Surveying in Ontario: Historical Timeline

Champlain explores the Ottawa, Madawaska, and Trent River systems. He makes numerous observations for latitude, and estimates his longitude by dead reckoning.

The first map showing the entire Lake Superior is included in Father Claude Dablon's Relations of 1670-71.

Chossegros de Lery, military engineer and surveyor, lays out lots along a 2.5 mile frontage of the Detroit River, across from the settlement at Detroit, thereby conducting the first land survey in what is now Ontario. In his report the first mention is made of measuring rods for land survey in Canada.

A royal proclamation defines the western boundary of Quebec as a line from Lake Nipissing along the Mattawa River to the Ottawa River, thence down the Ottawa and the St Lawrence to the intersection of the 45th parallel and the St. Lawrence. This boundary line continued until 1774.

This proclamation also restricts private individuals from purchasing Indian Lands and further that land transactions and commercial trade shall be in the control of the Crown.

Samuel Holland is appointed Surveyor General of Quebec. In the same year he is appointed Surveyor General of the Northern District of North America.

The Quebec Act enlarges the boundaries of the Province of Quebec from Labrador to Lake Superior and southward into what is now Michigan, Ohio, Illinois, Minnesota and Wisconsin.

A four-mile strip of land along the Niagara River is purchased from the Mississauga and Chippewa. This is the first purchase of native land for white settlement in what is now Ontario.

Allan McDonell makes the first property survey in Upper Quebec (now Ontario) under the British Administration. This apparently consisted of 70 lots in what would become Niagara Township. His account for 24 days work, including the expense of two chain bearers and one marker (i.e., picket man) came to £32 2s 6d.

The Single Front system of township survey was commenced. This was the first use in Canada of a regular township survey pattern. This pattern was continued with modifications in 1789, until 1818.

Land surveying in what is now Ontario is commenced with John Collins' survey of Kingston Township. It was first surveyed with an outline six miles square, but on instructions from London received in October 1783, it was altered to a six-by-ten outline with lots of 200 acres.

Governor Haldimand issues instructions to Samuel Holland to make exploratory surveys for settlement of the Loyalists. This sets in motion the whole process of survey and settlement that formed Southern Ontario.

"An Ordinance Concerning Land Surveyors and the Admeasurement of Lands", passed by Quebec, establishes the basis of subsequent land surveying legislation in Ontario. This act requires prospective surveyors to be examined by the Surveyor General. This constitutes the first formal requirement for the examination of surveyors in Canada.

Front and Rear system of township surveys commenced in the Niagara Peninsula. It was continued in that area until 1813.

Rules and Regulations for the Conduct of the Land Department are published. Plans were given for waterfront and inland townships and an attempt was made to enforce the establishment of a townsite in each township. No townsite was ever set out according to plan but these regulations started a series of improvements to the basic 1783 township design.

Upper and Lower Canada established by Order-in-Council. The border between Upper and Lower Canada now follows the western boundary of the seigneuries at the angle of the St Lawrence and Ottawa Rivers, thence up the Ottawa to Lake Timiskaming and then due north to James Bay.

Marlborough and Oxford Townships surveyed on the Rideau River by Theodore de Pencier and Jesse Pennoyer respectively. These were singe-front alternate surveys designed to reduce survey costs by only surveying 1st, 3rd, 5th, etc. concession lines.

Upper Canada is divided into counties.

David W. Smith appointed first Acting Surveyor General of Upper Canada. He was confirmed in 1801.

The first land patent is issued by the Province of Upper Canada.

The survey of Yonge Street is commenced. When completed this provided a military road to Lake Simcoe and from there a water and portage route to Lake Huron.

The first Registry Act is passed in Upper Canada for purposes of facilitating transactions of real property. Registration is optional, however, and no priority is gained by registering a deed unless a previous memorial has been recorded. It is not until 1851 that registration is made a requirement following the granting of a Crown patent.

Upper Canada's first survey act, "An Act to Ascertain and Establish The Boundary Lines of the Different Townships of this Province" is enacted. The Act requires the planting of monuments of stone or other durable material at township comers and governing points, and provides the death penalty for wilful defacement, alteration or removal of the monuments.

Henry Bayfield, aged 20, starts his hydrographic career with Captain W.F.W. Owen on the Great Lakes. He continued his Surveys in Canadian waters until 1856.

Double Front system of township survey commenced in Upper Canada. It was continued to 1829.

A survey of the proposed Rideau Canal is carried out by the Royal Engineers.

