Cadastral Management

Traditional cadastral models are directed at the management of immovable property for taxation purposes or the transfer of property rights.

The cadastral survey, which consists of determining property limits, constitutes the foundation of this cadastral model and is the primary mandate of the Surveyor General of Canada.

Before defining cadastral management, one needs to clearly understand what is meant by property rights infrastructure. A property rights infrastructure includes a land survey system, a land registry system and a land management system. As illustrated below, the lower two components identify the “What, Where, How Much, Who and When”, while the third component identifies the “How and Why”.

All developed countries have a cadastral system of some kind. Most are used as a tool to record and transfer interests in land. In Canada's cadastral systems, legal (or cadastral) surveys identify the boundaries and location of property and land registries provide information on who has an interest on land. When integrated, this information provides a base for many land management activities.

“Cadastral Management” is therefore defined as the fundamental framework that facilitates effective integration of the survey and registry components of the property rights infrastructure.