, plans, charts, records, and documents related to surveys of real property boundaries.
• Certify and assume liability for surveys made to determine real property boundaries.
• Consult and testify as an expert witness on matters related to legal surveys.

Sample job titles

• Canada lands surveyor
• land survey supervisor
• land surveyor
• legal surveyor
• pipeline surveyor
• property surveyor
• provincial land surveyor

Skills

• You should be physically fit and enjoy working outdoors. Good health and eyesight are necessary. You must be capable of precise and detailed work, and be able to perform mathematical calculations quickly. Strong technical abilities in the use of new and emerging technologies and an aptitude for mathematics and physics at the high school level are important. A high level of communication skills is essential. You must be able to communicate in spoken and written form on technical, legal, and business issues.

Job requirements

• A bachelor's degree in geomatics engineering or survey engineering or a college diploma in survey science or geomatics technology with additional academic credits and successful completion of equivalent examinations set by a regional board of examiners for land surveyors.
• A one- to three-year articling period is required.
• Successful completion of professional land surveyor examinations is required.
• A federal or provincial land surveyor's licence is required.
• Federal statutes require a separate licence from the Association of Canada Land Surveyors to survey areas like national parks, Aboriginal lands, offshore areas and northern territories.

Other considerations

• Work in these jobs is seasonal, with unemployment highest in the winter months. Surveyors usually work regular hours; however, they often work longer hours during the summer to meet their clients' deadlines.

Regulations

Contacts

There are no additional resources for this occupation.