21203 Land surveyors

What this occupation covers

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

Official main duties

The NOC profile lists 10 main duties for this code.

• Develop survey plans, methods and procedures for conducting legal surveys
• Plan, direct and supervise or conduct surveys to establish 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, global positioning systems (GPS), and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV)/drones
• Analyze, manage and display data using geographic information systems (GIS) and computer-aided design and drafting (CAD)
• Record all measurements and other information obtained during survey activities
• Prepare or supervise the preparation and compilation of all data, plans, charts, records and documents related to surveys of real property boundaries
• Certify and assume liability for surveys made to establish real property boundaries
• Advise, provide consultation and testify as an expert witness on matters related to legal surveys
• May supervise other land surveyors, and land survey technologists and technicians.

Do not copy these lines into your reference letter. The letter has to describe what you actually did, in your employer’s words. DUTYPROOF flags wording lifted from the NOC as something to review, and an officer reading a letter that mirrors the NOC reads it the same way.

What DUTYPROOF screens for

This is DUTYPROOF’s screening threshold, not IRCC’s decision. For this NOC, screening requires at least 2 of its 10 official duties to be evidenced in your own words, plus the required letter elements. IRCC asks that you performed the actions in the occupation’s lead statement and a substantial number of its main duties — so treat the duty coverage as the number that matters, not the badge.

Codes this one is confused with

The NOC profile names these itself. Choosing the wrong code of a look-alike pair is the most common way genuine work experience fails to establish eligibility.

• 22300 Civil engineering technologists and technicians
• 20010 Engineering managers
• 21300 Civil engineers
• 21102 Geoscientists and oceanographers
• 22213 Land survey technologists and technicians
• 22214 Technical occupations in geomatics and meteorology
• 21202 Urban and land use planners

Excluded from this code

• Civil engineering technologists and technicians (See 22300 Civil engineering technologists and technicians)
• Engineering managers (See 20010 Engineering managers)
• Geomatics engineer (See 21300 Civil engineers)
• Hydrographic surveyor - geology (See 21102 Geoscientists and oceanographers)
• Land survey technologists and technicians (See 22213 Land survey technologists and technicians)
• Survey engineer (See 21300 Civil engineers)
• Technical occupations in geomatics and meteorology (See 22214 Technical occupations in geomatics and meteorology)
• Urban and land use planners (See 21202 Urban and land use planners)

Job titles filed under this code

A title on this list does not by itself put your experience in this code — the duties in your letter decide that.

cadastral surveyor · Canada lands surveyor · city surveyor · commissioned land surveyor · country surveyor · land survey supervisor · land surveying party chief · land surveyor · legal surveyor · pipeline surveyor · port surveyor · professional land surveyor · property surveyor · provincial land surveyor · railway surveyor

Employment 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 is required.
• 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.