What Land Surveyors Do
Manitoba Land Surveyors work on private and public land in Manitoba. Canada Lands Surveyors work exclusively on Canada Lands, or lands owned by the Federal Government. Although our tasks are similar there are some key differences. For the purpose of this article, we will be dealing with Manitoba Land Surveyors.
Manitoba Land Surveyors work every day to ensure the individual and public interest in land is protected. When you hire a Manitoba Land Surveyor to conduct a survey or provide a service, both your interest and the public interest are protected. This protection is ensured because all Manitoba Land Surveyors go through extensive training and continual professional development to maintain high standards, and all work is documented, guaranteed and insured. When you hire a Manitoba Land Surveyor, his/her primary responsibility, beyond providing timely and good service to you, is to protect the open public system of land ownership by ensuring the boundaries marked or titles/deeds interpreted are correct and without bias of opinion. Imagine if the surveyor you hired favoured you more than an adjoining neighbor? Or vice-versa? The courts would be filled with lawsuits, but they’re not. Why? Because Manitoba Land Surveyors provide an insured, unbiased opinion as to the extent of your interests in land. Further, there are many checks and balances in the system to ensure the fewest errors possible.
No System Is Error Proof
True, but consider this. Every legal land survey is performed by a licensed Manitoba Land Surveyor and all Manitoba Land Surveyors are bound by a code of ethics, have extensive training and have mandated amounts of insurance. Further, every legal survey is performed to a predetermined set of standards and judged and checked against those standards and the work of other Manitoba Land Surveyors. In addition, because a Manitoba Land Surveyor has to perform many checks to titles and surveys during the course of his/her work, many data errors produced by government agencies or other professionals are caught before they become an issue. These are the things that the public does not see, but benefits everyone daily.
What Does This Mean For Me?
Firstly, you have lower costs for surveys. In fact, you will pay less for a land survey in Manitoba than just about every part of Canada. Costs for lot stakings, Building Location Certificates, subdivision, title investigation, etc. are at the lowest cost here. This is because the land survey systems and practices have been maintained well by Manitoba Land Surveyors and you, the public, are the beneficiaries.
Secondly, you have fast service. Some parts of the country have large delays for service. This has not happened here, mostly because our economy rarely booms, but also because we have maintained our systems so well that efficiencies can be realized.
Thirdly, you can have confidence. During the course of our work, Manitoba Land Surveyors produce many products and assessments that are relied on by individuals, government agencies, utilities, banks, lawyers and insurers. Manitoba Land Surveyors provide the unbiased and up-to-date land information that these stakeholders rely on. This reduces uncertainty and risk in the system, therefore reducing cost as well.
The land ownership system that Manitoba Land Surveyors work in and protect is the safest and least expensive system in the world. Think about that the next time you travel.