David Thompson conducts Surveys to locate the "most northwest point of the Lake of the Woods." Under Article Seven of the Treaty of Ghent, the international boundary ran through the Great Lakes to this point, thence due south to the 49th parallel. Thompson decided that this ill-defined point should be either at the present position of Kenora or at the northern point of an Inlet now known as Northwest Angle Inlet.

Dr. Tiarks, a British astronomer, decides that the point chosen by Thompson at Northwest Angle Inlet is the point referred to in the Treaty of Ghent. This decision is accepted by the Americans.

2400 Acre Section system of township surveys commenced in Upper Canada. It was continued to 1851.

Part of the route for the Trent Valley Canal is surveyed. The survey is completed in 1887 for the canal which runs from Trenton to Georgian Bay.

1000 Acre Section system of township surveys commenced in Upper Canada. It was continued to 1906.

Boards of Boundary Line Commissioners are set up in Upper Canada to settle disputes resulting from deficiencies in the survey fabric (1 Victoria 1837, 1838). The Boards were found to be ineffective and the Act was repealed in 1841 and expired in 1842.

Upper and Lower Canada united in the Province of Canada as Canada West and Canada East.

Office of the Surveyor General is abolished in Canada West; it will be re-established in 1928.

The first legislation to govern the profession of land surveying in the Province of Canada is enacted. It changes the status of land surveyors from direct servants of the Crown, in the capacity of deputies of the surveyor general, to independent professionals responsible for their own actions. Hereafter surveyors in the Province of Canada are identified as "Provincial Land Surveyors" and are entitled to add "PLS" after their names. In due course the other provinces pass similar acts. (28 p. 138)

The survey of the first baseline in Northern Ontario is commenced. Known as the Salter Line, it is extended from Lake Nipissing to Sault Ste. Marie, laying a foundation for the later surveying of Northern Ontario. (28 p. 159-62)

Maps of 34 Ontario counties published between 1856 and 1877. Most of these were produced by George C. Tremaine and Henry F. Walling.

Thomas Devine, head of the Surveys Branch of Upper Canada, publishes the first official map of Canada entitled "Government Map of Canada from the Red River to the Gulf of St Lawrence", He apparently used Dr Logan's base map (see 1853-56) to position western detail.

Six mile square survey township system commenced in Northern Ontario. Each township was divided into 36 sections almost identical to the American township system.

Thomas Devine, Surveyor General of Upper Canada, introduces the split-line method of recording field notes. (28 p. 154)

Thomas Devine publishes his map "Huron and Ottawa Territory, Upper Canada". It is noted for the detailed delineation of township surveys.

A survey of the Ontario-Quebec boundary from Lake St. Francis to the Ottawa River, which had been run several times before with mixed results, is finally accepted as correct.

The British North America Act brings the Provinces of Canada, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia into one Dominion of Canada, divided into four provinces of: Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia (3 under BNA Act).

The survey of the Ontario-Quebec boundary line from the junction of the Ottawa and Mattawa rivers to Lake Temiskaming and thence to James Bay is commenced. (28 p. 177)

The first of the 32 county atlases of Ontario is published. Five publishers shared the titles of this enterprise: H. Belden & Co.(17), H.R. P1o & Co.(8), Walker & Miles (5), I.H. Meachan and H. Parsell one each. The last atlas is produced m 1881, though other editions appear in 1903 and 1906. (10 p. 163 and 19 p. 12)

The Georgian Bay Survey, predecessor of the Canadian Hydrographic Service, is established I in the Department of Marine and Fisheries under Staff Commander John G. Boulton RN. (21-2 p. 207)

The Torrens system of land registration is introduced in Ontario with the passage of the Land Titles Act. Originally it applied only to Toronto and the County of York. In 1886 it was extended to all Crown grants in Northern Ontario and the districts of Parry Sound, Muskoka and Haliburton. With some exceptions, registration under the Land Titles act is voluntary, provided that the necessary land division has been established by regulation under the Act.

The Association of Provincial Land Surveyors is formed in Ontario on February 23. The Association is at first not incorporated.

Staff Commander Boulton establishes a benchmark at Little Current, Manitoulin Island, thus commencing observations for Great Lakes water levels.

A three-man arbitration board sets the Ontario-Manitoba boundary on the meridian extending north from the north-west angle of the Lake of the Woods to the English River. Ontario's northern boundary is moved northward from the height of land to the English and Albany Rivers where it will stay until 1912). (28 p. 176)

An act to incorporate the Association of Ontario Land Surveyors, and to amend the act respecting land surveyors and the survey of lands, is passed, bringing the self-governing Association of Ontario Land Surveyors into existence.

