Dominion Land Survey

The Dominion Land Survey (DLS; ) is the method used to divide most of Western Canada into one-square-mile (2.6 km<sup>2</sup>) sections for agricultural and other purposes. It is based on the layout of the Public Land Survey System used in the United States, but has several differences. The DLS is the dominant survey method in the Prairie provinces, and it is also used in British Columbia along the Railway Belt (near the main line of the Canadian Pacific Railway), and in the Peace River Block in the northeast of the province. Although British Columbia entered Confederation with control over its own lands (unlike the Northwest Territories and the Prairie provinces), British Columbia transferred these lands to the federal Government as a condition of the building of the Canadian Pacific Railway. The federal government then surveyed these areas under the DLS.

History

The survey was begun in 1871, shortly after Manitoba and the North-West Territories became part of Canada, following the purchase of Rupert's Land from the Hudson's Bay Company. Covering about , the survey system and its terminology are deeply ingrained in the rural culture of the Prairies. The DLS is the world's largest survey grid laid down in a single integrated system. The first formal survey done in western Canada was by Peter Fidler in 1813.

The inspiration for the Dominion Land Survey System was the plan for Manitoba (and later Saskatchewan and Alberta) to be agricultural economies. With a large number of European settlers arriving, Manitoba was undergoing a large change so grasslands and parklands were surveyed, settled, and farmed. The Dominion Land Survey system was developed because the farm name and field position descriptions used in northern Europe were not organized or flexible enough, and the township and concession system used in eastern Canada was not satisfactory. The first meridian was chosen at 97°27′28.4″ west longitude and was established in 1869. Another six meridians were established after.

A number of places are excluded from the survey system: these include federal lands such as First Nation reserves, federal parks, and air weapon ranges. The surveys do not encroach on reserves because that land was established before the surveys began. When the Hudson's Bay Company relinquished its title to the Dominion on July 15, 1870, via the Deed of Surrender, it received Section 8 and all of Section 26 excluding the northeast quarter. These lands were gradually sold by the company and in 1984 they donated the remaining to the Saskatchewan Wildlife Association.

The surveying of western Canada was divided into five basic surveys. Each survey's layout was slightly different from the others. The first survey began in 1871 and ended in 1879 and covers some of southern Manitoba and a little of Saskatchewan. The second and smallest survey, in 1880, was used in only small areas of Saskatchewan. This system differs from the first survey because rather than running section lines parallel to the eastern boundary they run true north–south. The largest and most important of these surveys was the third, which covers more land than all the others surveys put together. This survey began in 1881. That method of surveying is still used in Saskatchewan and Manitoba.

The beginning of the Dominion Land Survey marked a new era for western Canada. Railways were making their way to the West and the population of western regions began to increase. The introduction of the survey system marked the end of the nomadic ways for the First Nations and Metis. This did not go over well and was a catalyst to the events of the Red River Rebellion. To see over long distances, towers were constructed from timber in flat and wooded areas.

Meridians and baselines

thumb|This monument marks the [[Four corners (Canada)|north end of the Second Meridian]]

thumb|A border marker in Lloydminster

The most important north–south lines of the survey are the meridians:

The First (also Principal or Prime) Meridian at 97°27′28.41″ west, just west of Winnipeg, Manitoba. Its southern end is exactly ten miles west of where the Red River crosses the border from the United States into Canada.
The Second Meridian at 102° west, which forms the northern part of the Manitoba–Saskatchewan boundary.
The Third Meridian at 106° west, near Moose Jaw and Prince Albert, Saskatchewan.
The Fourth Meridian at 110° west, which forms the Saskatchewan–Alberta boundary and bisects Lloydminster.
The Fifth Meridian at 114° west, which runs through Calgary (Barlow Trail is built mostly on the meridian) and Stony Plain, Alberta (48th Street).
The Sixth Meridian at 118° west, near Grande Prairie, Alberta, and Revelstoke, British Columbia.
The Seventh Meridian at 122° west, between Hope and Vancouver, British Columbia (Lickman Rd, Chilliwack).
The Coast Meridian at approximately 122°45′ west, originally established before British Columbia joined the Confederation, was surveyed north from the point where the 49th parallel intersects the sea at Semiahmoo Bay. The road allowances add to the size of the township (they do not cut down the size of the sections): this is the reason base lines are not exactly apart. In townships surveyed from 1871 to 1880 (most of southern Manitoba, part of southeastern Saskatchewan and a small region near Prince Albert, Saskatchewan), there are road allowances of surrounding every section. In townships surveyed from 1881 to the present, road allowances are reduced both in width and in number. They are wide and run north–south between all sections; however, there are only three east–west road allowances in each township, on the north side of sections 7 to 12, 19 to 24 and 31 to 36. This results in a north–south road allowance every mile going west, and an east–west road allowance every two miles going north. This arrangement reduced land allocation for roads, but still provides road-access to every quarter-section. Road allowances are one of the differences between the Canadian DLS and the American Public Land Survey System, which leaves no extra space for roads.

