Ontario Property Descriptions Explained — Lot, Concession, Township

Ontario land descriptions look nothing like the ones used in Western Canada. Instead of numbered townships and ranges, Ontario uses named geographic townships divided into concessions and lots. If you have an Ontario property description and need GPS coordinates, this guide walks you through it.

How Ontario land descriptions work

Ontario was surveyed before the western DLS grid existed, using an older British colonial model. The province is divided into geographic townships — each with a unique name like Adjala, Nipissing, or Tyendinaga.

Within each township, land is organized into:

• Concessions — long strips of land running roughly east-west, numbered from a baseline (often a lake shore, river, or road)
• Lots — individual parcels within each concession, numbered sequentially

A full Ontario legal land description has three parts:

Lot 29, Concession 10, Nipissing

In Township Canada, enter it as: Lot 29 Con 10 Nipissing

Ontario vs. the DLS (Western Canada)

Ontario has no meridians, no ranges, no sections, no LSDs, and no quarter sections. If someone asks you for a "section-township-range" for an Ontario address, they need the lot-concession-township instead.

Reading Ontario property documents

Tax bills

Ontario property tax bills contain a legal description that typically looks like:

LT 29 CON 10 NIPISSING

The key parts are the lot number, concession number, and township name. Everything else (roll numbers, assessment codes) is for the municipal tax system, not for location.

Important: Township Canada requires Lot spelled out — not LT. Change LT 29 to Lot 29.

Land registry entries

Full registry entries include parcel numbers, mining claims, instrument references, and other metadata:

PCL 6123 SEC NS; BROKEN LT 29 CON 10 NIPISSING BEING MINING CLAIMS PS1696 & PS1697 AS IN LP7196 EXCEPT MRO IN LT44871; NIPISSING

From this, extract only: Lot 29 Con 10 Nipissing

• PCL 6123 SEC NS — parcel registry metadata, ignore it
• BROKEN LT — "Broken Lot" means an irregular shape (often waterfront), just use the lot number
• MINING CLAIMS, AS IN LP7196 — instrument references, ignore them

Title searches

Title documents may use the full form: "Lot 29, Concession 10, Township of Nipissing, District of Nipissing." The district or county name helps confirm you have the right township, but Township Canada only needs the lot, concession, and township name.

Common Ontario input mistakes

"LT" instead of "Lot"

Tax bills abbreviate "Lot" as "LT". Township Canada needs the full word.

Including registry metadata

Strip everything that is not lot, concession, or township. Parcel numbers, mining claims, instrument numbers, and PIN references are not part of the geographic description.

Missing the township name

Ontario lookups require all three components: lot, concession, and township name. Unlike the DLS where you use numbers for everything, Ontario needs the actual name — spelled correctly.

The search autocomplete can help you find the right spelling. Start typing the township name and select from the suggestions.

Concession qualifiers

Some Ontario townships have concessions qualified by geographic features. These qualifiers matter — they distinguish between different numbering systems within the same township.

Examples:

• Lot 12 Con 4 North Of Durham Road Glenelg
• Lot 5 Con 2 South Of Hurontario Street Mono

Include the full qualifier when searching.

"Broken Lot"

Some lots are labelled "Broken Lot" or "BROKEN LT" in official records. This means the lot has an irregular shape — usually because it borders a lake, river, or provincial boundary. Use the lot number normally; the "broken" label does not change the lookup.

Examples from real Ontario documents

Converting Ontario descriptions

Related guides

• Search & Convert Locations — full search guide
• Input Format Reference — formats for all survey systems
• Ontario Lot and Concession Lookup — step-by-step how-to
• Batch Conversion — convert many Ontario descriptions at once
• Coverage & Limitations — what regions are supported