Willis Chipman publishes an influential paper in the Ontario Land Surveyors annual report of 1895 titled "A Plea for a Topographical Survey" (proceedings of Annual Report).

The subdivision of Southern Ontario into townships is completed.

The position of the Manitoba-Ontario boundary is surveyed from the Lake of the Woods to the Winnipeg River. For the continuation of this survey see: 1922, 1930, 1937, and 1948.

The Ontario government initiates a systematic exploration of Northern Ontario. Ten exploration parties, led by land surveyors (with one exception) and accompanied by a geologist and timber assessor, are instructed to report on timber resources and geology, including the economic potentials of found minerals. They were also required to report on flora, fauna, and rivers and lakes suitable for communication routes and power generating sites. The results of the survey accelerated the survey of new townships in what was beginning to be called New Ontario.

Ontario survey instructions introduce for the first time the use of wrought iron survey posts (Crown Surveys 01 Ontario by W.F. Weaver, Dept of Lands and Forests, 1962, p. 24).

Ontario adopts the 1800 Acre Section System for township surveys. The 1000 Acre System is dropped.

March 16, 1911 - Enactment of the Beds of Navigable Waters Act.

The Boundaries of Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec are extended northward to their present limits.

May 6, 1913 - New Public Lands Act.

Any land obtained before the 6th day of May, 1913, the mines and minerals therein shall be deemed to have passed to the patentee.

Common vertical datum is adopted by the V.S. and Canada.

Ontario utilizes aircraft to make sketch maps of forested areas.

The Ontario-Manitoba boundary extended from Winnipeg River north 180 miles.

The Ontario Department of Highways publishes the first Ontario Road Map.

The survey of the 7th baseline, the only one to extend across Ontario, is commenced. It is completed in 1931. (28 p. 247)

The 1927 North American Datum (NAD 1927) is adopted by Canada and the U.S.

After a lapse of 83 years, the position of Surveyor General for Ontario is re-established within the Dept. of Lands and Forests. Lewis Rorke is appointed to the post. (28 p. 237)

The Ontario-Manitoba boundary is surveyed as far as Island Lake, a continuation from the point reached in 1897.

The survey of the Ontario-Quebec boundary is completed. The last leg of 164 miles is run during 1930-31.

The Manitoba-Ontario boundary is surveyed a further 114 miles from the point reached in 1930.

After 164 years of surveying Ontario's townships, Ontario starts to annul townships and parts of townships. Annulments are made where the survey fabric has become so obliterated that it is no longer economical or advisable to continue surveying in relation to old township boundaries or subdivision lines.

The Ontario - Manitoba boundary survey is completed to Hudson Bay.

The International Great Lakes Datum is established by Canada and U.S.

The position of Examiner of Surveys, under Ontario's Land Titles Act is created for the purpose of examining the quality of plans entering the province's Land Titles offices. (28 p. 267)

A revision to Ontario's Survey Act provides for the standardization of the use of survey monuments in cadastral surveys. The kind and form of survey monuments, where they are to be used, and how they are to be designated on plans, is now prescribed by regulation. (28 p. 267)

Ontario introduces the use of "reference, plans". Based on actual surveys, reference plans simplify the preparation of legal descriptions of land by providing a graphic alternative to laborious written metes and bounds descriptions. (28 p.258)

For CL Plans Kenora had first deposit.

Ontario enacts the Boundaries Act as a means of resolving boundary disputes.

The Ontario Geographics Names Board is established. The Surveyor General is ex-officio a member.

April 1, 1969 - Reservation of Trees.

The Ontario Coordinate System, a modified 3° transverse Mercator projection and grid system is adopted by the Surveys Act. (25)

The Ontario Base Mapping program is given a trial run. It is found to be satisfactory leading to complete implementation in 1977.

Ontario launches its Ontario Base Mapping (OBM) program. At first maps were produced by traditional cartographic methods but since 1986 all production has been in digital form. The OBM scales are 1:20,000 in the north, 1:10,000 in the south and 1:2000 urban. The limit of OBM mapping is 51° latitude with a total of some 13,000 sheets.

After some 180 years of use, the last entry is made in Ontario's Domesday Books. Instituted in the early 1800s, the Domesday Books contain a record of all lands alienated by the province since the first patent was issued in 1793. The books first were replaced by a computer based land index listing. In 1991 this was replaced by a more modern land index system.

Ontario produces its first digital OBM maps.

Ontario implements its provincial topographic database from digital OBM data.

The NAD83 continental adjustment is completed with the cooperation of the U.S.

The proclamation of the a new Surveyors Act restructures the Association of Ontario Land Surveyors and provides for an expanded profession of land surveying.