Special sections

Hudson's Bay Company

As part of the deal that transferred Rupert's Land from the Hudson's Bay Company to Canada, the HBC retained five per cent of the "fertile belt" (south of the North Saskatchewan and Winnipeg rivers). Therefore, Section 8 and three-quarters of Section 26 were assigned to the company. Additionally, the fourth quarter of Section 26 in townships whose numbers were divisible by five also belonged to the HBC in order to give the company exactly five per cent. Although the HBC sold all these sections long ago, they are still often locally called "the Bay section" today.

Railroads

Resulting in a "checkerboard pattern", odd-numbered sections (except 11 and 29) were often used for railway land-grants. The Prairies could not be settled without railways, so the Dominion government habitually granted large tracts of land to railway companies as an incentive to build lines. Notably, the Canadian Pacific Railway was granted for the construction of its first line from Ontario to the Pacific. These sections are colloquially called CPR sections regardless of the railway they were originally granted to.

Education

Sections 11 and 29 were school sections. When school boards were formed, they gained title to these sections, which were then sold to fund the initial construction of schools. The rural school buildings were as often as not located on school sections; frequently, land trades were made between landowners and the school for practical reasons.

Homesteads

The remaining quarter sections were available as homesteads under the provisions of the Dominion Lands Act, the federal government's plan for settling the North-West. A homesteader paid a fee for a quarter section of his choice. If after three years he had cultivated and had built a house (often just a sod house), he gained title to the quarter. Homesteads were available as late as the 1950s, but the bulk of the settlement of the Prairies was 1885 to 1914.

Legal surveys conducted before and after the Dominion Land Survey grid was laid out often have their own legal descriptions and delineations. Early settlement lots still retain their own original legal descriptions, but often have townships superimposed over them for the sake of convenience or for certain tasks. Urban developments superimpose new survey lots and plans over the older section and township grid also.

Political disputes over the survey

Certain areas otherwise within the surveys' boundaries were not part of the survey grid, or not available for homesteading. These were Indian reserves, pre-existing "settlements" divided into "river lots" based on the French system used in Quebec, and lands around Hudson's Bay Company trading posts reserved for the company when it transferred its claim over the West to Canada in 1870.

The rights of the pre-DLS settlers was a major political issue in the West in the late nineteenth century. The settlers claimed squatters' rights over the land they had already farmed, but the sizes and boundaries of these farms were poorly defined, leading to frequent disputes. As well the Métis in the Southbranch settlements of Saskatchewan were particularly concerned with their land rights given that they had not been well protected by the Manitoba Act as they had been promised in 1870. In the case of the closely clustered settlements of Edmonton, St. Albert, and Fort Saskatchewan in the Alberta District, a militant "settlers' rights" movement developed which demanded action from the federal government to grant the settlers legal title to their land and to end claim jumping. The movement even resorted to vigilante action against suspected claim jumpers. Most of these grievances were resolved by 1885, which is likely one of the reasons the area never joined the North-West Rebellion despite the fact that St. Albert, and to a lesser extent Edmonton, were largely populated by Métis people.

References

External links

Index to Townships in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and British Columbia: Showing the Townships for which Official and Preliminary Plans have been issued up to January 1st, 1929, made by the Topographical Survey of Canada, Department of the Interior; available online from Library and Archives Canada
Map Service from AgCanada: Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba: quarter-sections, sections, and townships. Ontario: geographic townships and concession lots. To view fabric for each province, expand "Canada Land Parcels" in contents and enable layers.