Land Surveyors near you

Each survey answers a different question, so tell the surveyor why you need it: a plan made for one purpose may not serve another.

In Quebec, the certificate of location is prepared by a land surveyor and consists of a plan and a report giving the surveyor's opinion on the property's current condition in relation to its titles, the cadastre and the laws and regulations that affect it. Québec.ca notes that it can reveal easements, flood zones, risk zones and municipal restrictions, that it is needed for any real estate transaction, and that the seller generally provides it to the buyer.

No law or regulation makes a certificate of location expire, the Ordre des arpenteurs-géomètres du Québec explains, but it must be redone once it no longer reflects reality: after an addition, a garage, a pool, a shed, a fence or a hedge, or when flood zones or municipal rules change. Lenders and notaries may also ask for a recent one, including when you refinance.

In Ontario, the Association of Ontario Land Surveyors describes the Surveyor's Real Property Report as showing whether easements or rights-of-way affect the property, whether fences, buildings, pools, additions and other improvements actually lie within it, and whether the deed describes it accurately. Lenders often require an up-to-date survey, and an old one may not show today's improvements.

The AOLS advises letting a licensed surveyor determine your boundaries before you build. Moving a stake is far easier than moving a finished fence or foundation.

A fence, a hedge or a row of trees is evidence a surveyor will consider, but it doesn't settle where the boundary is, and neither does a neighbour's opinion. Start with a survey from a licensed professional rather than tape measures and old plans.

In Ontario, the AOLS notes that surveyors can often resolve boundary disagreements and issue new plans and reports; where they can't, only a court or a Boundaries Act tribunal can make a final determination.

In Quebec, a stakeout gives the surveyor's opinion to the client who ordered it, but it doesn't fix the line for good. According to the Ordre des arpenteurs-géomètres du Québec, only a formal boundary determination, governed by articles 977 and 978 of the Civil Code of Québec and carried out by a land surveyor, fixes the limit between two adjoining lots permanently. It can be amicable when the owners agree, or judicial when a judge must decide; the resulting report is published in the land register and binds the owners and those who acquire the lots after them.

Survey markers can be iron or plastic bars, pins in rock or concrete, or crosses cut into stone or concrete, usually set with their tops near ground level. The AOLS stresses that original markers in their original location are the best available evidence of where a boundary is, and the Criminal Code makes it an offence to wilfully pull down, deface, alter or remove anything set up to mark a boundary line.

Treat them as part of your property record. Before digging for a fence, a pool or landscaping, ask the contractor to locate and protect the markers, and keep machines off them. If one is damaged, missing or seems to have shifted, have a surveyor verify or replace it rather than pushing it back in yourself.

Much of a survey happens before anyone arrives with a tripod, which is why results rarely come overnight.